Grateful Web recently got the chance to chat with veteran music business multi-tasker and author Dennis McNally. His third book, On Highway 61: Music, Race and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom explores the significance of African-American music in the evolution of cultural freedom by examining the historical context and deeper roots of mainstream American’s cultural and musical progression.

The Second Lockn' Festival that went down last weekend in Arrington, Virginia, in the surrounding foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was a cut above the rest for plenty of reasons. Aside from the high quality production put on by promoters, creating a lavish experience for even the most seasoned of festivalgoers, it really was the caliber of musicians on the bill that drew tens of thousands from all over the country.

For the promoters of Lockn’ Music Festival, combining an impressive array of headliners spanning decades of American Music alongside thriving local and regional artists seemed to be a necessity. After all, the southern U.S. is where much our music history was born and evolved.

So many years after the disbandment of Grateful Dead that in turn relocated tens of thousands of devoted tour followers to various other acts and bigger life purposes, folks still crave that familiar feeling that kept them on tour. It didn’t only come from the music that Garcia and the gang connected with so many people through, but the sense of community and thriving weirdness that expanded continuously over decades of different intersections.

From the beginnings of the large scale festival, dating back to gargantuan events such as the 1969 Woodstock Music & Arts Festival or the Watkins Glen Summer Jam of 1973, it was apparent that hosting tens of thousands and creating a safe environment with proper amenities and resources was a challenge that needed some trial and error to perfect. Over the years music and the way we listen to it has come a long way. And so have the festival concepts that we enjoy contemporary.

While one could marvel at the amount of choices in music festival concepts that now exist, one effortlessly rules over them all. Last year David Frey and Peter Shapiro took their extensive collective promotion experience in creating the ultimate festival concept. A festival where the main driving force is the necessity of collaboration. From there build the festival with the most top of the line (and no doubt expensive for promoters) stage setup, sound equipment, vendor variety, local food proprietors, extensive craft beer selection.

Every summer music festival season brings a slew of new concepts and destinations for “festivarians” to pick and choose from. You have to marvel at the fact that so many continue to thrive year after year considering the number of options that are out there. In Colorado alone, thousands of tourists from everywhere come to enjoy countless summer music festival options. Maybe you made it to Rockygrass in July and rejoiced in the revival of a flood-ravaged site miraculously sprung back to life with true roots community effort.

If achieving a balance in diversity is a music festival’s key to success, then Dave Frey and Peter Shapiro have truly created the most dynamically integrated festival experience of all time. The Lockn’ Music Festival isn’t another colossal gathering from bandwagon fans there to see a couple of big name headliners mixed in with who-else-knows.

Grateful Web recently took time to catch up with singer, songwriter, and guitarist Paul Kamm. Paul and the band Achilles Wheel has been drawing listeners to festivals like Strawberry Music Festival and plenty of other West Coast shindigs gaining them critical and fan adoration. Their newest album Stones to Sand is an outstanding blend of Kamm’s songwriting and energetic instrumentals.

The McCoury family legacy is one of the richest in bluegrass. Father Del McCoury was a crucial member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and achieved legendary status with his souring lead vocals on signature Monroe songs and originals. His band is a family band, and has been for a while.