On Wednesday, August 17^th, at The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Rex Foundation and SF Giants starting pitcher’s Jake Peavy Foundation will co-host a charitable event that has been dubbed “Can’t Stop The Train,” a Tribute to the music of Jerry Garcia.

Some years back, former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay made a remarkable discovery in the storage of the family houseboat. Boxes of reels taped by legendary recording technician Betty Cantor-Jackson. The Grateful Dead tapes were the first to be dusted off, restored, and ultimately released for the enjoyment of all. Recently Donna Jean found yet another box consisting of all Jerry Garcia Band reels.

The decline of 1970's Grateful Dead piano player Keith Godchaux was sad but not entirely unexpected. The hardships of the never-ending grueling tour and travel schedule (that had always been for The Dead) had taken its toll on Keith and his wife Donna Jean Godchaux, a talented Muscle Sholes-alum vocalist. It was Donna who introduced Keith to Jerry Garcia in 1971 after a Dead show they had attended.

It’s been a big year for Southern Rock greats Widespread Panic. Through adversity they prevailed and are triumphantly celebrating thirty years as a band by hitting the road hard, dusting off old favorites and clearly still enjoying the hell out of playing together.

Last year in the early fall, Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California announced the impressive billing of Dawg Day Afternoon. Amongst exciting performances from bluegrass giants like Jerry Douglas and Del McCoury Band, David Grisman’s Sextet was featured as headliner. The event went smashingly. The talent was top notch, and the gorgeous Weill Hall at Green Music Center provided diverse experiences for patrons.

Progressive bluegrass wouldn’t be the same without Sam Bush. Though the mandolinist might have been slightly proceeded by the guys in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in exposing the bluegrass and rock ‘n’ roll combo on the radio, it was Bush who truly bent the sound toward unlikely use of acoustic instruments in genres thought irrelevant to country or bluegrass.

Sam Bush’s legacy is the genre-bending 'Newgrass' style that fused bluegrass, folk, and country with rock ‘n’ roll, reggae, and jazz. His music shattered any notions of purism, since bluegrass was a stylistic melting pot to begin with. Twenty-Seven years after the amicable breakup of the iconic New Grass Revival, the champion string-slinger continues to bring together yearly reunions at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and MerleFest, and tours relentlessly with his prolific Sam Bush Band.

Grateful Web recently had a chat with Grammy Award-Winning Guitarist, Songwriter, and Producer Eric Krasno. Though his genre-bending guitar work with Lettuce and Soulive garnered widespread acclaim as a virtuosic talent, he is always anonymously working.

While iconic guitarist and bandleader Jerry Garcia passed away nearly twenty-one years ago, his influence and high-esteem continues to mount. It’s miraculous that so many fans of the beloved guitarist and Grateful Dead bandleader never actually witnessed the legend perform. The expansiveness of his covers was equally impressive as his originals. That’s why Garcia and the Dead continue to grow their fan base, much like jazz music, there’s something ethereal about simply listening and taking in.

Pennsylvania Americana group Mason Porter formed over a decade ago in West Chester initially gaining steam, as most bluegrass acts must, as a relentless touring act. While the festival circuit is where improvisational prowess often makes its mark, Mason Porter’s ventures in the studio these past few years has clearly distinguished them.