This is the beginning. You are about to read Part I of a 3 part series about a quest for true Americana, true outlaws, true America. In case you haven't noticed, the somewhat over genricized music industry is breeding a dozen cowpokes per corral. And America is it recognizable to you?

Two of the Grateful Dead's greatest albums, American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, both recorded in 1970, will each be honored with its own evening when Arts>World Financial Center presents The American Beauty Project free in the World Financial Center Winter Garden, 220 Vesey Street.

THE 5th ANNUAL LANGERADO MUSIC FESTIVAL IN SOUTH FLORIDA MAKES ITS FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING ARTIST LINEUP. THE THREE DAY FESTIVAL ON MARCH 9, 10, AND 11, 2007 WILL HOST WIDESPREAD PANIC, TREY ANASTASIO, O.A.R., MATISYAHU, MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD, PAULO NUTINI, THE DISCO BISCUITS, STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS, TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS, LOS LOBOS, BLACKALICIOUS, YERBA BUENA, GIRL TALK, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, RODRIGO Y GABRIELA AND MANY OTHERS.

As I sat and listened to Toubab Krewe, I couldn't help but think of the language of music.  The vocabulary and accents were ringing through my head, reminding me of the peaceful nature of mankind.  The notes melted together like a true melting pot, not the segregated version we've been told about for so long.  But one with true meaning.  A blending of cultures, ideas, and of people.  These were the opening rhythms of

Tom Constanten and Ken Foust have released a new CD called "Moved To Stanleyville". They are playing shows in Arizona and Las Vegas with Gent Treadly, a Manhattan based jam band who were Vince Welnick's east coast band before his death, in support of this new project. The dates include Prescott College, Tempe, Flagstaff, and Sedona.

I grew up in a time when being liberal was almost a moral imperative. My parents supported civil rights, women's rights, and opposed the war in Vietnam. And as best as I could tell, then and now, there weren't a lot of gray areas in those positions. The left clearly had the moral high ground, and my home state of Alabama, in the 1960s, was arguably the front line in the battle for social change.

The year that was 2005 was definitely the breakout year for San Francisco rock 'n' roll outfit Tea Leaf Green.  They released the very well-received studio project "Taught to Be Proud", which even earned them a Jammy award for Best Song of the Year, and garnered a huge fan base by spreading their sound through more than two-hundred performances.

Tony Furtado's new album, Thirteen, streets January 23 and features Jim Dickinson (Big Star, Replacements ), Dusty Wakeman (Anne McCue, Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam ) and producer Craig Schumacher (Neko Case, Calexico, Iron & Wine ). Tony is presently conducting phone interviews from his home base of Portland, Oregon.