The sad passing on October 12 of Andy Goessling, founding member of Railroad Earth, the ongoing host band for the Hangtown Music Festival (Oct. 25-28), was a unifying thread at this year’s fest, prompting outspoken love, respect, and admiration. In the end, the shared loss sparked a like-minded cause for life celebration and a shared process of moving forward amid a backdrop of fabulous music, Halloween costumes, and community.

On May 18th, The Mighty Pines will release their first live album, The Mighty Pines Live. Derived from two performances in St. Louis, the album captures their passionate live show in a 13-song compilation. A summer tour will support the release. Track listing and upcoming tour dates are listed below.

About The Mighty Pines

The Festy Experience is ecstatic to announce the initial music lineup for the 9th annual festival, happening October 5-7, 2018 at Infinity Downs Farm in Arrington, Virginia. The lineup features a carefully curated blend of national and regional roots music acts, featuring Greensky Bluegrass, Gillian Welch, Railroad Earth, Sam Bush Band, Della Mae, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Fruition, Carbon Leaf, Rubblebucket, Sons of Bill, Hackensaw Boys, Bonnie Payne. Tickets are on-sale now.

Highlighted by spirited headlining performances by The Devil Makes Three (Saturday), The Infamous Stringdusters (Friday), and Railroad Earth (Sunday), there was a profound additional component to this year’s WinterWonderGrass Tahoe. The weather. Before turning all sunny on Sunday, Friday and Saturday’s proceedings included periodic showers of snow, graupel (look it up), and a little rain.

Cloud 9 Adventures announces the return of Strings & Sol, the annual bluegrass-centric tropical concert vacation, held at the beloved all-inclusive Now Sapphire and Dreams Resort & Spa in Puerto Morelos. Now entering its seventh year, the event will take place on the beautiful coastline in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico from December 7-11, 2018.

The Doug Fir show, the second of gigs, was a tiny, intimate venue and sold out. The crowd anticipated a memorable performance, and the band delivered. One of the highlights of the night, and there were many, was Fruition's Mimi Naja joining in on guitar and vocals for the song 'I Am a Mess.'

There’s a great scene in The Last Waltz – the documentary about The Band’s final concert – where director Martin Scorsese is discussing music with drummer/singer/mandolin player Levon Helm. Helm says, “If it mixes with rhythm, and if it dances, then you’ve got a great combination of all those different kinds of music: country, bluegrass, blues music, show music...

To which Scorsese, the inquisitive interviewer, asks, “What’s it called, then?” “Rock & roll!”

Railroad Earth’s, “Captain Nowhere,” falls like a beautiful tear on the tumultuous face of humanity.  Exposing a wonderful maturity throughout, Todd, Tim, John, Andy, and Andrew each freely offer one another all the space they need to create a multidimensional experience, while at the same time bringing about a singular effect.  I marveled over, and deeply appreciated, the openness in which this small sample of songs (6) was delivered.  Not afraid to look directly at what ails us, Railroad Earth sees right past the p