I remember back a couple years ago I was spending New Year’s Eve at this little ski hill pub up in New Hampshire, and there was a live band heading up the evening from a corner stage. They were good too, playing your standard classic rock fare of the Stones, Petty, and the like.

Friday, June 14th, through Sunday, June 16th, Spring Awakening Music Festival takes over Chicago's historic Soldier Field with Bassnectar, Calvin Harris, Moby, and more!

The Nation will experience a special one-hour episode of "The Colbert Report" as Stephen Colbert welcomes Paul McCartney.  The super-sized show will feature an interview as well as performances of songs featured on McCartney’s current Out There tour, the new 2013 reissue of “Wings Over America” and more with one song to be exclusively available at www.ColbertNation.com.  Tune-in to "The Colbert Report" on Wednesday, June 12 from 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

The Mickey Hart Band will release their second album in two years on August 13th, 2013, titled Superorganism, just weeks before Hart's 70th Birthday.  On the band's last record, Mysterium Tremendum (2012), Hart sonified light waves from space with the help of NASA and scientists from Penn State and Lawrence Berkeley Labs. Now, with Superorganism, Hart is going even deeper. "This time we journey into the micro, the hidden worlds of rhythm within us, within our bodies," says Hart. "The brain, Rhythm Central, the place of dreams is explored.

Singer-Songwriter Rachel Brown made her appearance in a weekly residency at the Darby in NYC last Thursday night and if you’re looking for a slam-dunk date spot idea, look no further. Never having been to the Darby before, I was very impressed at what I found: a chill, elegant spot with a modern, more youthful jazz club atmosphere .

In May of 2012, one of the preeminent figures of American Roots Music, Doc Watson, died at 89 years of age. This summer, Sugar Hill Records will unveil a career-spanning collection, The Definitive Doc Watson, that is an expansive tribute to the Appalachian music legend.

About 40 devoted fans stuck it out through two very mediocre bands to hear Filligar on a Tuesday night at Larimer Lounge.  The rock quartet is made up of three blond brothers: Johnny, Teddy and Pete Mathias with their childhood friend Casey Gibson.  They formed in Chicago in 2000, and have released 4 albums.They’ve been named one of music’s “Next Big Things” by SPIN Magazine and listed along with Wilco, Delta Spirit, and Heartless Bastards as “One of America’s Top 8 Live Acts” (Boston’s RSL music blog).While Filligar is a tight solid group of musicians, I was left wondering "what's the big

Ray Vaughn has written songs and performed in dives and on street corners for a very, very long time. He was a founding member of San Francisco based Punk/Art Rock band Hostages, then Die Bossa Nova, until disappearing in 1992. Ray Vaughn resurfaced in 2010 as a solo acoustic act. After traveling back and forth between New York City and San Francisco, road testing new material, and playing and writing new songs, Vaughn eventually headed back into the studio with Grammy award winning producer Michael Rosen (Tesla/Rancid/Papa Roach) in December of 2011.

Electro hip-hop producer SuperVision has been working hard to step up his production game with his latest EP release, Telekinetic out June 4th via Pretty Lights Music (PLM).With a background on turntables spanning over 16 years, the Dallas, Texas native paired his love of collecting music with harder hitting drums, advanced effects, fills, builds, drops, heavier sub bass, and texturized synth bass.

“I am drunk on whiskey and I’m half your age," sings Julie Kathryn, "and I would do anything if you’d just let me stay.” That balance of wit and candor runs through 'Black Trees' (8.27), the debut album from the NYC singer / songwriter.