The Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Duhks have always gravitated towards traditional roots-based song structures, but they've never stopped evolving since their inception five years ago. Due in part to a collective musical worldview that knows no boundaries, that evolution led the band to their latest offering Fast-Paced World, the first Duhks record to feature prodigies Sarah and Christian Dugas (replacing vocalist Jessee Havey and percussionist Scott Senior respectively). It's an album that reflects the quintet's newfound confidence, with Sarah bringing five original songs to the band's encyclopedic collection of originals and covers both old and new.

The French-Canadian born Dugas siblings have been immersed in music their whole lives, thanks in part to their musician parents. "We had a family band that toured across Canada when I was 7 and Christian was 9," remembers Sarah. "My father had a recording studio in the house, so I grew up hearing a variety of musicians playing everything from rap to rock to world beat. I grew up in a fun and creative environment."

Dugas' emergence as a songwriter has clearly contributed to the group's progression — the other members are fiddler Tania Elizabeth, guitarist Jordan McConnell and founder/banjo player Leonard Podolak — from the jaunty pop of "You Don't See it" to the jazz-waltz of "This Fall," the Duhks' enthusiastic fan base has embraced the changes. "The reaction has been really positive," says Dugas. "We've been able to keep the old fans and gotten some new ones as well."

“There's a more liberal attitude in the band when it comes to songwriting approaches,” admits Podolak. That attitude has even extended to drummer Christian's use of a full kit, in contrast to the band's previous use of just percussion. "My musical tastes have broadened immensely since we first started,” Podolak adds. “I think we've evolved musically, while maintaining our roots, but everybody in the band listens to so many different things, it was bound to happen.”

It's that kind of musical DNA that makes the band's spot-on fusion of traditional bluegrass, folk rock, Afro-Cuban jazz and soul so accessible and yet so hard to pigeonhole. It's also earned them a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Country Vocal Performance category as well as a Juno award in their native Canada.

Accolades aside, the band doesn't see any reason to pull their punches lyrically, as Dugas laments on the funky title track, "We've forgotten what's sacred in this fast-paced world."  "It's a song that's essentially about over-consumption," remarks Podolak. "We've all grown up with an outlook where's there's enough for everyone without destroying the earth."

Environmental issues are a passion for the band, inspiring them to launch The Duhks Sustainability Project (www.greenduhks.com) in October 2007. Spearheaded by Tania Elizabeth, the band's goal is to "tour on as sustainable a basis as possible; fueling our vehicle with Biodiesel, supporting local organic farmers wherever we go, wearing sustainable eco-conscious clothing, using earth-friendly shampoos, soaps and cosmetics and offsetting remaining CO2 emissions with carbon credits." 

"As a band, it's something we feel very strongly about," says Podolak. "We just want to reduce our carbon footprint as much as humanly possible."

Fast Paced World was produced by the Nashville-based Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt), who joins an impressive set of producers (Béla Fleck, Tim O'Brien) before him. "Jay's basement studio was like something out of the Star Trek Enterprise," laughs Podolak. Despite trying to quit smoking at the time (4 nicotine patches at once!), Joyce was "very open to our ideas and very easy to work with. I also think he learned as much from us as we did from him about combining the acoustic and electric elements of our songs in a studio setting," continues Podolak. 

As the band continues their own musical evolution, Fast-Paced World illustrates just how far the Duhks have come - and just how far they're willing to go to challenge themselves artistically.   Ulitimately, though, according to Leonard, the Duhks "just want to play music that speaks to everybody."   Mission accomplished.

Colorado's Mile High Music Festival returns to the Fields at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on July 18 and 19. The 2009 festival expands to two main stages for its second year. Headliners include TOOL (Saturday), Widespread Panic (on both Saturday and Sunday), and The Fray (Sunday).

We are proud to announce Ben Harper & Relentless7's headlining North American tour. Pre-sale tickets will be offered at Ben Harper & Relentless7 Ticketing starting March 25th at 12:00pm Noon (Local Venue Time). The pre-sale password is shimmer. Venue links below will provide general on-sale information.

NORTH AMERICA

04.30.09 - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival New Orleans, LA, USA
05.01.09 - Beale Street Music Festival Memphis, TN, USA
05.02.09 - Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA, USA *NEW*
05.04.09 - 9:30 Club Washington, DC, USA *NEW*
05.05.09 - Webster Hall New York, NY, USA *NEW*
05.08.09 - Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY, USA *NEW*
05.09.09 - Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA, USA *NEW*
05.10.09 - Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA, USA *NEW*
05.12.09 - Metropolis Montreal, QC, Canada *NEW*
05.13.09 - Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, ON, Canada *NEW*
05.15.09 - Saint Andrews Hall Detroit, MI, USA *NEW*
05.16.09 - Vic Theatre Chicago, IL, USA *NEW*
05.25.09 - Sasquatch Music Festival George, WA, USA
05.27.09 - The Fillmore San Francisco, CA, USA *NEW*
05.28.09 - Wiltern Theatre Los Angeles, CA, USA *NEW*
06.13.09 - Bonnaroo Music Festival Manchester, TN, USA
07.11.09 - All Good Festival Masontown, WV, USA

INTERNATIONAL

04.09.09 - Metro Theatre Sydney, NSW, Australia
04.11.09 - Byron Bay Bluesfest Byron Bay, NSW, Australia
04.13.09 - Byron Bay Bluesfest Byron Bay, NSW, Australia
04.19.09 - The Forum London, UK
04.21.09 - Le Printemps de Bourges Bourges, France
06.19.09 - Southside Festival Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany
06.20.09 - Hurricane Festival Scheessel, Germany
06.22.09 - Columbiahalle Berlin, Germany
06.23.09 - Tonhalle Munich, Germany
06.25.09 - Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands
06.27.09 - Hard Rock Calling Festival London, UK

The left coast breakbeat, glitch-hop and house duo known as EOTO, is set to embark on their annual east coast trek to kick off a run of spring 2009 performances. Following an undeniably successful winter tour, including a weeklong stint in the Sunshine State, EOTO will bring their innovative blend of live instrumentation and digital mixing north to eager audiences awaiting the next chapter in the group’s musical voyage.

Featuring Jason Hann and Michael Travis, formerly of the progressive jam outfit String Cheese Incident, EOTO is a shot of adrenaline to the heart of the music industry. Differing in sonic stature from their mixing forefathers, the typical EOTO live experience is 100% atypical, meaning nothing is pre-recorded, nothing is pre-looped and no set is pre-planned. Every night is a distinctive journey into the musical minds of Hann and Travis, each feeding off of the other’s creativity and the audience’s vibes. EOTO combines cutting-edge technology with live instrumental performance to create truly original and melodic dance music in the moment.

Beginning immediately after the conclusion of their Florida tour, EOTO will head to Nashville, Tennessee for a show at Windows Off the Cumberland on March 16th. Additional stops include performances in Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Ohio before the group heads back to the Midwest. For a complete list of dates and details, be sure to check EOTO’s MySpace page for the latest info as the group continues to heat up 2009

The weather in the North East iis warming up and so is the live music scene, as Keller Williams is set to bring his enigmatic one man show to The Egg, Albany’s world renowned musical hotspot, inside of The Hart Theatre this Friday, March 20th. Keller, who has toured as a part of a bluegrass trio (Keller & The Keels) a jamband super group (Keller Williams and the MDS), a Grateful Dead tribute band (Grateful Grass) and even led The String Cheese Incident at some of their most memorable shows is returning to what he does best. A multi-instrumental virtuoso, Williams is able to loop two, three, hell- a symphony’s worth of instruments until, if you closed your eyes, you would be sure that he was not alone at all. Rather your ears would tell you that he had been joined by dozens of other performers.

But that is the genius that is Keller Williams. With the help of longtime soundman Lou Gosain, William’s is able to release all of the accompaniment he hears in his head on the crowd of eager listeners. Rarely in the jam scene can such a dichotomy occur- one man’s vision explored by the sound of countless players. And The Egg, known for its odd egg-like shape and near perfect acoustics, will be the perfect compliment for William’s show. But don’t fret if you miss out on one of the few remaining tickets for this Friday’s show. Keller is continuing to meander through the northeast before looping back down south. Check out kellerwilliams.net for more details. See you at the show!