Most folks going out to see live music generally seek a familiar favorite band, or at the very least a certain style or genre implied. Rarely can an act draw interest based on anything without these qualities. Matt Butler’s Everyone Orchestra is the exception. Butler is a fantastic multi-instrumentalist (primarily a drummer) who decided to abolish all of the above qualifiers of what constitutes a traditional band.

If part of your plan for Warren Haynes’ 25th Christmas Jam was to get in town early to have a leisurely night Thursday at the Asheville Music Hall, Roosevelt Collier and Friends threw a pleasant kink in the plans.  Kinks usually get a bad rap but in this case, this evening’s kink was very kind.  The Asheville Music Hall is right in the same area as all your favorite Asheville entertainment establishments at 31 Patton Avenue.  If you have yet to visit Asheville, you will find the ‘Strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their hand.” f

Boasting the kind of ferocious funk collaborations you’d expect to find in New Orleans during Jazzfest, as opposed to the remote Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, Equifunk sets itself apart this summer -- an unsuspecting gem among 2013 festivals.

I just stopped sweating. Never mind that the mercury boiled its way well beyond 100 degrees for the better part of the afternoon. Never mind that the humidity made me sweat through the same shirt over and over no matter how many times I hung it to dry. Never mind that I should be over hydrated, but have sweated out as much as I have taken in. I stopped sweating. Nevertheless, I’m getting ahead of myself.

On Sunday afternoon The New Mastersounds were finishing up a remarkable set of true funk as Renard “Ras I Ray” Shy, Sr. (bassist/singer for Easy Star All-Stars) sat in the audience at Red Rocks Amphitheater enjoying the music and mingling with fans.

I'm blessed to have a solid group of friends who love live music, generally as much as me. There is little in life I find more enjoyable than watching close friends I've taken to a new group or artist turn and give me that look of excitement and say "Wow, you were right! These guys are amazing!" This look and this line happened more than a handful of times at the latest New Mastersounds show at the Fox Theater up on the good old Hill in Boulder, CO.

Send out the riders, the British are coming, and they're packing heat. The four lads from Leeds known as The New Mastersounds opened for J.J. Grey & Mofro, hitting the Ogden Theatre in Denver on Friday night like a punch in the face and sending the crowd home with sore muscles.