The Bluegrass Ball featuring The Travelin’ McCourys, Drew Emmitt and Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon stomped though Chicago to a rousing house of hardcore bluegrass fans took over dancing in the aisles. The stage as a whos-who of monster bluegrass instrumentalists. This ensemble was definitely having a great time playing together.

Last week Tuesday, November 10, southern California two-piece blues outfit Little Hurricane and Toronto, ON, 5-piece July Talk visited Grand Rapids, MI for the first time.

After a successful fall tour, Trout Steak Revival was welcomed back home to Colorado at Hodi’s Half Note this October. The Denver Bluegrass Band is planted firmly in the Colorado’s beloved bluegrass scene. In addition to their first album, Trout Steal Revival has won the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition, placed in the 2012 Rockygrass Band Competition, and have won an Emmy Award for a soundtrack with Rocky Mountain PBS.

Dweezil Zappa does his daddy proud night after night performing extremely technical music at a very high level. From a young age, he promised his father that he would be a guitarist, but I’m not sure that anyone but Frank could believe that he would be as good as he actually is. Dweezil is one of the best guitar players alive, and people need to start giving him the credit that he deserves.

Never have I felt more back at home in the cow town, country music-listening, tobacco-chewing, horse-riding, bar-fighting town I grew up in than at the Sturgill Simpson concert at the Ogden Theater in Denver last Friday night. It causes me to wonder: why have country music and psychedelic drug use not met before the visionary Strugill Simpson?

Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI received a heavy dusting of bluegrass last Saturday, November 7 courtesy The Infamous Stringdusters of Nashville, TN.

I first saw Jorma play an acoustic solo show in 1980 at the Palace Theatre in Albany, New York.  I remember shooting a bunch of photos of him playing that night, and I tried to find my film negatives before seeing him Friday night at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California.  I wasn’t able to find my old pics, but I’m glad I couldn’t.  Because to really experience the wonder that is Jorma (instant recognition from just his first name speaks to his sing

Few acts have served as large of a spectrum of music as New Riders of the Purple Sage. These psychedelic country-rock titans have been performing for nearly forty-five years with original members David Nelson (guitar, vocals) and Buddy Cage (pedal steel guitar) keeping the flame burning strong. The group began in 1970 when Jerry Garcia was transitioning the Grateful Dead into country and folk territory. Like most instruments he put his mind to, he took to the pedal steel guitar miraculously quick.