Last week Denver based bluegrass band Trout Steak Revival played a sold-out show at The Bluebird Theater to showcase their new album Brighter Every Day. Banjo player Chris Pandolfi from The Infamous Stringdusters produced the album and sat in with the band for their album release.

On March 3rd, Durham’s Performing Arts Center was the site of a show that if you were fortunate enough to attend, will stand as one of the shows of your lifetime.  If you are familiar with the Grateful Dead’s March 29th, 1990 show with Branford Marsalis; get that show roaming around your mind.

This was a special night for many reasons. First and foremost, it was a resurrection of a historic Denver landmark. And what better way to revive a landmark then to preserve its history with a music twist? Baur’s is a restaurant and a listening lounge, which will play host to some of music’s favorite gems. Founded in 1872 as a confectionery company, it was equivalent to Willy Wonka’s candy factory. With endless candy, cakes, and even claiming to be the “inventor of the ice cream soda,” this was happening, and now it is back.

While the “core four” remaining members of the Grateful Dead are hanging up their collective spurs this Fourth of July weekend, Dark Star Orchestra has no intention of ending their road warrior ways. Dark Star will be in Chicago for the festivities and a performance for the Rex Foundation on July second, and it only seems fitting; they’ve been long considered the top tier of the Grateful Dead cover band food chain.

On the heels of his newest LP Shadowboxing, the west coast hip hop entity known as Zion I came to the Fox Theater with Los Rakas, Locksmith, Kev Choice, and J. Lately to spread the word of the Rapture World Tour.

The Infamous Stringdusters put the spurs to their spring tour with a fret-blazing, shape-shifting show featuring special guest Keller Williams at Eugene’s McDonald Theatre (March 5^th).   The ‘Dusters delivered a convincing account of their distinctive “high country” sound while Williams complimented nicely, both with an impressive opening set and later, playing alongside the headliners.  The pairing made for an entertaining combination of Nashville polish and free-spirited, festival charm.

Few genres of music have stood the test of time unblemished such as funk. Though there have been progressions, evolution, and certainly fusion, the fundamentals are all in order. Grandfathers George Clinton, James Brown, and The Meters created a percussively punchy style of playing that was a liberating new form of music distinct in character and approach. Many bands will be described as funky, which is synonymous to loose, rhythm driven and interactive with an audience.

“Oh, yeah.”

It was apparent as soon as Philadelphia-based electro-jam collection took the stage in chilly Minneapolis; Lotus meant business. Midway through their 2015 Winter Tour in support of their Gilded Age EP, Lotus set fire to the Land of 10,000 Frozen Lakes with a wide range of eclectic tunes from their extensive catalog, including a twenty-minute “Nematode>Sift>Nematode” segue and an impressive encore off their latest EP.

Coming in hot at the peak of their winter tour, Greensky Bluegrass played the House of Blues closing out the 6 week long mid-winter melt down, Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival 2015.  This festival is a showcase of independent music for the critical music lover.  Over the years, the fest has expanded to more locations with more acts and over a longer span of the winter months.  CBB 201