Celebrating its fifth year as Nashville’s most heated and entertaining band competition, the Road to Bonnaroo contest, co-sponsored by BMI, Mercy Lounge, Yuengling, Nashville Scene, and the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, will pit 24 bands with Nashville ties head-to-head for three coveted slots at the 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, slated for June 13-16 in Manchester, Tennessee. The Road to Bonnaroo will take place over three designated nights of BMI’s free 8 off 8th showcase, with eight bands performing each night.

The Mickey Hart Band announces their first tour of 2013 with special guests, The African Showboyz from Ghana. The African Showboyz are four brothers from the northern part of Ghana who fuse a unique blend of West African rhythm, dance, and raw energy. Originally discovered by Grammy-winning virtuoso, Babatunde Olatunji, the African Showboyz have shared the stage with Stevie Wonder, Fela Kuti, Fema Kuti, Arrested Development, and many others.

Donna the Buffalo will be touring throughout the East this Winter and into the Spring. This February marks their appearance at the 2nd annual Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival in Miami (the 4th in a family of GrassRoots Festivals hosted by Donna the Buffalo).

Ruf Records announces the signing of Nashville-based blues guitarist/singer Bart Walker and will release his label debut CD, Waiting on Daylight, on March 12. The new album was produced and engineered by multi Grammy-winner Jim Gaines and recorded at his Bessie Blue Studio in Stantonville, Tennessee.

After the successful release of their first album together as a duo, San Francisco’s Bay Area-based Meklit and Quinn will be touring Colorado during the month of February. Their self-titled album was released last fall by Porto Franco Records and received rave reviews across the board.Singer-songwriter Meklit Hadero, a Senior TED Fellow and deeply involved pioneering force in San Francisco's artistic scene, is a global tapestry of musical and cultural influences.

Southern tour-hounds Sol Driven Train are proud to announce the dates for their upcoming Underdog spring tour in support of their upcoming February 5th album release of the same name.

In conversation and in public, Mary Gauthier comes off as a practical, no-nonsense woman. Stoic, even. Which wouldn’t seem unusual, except for the fact that her songs carry so much emotional punch, they can leave you staggering.

Inspiration comes from the most abstract places, and that statement did not falter in the inspiration behind Jim James’ upcoming solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, out February 5 on ATO Records.  James drew inspiration from a vintage book entitled God’s Man, a wordless 1929 woodcut novel by Lynd Ward, for the song, “A New Life,” which just premiered on Rolli

From New York comes a4 member Rock band known as “Dog Society” who just released his latest effort Emerge (2012). Dog Society is strongly established in that region and this latest release is a collection of 12 amazing songs. Dog Society are:   Band members include Bruce Erik Brauer (guitar), Guerzon (Bass) and Joe Ranieri (Drums + Percussion) and last but certainly not least  Brian Schnaak (vocals).

From the recording studio to the open road, Eric Lambert & Friends (ELF) kicks off a new tour this weekend. The Winter Wallow Tour will take the band through their home states of Indiana and Illinois, providing the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends, and play some well known haunts.