The Gent Jazz Festival is announcing new names for its 15th year. On Friday 8 July, Pat Metheny & Ron Carter, John Scofield – Brad Mehldau – Mark Guiliana and De Beren Gieren are coming to the Bijloke Site in Ghent. Saturday 9 July sees concerts performed by Max Richter: from Sleep & The Blue Notebook and Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra, with Jill Scott, Lianne La Havas and The James Hunter Six on Sunday 14 July. Closing the festival on Saturday 16th July is dEUS ‘Soft Electric’, among others.

The 7th Annual California Roots Music and Arts Festival has announced their official Pre-Party and Late Night Sessions shows featuring Unified Highway, E.N Young, Inna Vision and more May 26th through the 29th. All shows are 21+ at Planet Gemini, located across the street from the Monterey County Fairgrounds.
 

The ARISE Music Festival sets its sights on the 2016 festival season with its most ambitious line-up to date. Featuring over 200 scheduled performances across 7 stages, the festival highlights a diverse lineup of musical performances that spans hip-hop, reggae, bluegrass and a healthy serving of rock, jam and improvisational acts from around the country.

Rising Southern singer/songwriter Nate Currin recently released the official music video for his current single “Midnight Train.” The video premiered exclusively on The Boot and can be seen here. The video was shot on location in southern California’s Joshua Tree State Park and the swamps of central Florida. The juxtaposition of these two distinct locales makes for a compelling and gorgeously made video that only adds to the tension of the song’s narrative.

The New Mastersounds have announced the release of The Nashville Session via Royal Potato Family on April 22. The 10-track collection was multi-tracked live to one-inch tape in a single evening session at Welcome To 1979 studio in Nashville, TN in front of a small studio audience,. Following the performance, the recordings were mixed down to quarter-inch stereo tape and then cut direct to vinyl lacquers. There are no guests and no overdubs—essentially The New Mastersounds—pure and unadulterated.

Glistening beaches, resplendent jungles, and the “pura vida” mantra served as the backdrop for the sixth annual, sold-out Envision Festival as 4,700 international attendees descended upon Rancho La Merced in Uvita, Costa Rica this past February 25 - 28, 2016.Uniquely distinguished from any other festival on the planet, Envisionaries united to partake in the festival’s utopian permaculture community, which inspires self-expression and conscious living through its regenerative infrastructure.

After winning a slew of prestigious awards including the Philadelphia Songwriter’s Project Contest and WSTW’s Folk Song Of The Year, for her track “Home to Me,” fans of the folk/rock singer-songwriter Andrea Nardello, have been anxious to hear more.  Today, the singer is proud to announce the official release of her next EP, titled Fire, which is to be released 4/15/16 through Noble Steed Music.

Eliot Lipp is a veteran musician and sound designer gearing up to release his 9th studio album, Come To Life (Old Tacoma Records, Pretty Lights Music) May 2016. After more than a decade living in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York (but equally home on the road), the intrepid producer returned to his roots in the Pacific Northwest before recording the album, much of which came together over a single inspired weekend.

Last week we had the honor of speaking with multi-instrumentalist, producer, nationally syndicated talk show host, and longtime Nitty Gritty Dirt Band member John McEuen. The masterful string-slinger joined forces with the band in their formational year of 1966 and has remained with them for decades. The genre-bending psychedelic folk rockers are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Showcasing songs from her highly praised second solo album, In The Magic Hour, Aoife O’Donovan continues her North American headlining tour which now includes a series of performances with A Prairie Home Companion. A full list of dates is below.