Grateful Web recently spoke with Spafford keyboardist Red Johnson between soundcheck and dinner at Terrapin Crossroads on March 4th, 2017 (review).  Red offered plenty of Spafford insights and motivations.

Grateful Web: Have you played the Bay Area before?

Spafford, the improvisational musical wizards from down Phoenix way, swept through Marin County, California, on their latest tour, touching down for a weekend of songs and jamming at Terrapin Crossroads.

Los Angeles-based CMH RECORDS is digging into their storied vaults and reissuing several of their classic bluegrass titles in digital format for the first time ever. The first wave of releases, out March 16, includes A Touch of Bryant from Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, Dim Lights, Thick Smoke from Joe Maphis w/ Rose Lee & Dale, and Sing Away the Pain from Josh Graves.

In one of their biggest headlining shows to date, Baltimore-based funk phenomenon Pigeons Playing Ping Pong took over Denver for an incredible night of music at the Ogden Theater, showcasing their signature styles and earning plenty of new fans along the way.

Forget the one-man band, Zach Deputy is a one-man orchestra. The Georgia-rooted multi-instrumentalist has devoted his life to the pursuit of musical excellence, and the development of his feel-good funky sound. Saturday, March 3rd, Zach Deputy performed to a full crowd in San Francisco’s Boom Boom Room. By the time the show was set to start, an eccentric crowd of dedicated fans stood close to the stage in anticipation of the upcoming performance.

Something really remarkable happened at the Fare Thee Well shows in 2015.  Instead of being a goodbye, it was a re-ignition, a passing of the torch in some ways.  Although Jerry was always quick to point out that it was Dead Heads who created themselves, the phenomenon of Dead Head-ism was focused on the band for the first 30 years.  And it was fairly fractured for the next twenty, with some liking some iterations, and others, not.  And the musicians aren’t done, whether it’s Dead & Co. or Phil and Bobby’s recent duo, or the future outings of Billy and Mickey.

The LA-based, successful multifaceted creative, Nir Yaniv, is gearing up to release his new EP, The Voice Remains. The album is comprised entirely by vocals and drums. All the vocals, including the ones serving as bass, guitars and keyboards, were performed by Nir, while the drums were played by, Israeli musician, Karen Teperberg. 

TheBigWonderful returns to celebrate its fifth season in Colorado, hosting BEERFEST, BLUEGRASS, and BAZAAR at multiple locations this Spring. Kicking off on Saturday, April 7th at Winter Park Resort, TheBigWonderful continues its tradition of revitalizing and reinventing spaces with additional events at the old Denver Post Headquarters in Globeville on May 5-6th and Stanley Marketplace on May 19-20th.

MAMBY ON THE BEACH, Chicago’s only beachside summer music festival, is proud to announce the full artist lineup for its fourth annual installment! The two-day boutique festival takes place Saturday, June 23rd and Sunday, June 24th, on the grassy fields and sand-swept coastline of Oakwood Beach in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood.

Innovative Giving Enhancement 501(c)(3) today announces the artist collective for the fourth annual Music and Art Immersion program happening in Barcelona, Spain October 5-14, 2018.  Participants no longer have to imagine ten days and nine nights of concerts and jams on the beach, in elegant flamenco palaces, classic gothic theaters, historic jazz clubs, acoustically perfect ancient squares, and historic concert halls.  They’re now the nightly backdrop for this trip’s cultural exchange for an experience that truly is once in a lifetime.