First City Festival is taking place this weekend in Monterey with the well-known likes of Modest Mouse, Passion Pit, Neko Case, and MGMT heading an impressive inaugural lineup. Don’t let yourself get completely caught up in the big names though—you might miss something incredible.

The year-end Hot Tuna shows at the Fur Peace Ranch have been sold out for months, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait for 2014 to see them again. A new set of dates have just been announced.

Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers’ self-titled sophomore album doesn’t drop until next week, but if the crowd at her sold out album release show on Tuesday night is any indication, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers is already a smash. The San Francisco-based band took the stage at the Lodge at the Regency to hearty cheers that began when guitarist Tim Bluhm (husband to Nicki and co-founder of The Mother Hips) stepped out to fine-tune his guitar.

Grateful Dead music continues to inspire and muse generations of contemporary musicians. When the band played, their music fostered an experience each night that transformed the ordinary bounds of everyday life beyond possibility. A trip into the transcendental. Even if the words and melodies were familiar to followers, something about their approach of spontaneity and improvisation combined with an overarching reworking of Americana made the music familiar and new simultaneously.

The team at Catskill Chill Music Festival has released the schedule for the fourth annual 3-day camping event taking place September 6^th - 8^th in Hancock, NY. The schedule unveils a packed line-up of live music on five stages including the expanded Acoustic Junction and the new Redbull Campsite DJ Truck.