In the three years since his last album, Seth Walker moved to Nashville from Austin, wrote songs with friends new and old, and played many, many shows. And just like most people, he thought about life, about love, and about the changes you experience if you move away (both geographically and philosophically) from those people and places you know so well to try your hand at something new.

Canada’s legendary songwriter, Ian Tyson, may be 78, but he’s not slowing down. He still runs his working ranch in the foothills of the Rockies south of Calgary; he still performs some 40 shows each year; and now he’s releasing an album of sparkling new songs titled Raven Singer (his first album in four years), coming out internationally on May 29. It’s his 14^th for Stony Plain, the Edmonton-based international roots music label.

We turned onto Welton Street, in the Five Points section of Denver, and started looking for parking for the Band of Heathens show on Friday, and saw around eight police cars posted out in front of the venue. Upon finding a spot a few blocks away, we loaded the glass, negotiated our way through a couple of bands of mooching crackheads and over to Cervantes.

It’s not exactly common to get a music festival over St. Patty’s Day weekend. Combine that with the rarity of having one in New Hampshire and with it being at Whaleback Mountain, a tiny little ski resort right off the highway, and you had something pretty damn unique at LIFT Fest.

Sure, being a first year festival there are bound to some kinks to work out. But it was tough to find a person at LIFT who wasn’t getting down and having a good time.

O.A.R., the "grassroots phenomenon" who transformed into one of rock's preeminent live acts, have jump-started their spring with a surprise collaboration with Wyclef Jean and Cris Cab at their recent, sold-out Bowery Ballroom show, a 

Los Angeles rock band Dead Sara have announced the release of their highly anticipated self-titled debut album on April 10th on Pocket Kid Records/ Fontana/Universal.

Now located in the Woodstock of east PA, Lehigh Valley, Blues Control conceived Valley Tangents, their first album for Drag City, far from the madding crowds that they’d previous swarmed with and composed among.

Billy Martin and Wil Blades wanna make you Shimmy. The organ/drums duo waste no time getting right down to it on their debut album due May 22 from The Royal Potato Family in collaboraton with Martin's own Amulet Records. Martin and Blades go old school in the tradition of essential organ-groove sides by the likes of Charles Earland, Brother Jack McDuff and Groove Holmes.

There's a lot to be said for just dropping off the grid.  I'm not talking 'move to a desert island' kind of grid dropping.. But the temporary, and temporal sort; where one's mind, body and spirit can take a break from the burdens of life. Genuine rejuvenation.  It's the reason vacations were invented, I'm sure.  But not every vacation truly is one; especially these days.

As the 16th Annual Suwannee Springfest kicks off at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL, Big IV Productions is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2012 Bear Creek Music & Art Festival.