Classically trained DJ and Producer Douglas Appling, better known as Emancipator played a cleansing set to a sold-out house at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall that was nothing short of hypnotizing. His music, if not genuinely describable as trance, was certainly trance-esque, and highlighted electronic music’s evolution and maturity in recent years.

The music began early on the final day of the Skull and Roses Festival in Ventura. A hot offshore wind heated up the day by the time the drum circle started at 10 am. Overhead waves from a late spring storm exploded across Ventura point buffeted by the strong sideshow winds sending long plumes of salt spray high int the air. The strong winds stirred up a cloud of dust that helped turn the sunny day into an eerie orange haze.

The sun came out bathing the Ventura fairgrounds in a beautiful orange glow as sleepy festival goers woke from a long night of music and partying. The noontime drum circle was the wake-up call for many. But it wasn’t until about 3 PM, when Northern California’s premiere Grateful Dead cover band, the China Cats took the stage, that most people finally gathered together for a dance jam. The group formed in 2008 in Santa Cruz California and has garnered a loyal following since.

Today Pepper drops a tasty dubby new single “Warning” Ft. Stick Figure with tastemaker imprint LAW Records. The new song is due to premiere today with SIRIUS XM’s The Joint and is available everywhere you stream music.

Our friends at Shakedown Gallery are celebrating the anniversary of Dr. Albert Hofmann's magical 1943 bicycle ride by releasing a series of beautiful and unique blotter art prints. 

Many of the artists will be no strangers to the Grateful Dead community.