After I witness a transformative set of music, this is what inevitably occurs when the dust settles. After a band plays high energy, pedal-to-the-metal music for a cool 100-minutes, it’s difficult to ascertain which pieces stood out as the highlights among many other highlights – the crème de la crème. That’s why I try to balance dancing and having fun with taking notes in the middle of a song or right after it ends. It’s the only way I can filter the musical narrative and determine the truly supernal from the “merely” superb.

Get ready to rock as Gov’t Mule brings their “20 Years Strong” guitar driven jam to the intimate Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theatre Tuesday, October 10th, 2014 / 8:30PM.  Tickets are on sale Friday, August 8th /10AM.Gov't Mule debuted in 1995 with a self-titled album on Capricorn Records, followed by the stellar concert date Live at Roseland Ballroom.

YarmonyGrass is excited to announce the addition of Shockenaw Mountain Boys featuring members of Railroad Earth including Tim Carbone, John Skehan, Andy Goessling and Johnny Grubb plus Allie Kral as they’re the group known as ‘Secret Special Guests.’ No longer!

The Motet is leading the new Funk revival and today the band announces a special New Year’s Eve celebration at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom on December 31, 2014.  Known for throwing some of the best dance parties around, The Motet’s “New Year’s Eve in Funklandia” promises a festive night of great music, good vibes, and plenty of surprises.

Handmade Moments’ first album is a collection of fun, sultry, inspiring, thoughtful tracks. With songs stretching from political to simply lovely, the duo (Anna Horton and Joel Ludford) offers an expansive array of styles and lyrics through their 12 songs. Musically, the album is rooted in strings and jazz; bluegrass, folk and Americana float in throughout the album. Horton and Ludford’s musical and vocal styles complement each other well; her voice sails, while his tethers.

The McCoury family legacy is one of the richest in bluegrass. Father Del McCoury was a crucial member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and achieved legendary status with his souring lead vocals on signature Monroe songs and originals. His band is a family band, and has been for a while.

San Francisco’s biggest music festival is set to take over Golden Gate Park for its seventh year next week. This year Outside Lands sold out in record time, within just hours of single day passes going on sale.

Keller Williams has announced his latest album release, DOS. DOS is a live-recorded collection of songs from the Grateful Dead with all proceeds benefiting the Rex Foundation. Keller’s talent and passion as a musician and for the Grateful Dead is reflected beautifully in DOS.

The Newport Folk Festival may not be a monster fest on the order of a Bonnaroo or a Coachella, but it has rejuvenated itself over the last half dozen years into a premier summer stop for a broad range of alternative, indie, country-rock and folk acts. Much of the rejuvenation has been the result of a conscious decision by festival organizers to loosen the definition of “folk” to include a much wider swath of bands – really anybody who could plausibly include an acoustic guitar at least somewhere in their set list.

The beach has always defined my summer. Whether as a child anticipating two weeks at the shore for the other 50 weeks each year, as a teen working at a summer camp and spending every daylight at or near the water’s edge, or in my twenties when I learned the fun of service industry work and living on my own at the Delaware Beaches; beach and summer have been synonymous. Four decades are staring me in the face and now, after just a few experiences in the past few years, I will add shows at The House of Blues to that list of the signs of summer.