To return to a point in your life that you have already lived is metaphysical. Déjà vu, as most of us call it, feels mystical, even if it has a chemical explanation. Scientific evidence aside, to relive something that you have lived before is an experience that seems to connect us with something beyond ourselves. We can both be in the moment and be able to predict (or at least have the feeling that we are predicting) what is coming around the next corner. But to experience déjà vu and to be able to improve upon the actions that once were? Now that is something different altogether.

A mark of continued captivating artistry is evolution. Multi string-slinger, vocalist and songwriter Jackson Emmer truthfully represents his musical identity on his upcoming solo album Last Known Photograph of Jackson Emmer. Many are familiar with Emmer through his phenomenal old-time fast grass outlet, The Howling Kettles. But his upcoming solo breakthrough grows all possibilities. In the vein of iconic artists like Wilco, The Band, and Randy Newman, Emmer offers his style, his way, in a celebration of life.

Modern American folk band, Herbert Bail Orchestra, is bringing their foot-stomping music back home this month for a singular performance at The Satellite in Los Angeles.

Texas-based singer/songwriter Sarah Pierce announces an August 25 release date for her new CD, Barbed Wire, on the Little Bear Records imprint. Produced by Merel Bregante, Barbed Wire was musically influenced by her family’s heritage in the cattle business. The album was recorded at The Cribworks Digital Audio in Liberty Hill, Texas, about 30 miles north of Austin.

In four short years, Real Gone Music has established itself as THE go-to imprint for Christmas reissues, and, with its first of two slates of holiday titles for 2015, the label only tightens its grip on the Christmas crown. First, The 4 Seasons’ classic Christmas album, The 4 Seasons Greetings (later reissued as The 4 Seasons’ Christmas Album), appears in its original mono form for the first time ever on compact disc inside a limited edition mini LP sleeve package.

As a musician, composer, and bandleader, John McLaughlin’s vast contributions to contemporary improvisational music are only just beginning to be fully understood, appreciated, and absorbed by artists and enthusiasts alike.

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood has just announced an additional 18 shows on their Fall 2015 tour, including three nights at Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn and two shows at Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh. The CRB's now annual end of the year run through San Francisco occurs this year at The Fillmore for two nights.

Since the release of both their sophisticated Similar Skin album in 2014 and the elegant bonus album, London Sessions, which was produced at Abbey Road of last year, Umphrey’s McGee has begun to more frequently perform at up-scale venues across the Midwest. Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park is among one of these venues. It was the band’s third time appearing. The intimate and limited seating of the location led to a sold out show.

Everyone Orchestra’s conductor and founder Matt Butler has been leading a rotating cast of accomplished musicians through entirely improvised performances, since 2001. Butler’s unique style of conducting is groundbreaking in that he has essentially created an entirely new way to perform and experience music.

Today, progressive funk collective The Motet announces they’ll ring in 2016 with a very special New Year’s Eve show in Atlanta at The Variety Playhouse on December 31.  Tickets, including a limited number of VIP tickets, go on sale to The Motet Fan Club on Friday, August 14 at 2pm EDT, and to the general public on Friday, August 21 at