Recently, Ivan Neville commented, "Derek Trucks is a happening deal. He's the best guitar player I've heard in years." And, he's absolutely right. It is praise such as that, coming from his musician peers, that has followed Derek Trucks' entire life.

Grateful Web recently caught up with Ivan Neville while he was in Maryland. The phone interview had to be postponed for two hours while Neville enjoyed some crab cakes, reputed to be the best in the country. "I'm in Baltimore " he said. "You've got to have crab cakes, and I want to give them my full attention." While his meal was digesting, he spoke about his new band, Dumpstaphunk......

British-born keys player Jon Cleary now makes New Orleans his home where he has immersed himself in a social structure that lives and breathes music. He offers a unique perspective on the cultures that produced New Orleans popular music.

"In New Orleans, music is such an important part of the culture here," says Cleary. It is what first attracts people, not only to visit, but to live there as he has done. "They fall in love with it because they love the culture," he says.  "Music is the soundtrack of your social life in New Orleans."

Jon Cleary's upbringing, amid a family of musicians in England, clearly put him on his lifepath. He was destined to be a musician. "There was never any question," he says. "That was all I really ever wanted to do."

With recognition (by critics, peers and fans alike) snowballing daily regarding Diana Jones' position as one of the most distinctive, soulful and nuanced singer/songwriters in the country/folk idiom, Ryko Distribution has agreed with NewSong Recordings to make Diana's luminous 2006 independent release My Remembrance of You readily available to chain and independent buyers across the U.S., while Proper Distribution delivers the record to new audiences in the UK and Ireland.