Many musicians who stage their very existence through live art seem to have trouble rolling over that passion into studio projects.  The atmosphere changes drastically, and for many can stifle the creative process.  However, those who embrace this medium can translate very well and generally reward the listener with real substance.

It has been five months now since the announcement was made that founding member Bill Nershi would be leaving the String

The North Mississippi Allstars decided to play a very unique acoustic tour. It wasn't the usual Mississippi foot stomping rockin' blues, but a mellow country blues that told a story and a history about a time and place much different from here and now. I saw the March 23rd show at the World Café Live in Philadelphia.

Kyle Hollingsworth  (The String Cheese Incident) steps out with his latest collaboration – soleside – which features Kyle, Speech (of Arrested Development) and DJ Logic. Backed by a full band, these three creative souls, seemingly worlds apart, will smash jazz/funk, hiphop and turntables into an explosive new music that defies categorization.

Normally I am a little skeptical of artists who release albums that are dubbed "B-sides" or "leftover recording material", because it usually is a feeble attempt to cash in on material that truly is b-grade.  However, this is not the case with the release of Umphreys McGee's The Bottom Half, which happens to boast some beautifully written and energetically recorded tracks from the Chicago-based rock outfit.

Today, independent music pioneers The String Cheese Incident announce their 2007 Summer Tour – which also marks the beginning of an end for the band and their community.  In the fall of 2006, The String Cheese Incident announced it would make no plans beyond summer 2007, as SCI guitarist Billy Nershi would be leaving the group to explore a different musical path.

Over his four-decade career, David Olney has built a reputation not as a kind-hearted troubadour but rather as a performing songwriter possessed of a sharp literary mind that cuts to the bone of the human condition. Whether the subject matter is heartbreak or armed robbery, Olney's cinematic style and fearless approach to lyric writing have won him renown as kind of a musical outlaw.

The only conversation topic welcomed by Page in this era of moving forward was the acknowledgment of being a Philly boy and his birth at Chestnut Hill Hospital. Page carefully deflected every question about Phish and his college thesis writing days at Goddard.