For the first time since they started headlining Red Rocks, Umphrey’s McGee achieved a sellout on Saturday night at the famed amphitheater. They proceeded to demonstrate over the course of two fiery sets exactly why it was such a hot ticket.

It is quite rare for album art to get noticed in the age of iTunes and Mp3 players. But I found myself captivated by the cover of Analog Son’s eponymously titled debut album when it arrived in the mail. I couldn’t help but notice a distinct similarity to one of funk’s most celebrated records. On the cover of Maggot Brain, Funkadelic’s ‘71 masterpiece, a woman is buried neck deep in the dirt, her licorice-colored Afro almost camouflaged by the soil that surrounds it.

Striking out on your own as a musician after being part of an ensemble is never easy to do, save for the fortunately marketable front men and Beyoncés of the world. Roosevelt Collier is doing his best, and while picking up steam, has never forgotten where he came from and what made him the musician he is today. Forged out of the Pentecostal beliefs surrounding “Sacred Steel,” Roosevelt is both carrier of the torch and genre-hijacking outlaw.

Bluegrass, world, reggae, funk and jam are all coming to Camp Euphoria XI (CEXI) this summer. It’s one-festival, two-days, for all-ages, July 11-12, 2014 on “Jerry’s Farm” near Lone Tree, Iowa.  With its hallmark eclectic musical lineup, Camp Euforia is turning it up to Eleven. One better.“This year CEXI is for the fans, and we are taking it to 11!” says Eric Quiner, director of Camp Euforia.

Most folks going out to see live music generally seek a familiar favorite band, or at the very least a certain style or genre implied. Rarely can an act draw interest based on anything without these qualities. Matt Butler’s Everyone Orchestra is the exception. Butler is a fantastic multi-instrumentalist (primarily a drummer) who decided to abolish all of the above qualifiers of what constitutes a traditional band.

Purple Hatter’s Ball has added several new artists to the line-up including: Colorado’s dance-funk seven-piece The Motet; electronic producer/guitar player and drummer duo, The Floozies who are performing at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park for their first time; the infectious soul-funk of The Fritz; and the inspiring soulful sounds of Avis Berry & Scott Campbell Band, as well as Yankee Slickers, Famato and Universal Green.

Presented by Stanlee Ventures, the eighth annual Camp Barefoot Music & Arts takes place August 21-23 in Bartow, WV.

After hearing about how much fun J2G’s previous super jam shows (The Dance Party Time Machine) turned out without being there, I was not going to miss this one. Even with Zappa Plays Zappa playing across town, I chose to take my ladies to sushi and then to the Love Shack.

If Colorado gets frigidly cold in January and February, with temperatures well below zero, we have great music entertainment to get close in and soak in that body heat. A now decade old tradition in Boulder is cozying up at the Boulder Theater for George Porter Jr. and Kyle Hollingsworth’s Pearl Street AllStars Jam.