A few thousand music-loving adventure-seekers on September 9 received quite the idyllic sun-splashed reward when they witnessed this year’s Sound Summit, headlined by Phil Lesh and some extra special “friends.” The eight-hour festival-like show, chock full of five performers plus an avant-garde dance ensemble, took place at a perch high above Marin County, California’s Mill Valley, at a hundred-year-old stone amphitheater near the top of the area’s famed Mt. Tamalpais.

Acclaimed artist Josh Ritter’s new track, “When Will I Be Changed,” featuring guest vocals from fellow collaborator and legendary musician Bob Weir premiered yesterday via Rolling Stone Country. Of the song, Rolling Stone Country proclaims, “The song pitches its tent midway between the country, gospel and soul camps, with thickly stacked harmonies that evoke the Dead’s own folk-rock classic American Beauty.” You can listen/share the track here: http://bit.ly/2gOaCk9

Clouds rolled into the final day of Lockn’ cooling the summer sun and creating a pleasant last day for the festival. Collaborations abounded on the last day much to the delight of music fans who stuck it out for the nearly none stop four-day musical jam. This year Lockn’s audience was nothing other than exuberant, cheerful and respectful. The multigenerational crowd seemed almost like a giant extended family on a huge holiday picnic.

I had the treat to head to Chicago from my northern Indiana home and catch the good ol’ Grateful Dead at Wrigley Field on July 1, 2017. I shouldn't say it was the Grateful Dead, though, as this entity, called Dead and Company, is a very different animal, containing three original members of the Dead (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart) along with three other, quite accomplished musicians (John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti).

As many knows, April 20 or “420" is considered a sort of national holiday in cannabis culture. While there are many stories about the origins of the phrase, one of the most widely circulated stories involves five high school students.

While official Summer of Love 50th anniversary festivities for San Francisco are still mired in licensing/permit negotiations, Dead & Company’s return engagement to the Bay Area on June 3 was a magnet for 1967-ish apparel, attitudes, smokeables, and music – the concert’s first set featured “Viola Lee Blues,” the closing tune on The Grateful Dead’s 1967 self-titled debut.

LOCKN' Festival is proud to announce a number of updates and exciting new additions to the festival this year, including special artist collaborations, new and improved festival layout, and an expanded Garcia's Forest with weekend-long programming. Now in its 5th year, LOCKN' Festival takes place August 24-27 at the newly named Infinity Downs Farms at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Arrington, Virginia.

Sammy Hagar, Bob Weir, Dave Grohl, Sarah McLachlan, Mick Fleetwood, Pat Benatar, Don Felder, and Steve Vai lent their musical support at The Fillmore in San Francisco on May 15 for the fourth annual Acoustic- 4-A-Cure benefit concert.

It's an understatement to say improvisational guitar icon Steve Kimock has been keeping busy. He’s approaching an East Coast tour with his newest band KIMOCK featuring his son John Morgan Kimock on drums and frequent collaborator Leslie Mendelson on guitar and vocals.  He just wrapped up a successful yet unprecedented mini-tour of Japan.

Leslie Mendelson returns with Love & Murder—the singer/songwriter's first new album in eight years. The effort is the long-awaited follow up to her Grammy Award-nominated debut, Swan Feathers. A stirring work instilled with emotional depth, Love & Murder is an apropos title reflecting the dichotomy between the dark and light she encountered in those years between.