I just returned from a Musical Sojourn in Porto, Portugal, a weeklong musical experience featuring ALO’s Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band and multiple other projects), Nikki Bluhm, members of Greensky Bluegrass, Fruition and Railroad Earth, and many other artists from the extended jam and bluegrass world. This was a unique and intimate event with six days and nights of musical tourism in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. (The entire musician list is at the end of this article.)

Led by Phil Lesh & Friends and Melvin Seals & JGB, the second generation, literally, of Terrapin Crossroads staff presented a one-day, two-stage, seven-band Sunday Daydream on August 27, in Novato, Calif.

The 2023 Levitate Music & Arts Festival made a huge splash this past weekend receiving a 10 for style, a 10 for creativity, and a 10 for overall great vibes as this wicked sweet New England festival celebrated its 10th anniversary! Born out of the basement of a surf shop bearing the same name back in 2003, Levitate is still embodying all that is creative, connected to nature, and community-oriented in New England.

Arriving early for round two on Sunday, February 5th, the air was electric with anticipation outside the Mission Ballroom on Phil Lesh’s final night in Denver with his friends. Fueled with the outcome of a great first night, multiple conversations in the already forming lines speculated over the musical possibilities of the evening, including the rest of “Dark Star” in lieu of the full moon or an appropriate “Mission In The Rain”. Certainly, the possibility of Billy Strings sitting in was on everyone’s mind, Strings having wrapped his own three night run the day before and sitting in with Ross James and Andy Thorn in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Of course, the “Never Miss a Sunday Show” theory factored into everyone’s predictive model and with all these dynamics, so much potential was still on the table. With everyone’s continued reeling from the outpouring of love and quality playing on Saturday, the energy of night two, from outside the building, was already climbing.

For the first weekend of February, Denver’s Mission Ballroom once again became a mecca for travelers seeking the psychedelic and for those who made the leap of faith, the reward was great. Grateful Dead bassist and living legend Phil Lesh gave the Rino district two nights of splendor, sound, and the opportunity once again to rejoice in community under a blanket of aural pleasantries that would defy expectation.

EO Worldwide, a new company founded by Matt Butler, presents ‘A Musical Sojourn in Porto’ in Porto, Portugal in October 2023. Best known as the founder and conductor of the Everyone Orchestra for over 20 years - conducting more than 1000 unique musicians amidst 500 shows - Matt Butler’s creative connection to the dynamic community of world-renowned musicians is the foundation for the distinctive musical connectivity of EO Worldwide's Musical Sojourns.

A rollicking “Cumberland Blues,” the Appalachian-bluegrass-style Grateful Dead tune that opened the first of two shows at The Warfield in San Francisco on December 27, was a microcosm of the mighty capabilities of this formulation of Phil Lesh & Friends.

As with most things in life, the end is usually bittersweet and ripe with emotion. This was certainly the case for the eighth and final collaborative performance by the Trey Anastasio Band and Goose. For Goose, this tour was a "pinch me" moment, enabling them to play along side legendary musicians that they have looked up to.

Upstate New York was pummeled by a historic lake effect snowstorm that brought almost six feet of snow last weekend. This wasn’t the only storm in the region, as the raging infernos known as the Trey Anastasio Band and Goose brought some serious heat to Upstate Medical Arena at The Oncenter War Memorial in Syracuse, NY on November 18, 2022.