How would one describe Tracy Walton a singer –songwriter who hails from Litchfield CT? Tracy Walton has never been afraid to re-invent himself. In this spirit, Tracy released the aptly titled “Brand New Again” in 2011. At once rough and vulnerable, Tracy’s voice cuts to the heart of any story, taking you down back roads, through broken lonely hearts, and into hopeful, open skies.

We have all been to shows in which our objectivity towards the music is undermined by a more powerful force. Something happens apart from the stage that distorts, and often intensifies, the true sonic nature of each set. These are the shows that lay futility at the feet of those who try to listen to a recording later on to recapture the magic. This happened to me for the first time in October ‘99 when I saw Phish at Illinois State. I was smitten with a girl who would, very soon after, become my first love.

Flashback to 1972. It’s been a tremendously busy year for the American Rock band the Grateful Dead. Solidifying their identity as “American” the boys (and Donna) traveled to Europe for a 22 show multiple country engagement including East and West Germany, Amsterdam, Lille Fairgrounds, Rotterdam, and beyond. This tour was groundbreaking in Dead evolution, displaying focused and extended jams on newer material such as Playing in the Band, while refining jazzier touches on standby opuses such as Dark Star and The Other One.

So, Widespread Panic played a show at Red Rocks on Saturday night. Honestly, for those of you who have seen them in that setting before, that’s about as good of a review as you need. All it would take is one glance at the set list, particularly from the second set on, to know that it was a spectacular evening.

Sometime in between The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Kanye West’s “Stronger,” electronic music officially became pop again. Long relegated to the support role after the death of new wave in the 80s, the keyboardist became a more prominent player (pun absolutely intended) in a band once again. Often just an add-on in a guitar-driven musical landscape, the keyboardist now plays the riffs, front and center. The buzzing sawtooth that starts Phoenix’s “1901” and the glossy bounce that propels Passion Pit’s “Take a Walk” are what gets stuck in people’s heads these days.

The good old boys of Poor Man’s Whiskey, featuring former Cornmeal fiddler Allie Kral, kicked things up a notch at the Fox Theatre on Friday, June 14th with two full sets of northern California bluegrass-based rhythms. The show was billed as Poor Man’s Whiskey playing the music of Old & In the Way, an early seventies bluegrass super group featuring Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead notoriety, bluegrass pioneer Peter Rowan, and a who’s who of string pickers in David Grisman, Vassar Clements, and Jerry Garcia Band alumni John Kahn.

You know what the world really needs? Another music festival. Just kidding of course, I’m very happy to be living in a day and age where this summer I have an outstanding choice of festivals with phenomenal lineups, plus the annual jump on the bus summer tours to choose from, all within easy drives from the NYC area. My only complaint festival wise is how uniform most of the lineups are. There’s a lot to be said for diversity, and with that in mind I have the perfect suggestion.

With the excitement over their 30th anniversary tour growing, Phish have whet the appetite of fans by offering up yet another brilliant archival release, a box set entitled Ventura.  This six-CD collection contains two full-length performances from the band’s 1997 and 1998 summer concerts at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California.  Both of these shows paint perfect pictures of just how well the

Upon first listening to Caroline Rose’s America Religious (releasing July 2), I found it fresh and catchy. On my second listen, I settled in and it opened up to me – or I to it. In the lyrics I found political and social commentary nestled into the metaphors, and a little bit more of a lead foot as I drove down the road. I found a friend in her music; one who thinks similarly to me and who cares about the big picture and all its little breath-beings.

Jon Hopkins has always been a bit of a journeyman in the music world. The British producer got his first gig as the keyboardist for Imogen Heap’s backing band, and has built up quite a resume from there.