One year ago, today, I saw Kung Fu for the first time at Cervantes. They opened for The Motet during their Funk is Dead Halloween reprise. Apropos to their name, Kung Fu took the stage in full black gis and, given that first visual, I really didn’t know what to expect.

On a mild January Friday night in Boulder, my photographer, Harvdog and I decided to skip the usual CU ragefest and check out Rocky Mountain Grateful Dead Revue performing the "Best Of Winterland" at our local Boulder Theater.

What will you be doing Wednesday, February 13, 2013, at 9 pm? If you live in or near Fayetteville, AR I hope your answer goes something like this: I’LL BE HAVING AN AWESOME TIME AT THE LOTUS SHOW, what about you?

Washington D.C. power trio, The Love Load, has released a four song e.p. entitled “Three On A Match” following their internationally acclaimed debut, “The Human Resourceful”. This second release sees the group both coalescing as a true band with Ted Watts handing over all the guitar reins to Blaine Misner ( who also produced, mixed, and recorded the record aided by assistant engineer William H.

I have to say I was extremely impressed with the opening 3 tracks "Bloody Good Time”, “What Would Iggy Do” and an impressive Cat Stevens remake “Wild World”. They made quite the first impression with me. Each one possessed my full unadulterated attention. To be honest: I expected cheesy Singer Songwriter Pop cut from the same cloth as say a Jason Mraz, Muse or Rob Thomas.

On yet another unusually warm January weeknight in Fayetteville, AR, Brooklyn-based Eliot Lipp played an energetic, upbeat show. The crowd was a bit sparse, likely due to the fact that it’s a new year (people make resolutions to save money, not go out, etc.) and the show was on a weeknight. But unlike some much larger shows, it seemed each person who bought a ticket to the show was there for the music.

Australia may be best known (when it comes to music) for hard rock like AC/DC and Midnight Oil or rock based pop music like Men at Work, but a young lady named “Taylen” seems to be intent on changing that by putting modern pop on the Australian radar.

“Americana” is both a fitting title and one that doesn’t do this set justice. Clearly the music presented here is set in a style of music that is intrinsically and organically American music. There’s no sound here that’s something cut of out of a cloth that feels like it comes from anywhere other than America, and nothing here that feels unknown or exotic. However, with that title, there’s a wide range of sounds and Hurt pulls them all off with a sense of genuineness and clarity that’s incredible.

On a quiet week night in Boulder, CO, the Positive Force, led by band and movement leader Femi Kuti, came to bring their traditional power and spirit through music.

Jupiter in Velvet is based out of London and has received critical acclaim from many music critics from around the globe. With the release of his Debut CD ‘Screaming the Love Behind the Scars’, Jupiter has landed and is set to achieve galactic domination. The 10 song CD is available on their website, iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon and many more global digital distributorsScreaming the Love Behind the Stars is one release that certainly doesn’t disappoint.