On November 10th, 1999, I attended my first ever Phil Lesh & Friends show at the New Haven Coliseum. The venue, affectionately known as 'the old barn,' was just off I-95 in lovely downtown New Haven, Connecticut. It also hosted my second Grateful Dead concert back in May 1978. The New Haven Coliseum did not age well and it was gone shortly after that show in 1999. A young lad, the 20-year-old Derek Trucks, was called in as an emergency fill-in guitarist, hired on the fly.

Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real (POTR) commanded the stage on Thursday, February 29, the second of two jam- and fan-packed nights at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium.

For over two hours, Nelson and Co. delivered a ton of butt-kicking rock and roll, oodles of Texas stomp and swagger, and a healthy dose of mellow sweetness to round out the flavor. A surprise appearance by Bob Weir was icing on the cake.

Mark Knopfler’s voice never sounded young. The Dire Straits frontman was in his late twenties when the timeless hit “Sultans of Swing” took over the airwaves in England and the U.S. in 1978. It was easy then to imagine the singer was himself a member of the storied bar band of which he sang; a time-tested musical soul-blowing Dixie double four time in a local dive bar decade after decade.

Approaching nearly two decades together, it might still surprise many that Chris and Oliver Wood only began their musical collaboration shortly before forming their band. The Wood Brothers, comprising Chris, Oliver, and drummer/keyboardist Jano Rix, delivered an electrifying performance at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood last Thursday evening, showcasing a chemistry that suggested a lifetime of collaboration.

Dogs. So hot right now. Readily apparent by another pair of sold-out shows. This time at the Bluebird Theater in Denver, CO. The sellouts mark the third and fourth of the year out of seven headlining shows thus far. Coming off a mini-tour in the Midwest opening for Andy Frasco & The U.N., Dogs In A Pile (DIAP) landed back in the Centennial State – a place they’ve heavily familiarized themselves with over the past year.

I had the pleasure of diving into Loreena McKennitt's latest album, The Road Back Home, it's nothing short of a mesmerizing journey through time, tradition, and the warmth of community. The Road Back Home is a nostalgic embrace of simpler times, capturing the essence of local performances that inspired her early in her career.

Gov’t Mule, in the midst of its 13-stop, Thirty Years Strong tour of the West, and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, on its opening winter/spring tour stop, both touched down on February 16 for a massive, and splendid, night of music at The Venue at Thunder Valley Casino Resort, just north of Sacramento.

One might say The High Hawks are a modern-day Roots supergroup, or perhaps just great friends who love to make music together. Either way, it's real magic happening that can't be ignored. You could not put together a more road-savvy group of personalities. These guys all met on the road, passing through the same venues and sharing time on the festival circuit.

In the three decades since their formation, Gov’t Mule has established themselves as a pillar of jam band music. Originally an offshoot of the early-90s lineup of the Allman Brothers Band, Mule quickly became a force in their own right, and they brought their unique brand of jammy, southern blues-rock to a packed Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on February 15th.

Orebolo closed their three-night stand at the Capitol Theatre on February 10, 2024, with another inspired acoustic performance. Those in attendance were fortunate to hear four first-time played tunes, along with more stellar Grateful Dead covers. This band continued to impress in a stripped-down environment, as they emerged as a formidable trio on the jam scene.