“The older the song, the harder they slam” –Vince Herman

The United States hosted its first Winter Olympics in 1932. Lake Placid was the site for this first of only four visits the winter games have made to the states. Two of them have been in this cozy little village in the Northeast corner of New York. At the 1932 games, the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team battled a far superior Canadian team for a hard earned silver medal under the extended indoor arch known as the Jack Shea Arena, the first indoor hockey facility used in the Olympics since 1920.

I’m searching for phrases to describe Phases of the Moon Music & Art Festival.  It began as a dark side of the moon, but that was just a phase.  As an audience, our hackles were already up, howling at the moon before the weekend ever arrived.  Through no fault of the Phases organizers, RatDog had to cancel their appearance.  Bobby Weir’s lightening is lazy.

So many years after the disbandment of Grateful Dead that in turn relocated tens of thousands of devoted tour followers to various other acts and bigger life purposes, folks still crave that familiar feeling that kept them on tour. It didn’t only come from the music that Garcia and the gang connected with so many people through, but the sense of community and thriving weirdness that expanded continuously over decades of different intersections.

No single thing makes a festival the “best festival ever.” Sure, one great band can make it really good. Or maybe the campground scene was where it was at. But it’s really when you group those moments with the ones of unbearable laughter, silly dancing, and inspirational people that a festival becomes the “best ever.” And you know what? The Northwest String Summit consistently brings the best.

Leftover Salmon is excited to bring you a full weekend of music and more at The Stanley Hotel! Sam Bush will be joining LOS as a special guest on both Friday and Saturday. This one of a kind experience kicks off on the fabled evening of Friday the 13th of March, the site of where Stephen King’s novel “The Shining” takes place.

Another year and another successful Bonnaroo adventure can be checked off the list.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was rocking out to Sir Paul with my parental units at Bonnaroo 2013.  Where does the time go?  With each year I attend this festival, one thing does remain constant, change.  I was in attendance the first few years when Bonnaroo was in its infancy, going just as a fan to see 'The Dead

If summertime is the only time you make it to a killer music festival, you must not be from Colorado. Us cold-blooded mountain people could care less about below freezing temperatures and blustering blizzards. Live music is the lifeblood of Colorado’s thriving entertainment industry and the people want it all year round. Maybe one year somebody would be brave enough to host a winter camping festival, but for now, we have a few awesome concepts that are making the dead of winter a time to party at desirable festival grounds and see our favorite bands throw down a hootenanny.

New Year’s Eve 2013 was going to be a special night for the Colorado jamband scene before any notes were even played. String Cheese Incident was about to tie a bow on their 20^th anniversary as a Boulder band. Yonder Mountain String Band would soon cap off their 15^th year as a Nederland quartet. And for a certain faction of music lovers, recreational marijuana would become legal to purchase at the stroke of midnight.

Last September a devastating “100 Year Flood” about fifty years overdue devastated parts of Colorado, in particular Boulder County. The historic town of Lyons, a beautiful gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park and precious wilderness was affected worse than most. The St. Vrain River and other waterways turned the town into a riverbed, destroying and displacing many homes and lives. One of the worst hits was the Planet Bluegrass Ranch. Festivarians celebrated their 41^st Rockygrass Festival last summer a little over a month later the property was underwater.