Shoe Fest returns to Camp Shaw in Manteno, Illinois, August 29–31, 2025, for its fourteenth annual weekend of roots-rich revelry, riverbank camping, and round-the-clock pickin’. The intimate, family-friendly gathering—nestled just an hour south of Chicago—has built a reputation for pairing Midwest hospitality with nationally revered talent, and this year’s lineup might be its most sparkling yet.

When Matt Cameron quietly shared a short, heartfelt note of farewell this morning—“After 27 fantastic years, I have taken my final steps down the drum riser for the mighty Pearl Jam”—the rock world felt a collective jolt. For a generation of fans, Cameron wasn’t just the band’s drummer; he was Pearl Jam’s heartbeat.

Phish rolls into Pholsom Field for a triple-header—July 3, 4 & 5—and the whole town is tuning up like an over-stuffed kick drum. From sunset sound-checks echoing off the Flatirons to last call at the Fox, this Independence Day weekend promises more peaks than a “YEM” trampoline jam. Grateful Web has your play-by-play: trails to wander, taps to sample, veggie delights to devour, and the late-night throw-downs that keep the lights on long after the encore fades.

Grateful Web invites music lovers of all ages to soak up irie rhythms and Bay-Area sunshine as Crucial Reggae Sundays continues its free concert series at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell / Music Concourse (75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., San Francisco). From 4:20 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Sweetwater Music Hall, the storied Mill Valley nonprofit that has welcomed the Grateful Dead family since Jerry himself first took the stage decades earlier, rolls into mid-summer with a calendar tailor-made for Deadheads. While the venue continues to present every shade of live music, July and August lean heavily into psychedelic roots, improvisation, and the communal spirit that defines the Dead’s enduring legacy.

This past weekend, genre-bending rock band Spafford delivered a high-energy, two-night stand at Electric Haze, captivating fans with deep improvisation, playful transitions, and a major surprise on the second night.

On night two, the band opened the show with the live debut of a brand-new song titled “Dissociation Assist” — a moody, exploratory track that leaned into the band’s more experimental side while still anchored by their signature groove.

Merge Records is proud to unveil Baby Man, the quietly stunning new album from acclaimed indie outfit Fruit Bats, set for release on September 12, 2025. Written and performed entirely by singer-songwriter Eric D.

Rare Bird Books today ushers drummer, attorney, and jam-band trailblazer Greg Anton onto the literary main stage with the publication of It’s About Time, a propulsive rock-and-roll mystery that puts the back-room drama of the music business under a bright, unflinching light.

Greensky Bluegrass added a spark of collaborative magic to Blue Ox Music Festival on Friday, June 28, 2025, when the band welcomed Grammy-winning flat-picker Molly Tuttle to the Pines Music Park stage in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Midway through an already-fiery first set, Tuttle strapped on her guitar for Sean Camp’s “My Love Will Not Change,” and the single morphed into a sprawling jam more than seven minutes long.

Nestled beneath the ancient oaks of Mendocino County’s storied Black Oak Ranch, Dead On The Creek will once again gather Deadheads, bluegrass pickers, and roots-music revelers for three days of song, fellowship, and creek-side camping from Friday, August 8 through Sunday, August 10, 2025.