Umphrey’s McGee has graced almost every stage of significance in their hometown of Chicago.  So when the opportunity arises to see them in a new venue there is a palpable sense of excitement and expectation. Such was the mood when guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger followed up their ...view article

Kyle Hollingsworth, the keyboard player for the String Cheese Incident, was out on a short, three show run with his own band, the Kyle Hollingsworth Band.  Their stops were New Orleans at the Howlin’ Wolf, Houston at the Last Concert Café and the Art Outside festival in Rockdale, TX.  I caught ...view article

With a brisk start to November in Chicago, a crowds outside the House of Blues barred the chilly winds for a late night party. Conspirator, featuring Aron Magner and Marc Bownstien of the Disco Biscuits as well as BoomBox, a breakthrough duo featuring Russ Randolph and Zion Rock Godchaux. These bands ...view article

Fresh off of one of their fan directed Stew Art Series (S2) shows at Minglewood Hall in Memphis on Friday, Umphrey’s McGee hit Oklahoma City’s Diamond Ballroom with their full force last night.  The Diamond Ballroom is a big dance hall with about 1200 capacity, which was perfect for the UM-phans ...view article

Traveling down the winding one way streets in the town of Elgin, IL; to the hip, venue- bar in the downtown area called Mad Maggie's. Family Groove Company played there Friday evening thundering music through the streets. The Chicago based band drew attention to this city's suburbia, a reverse transit ...view article

eTown is a nationally syndicated radio show, heard weekly on NPR and other stations across the US.  It features top musical artists and is taped in front of a live audience.  This week’s featured artist was the Tedeschi Trucks Band, an 11 member group, led by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.  ...view article

Two of my favorite female artists performed at the Wiltern in LA this past Friday; Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers opened up for Grace Potter & the Nocturnals.  Nicki Bluhm is just wrapping up a national tour, which took her and her Gramblers down the East Coast, across the South then back to their ...view article

Its delightful to come across a band with mass amounts of emotion and passion in their playing, expressing it in live performances. Tea Leaf Green is one of those bands, that gathers a unique life force through their music. They have redefined present day jam-rock and appealed to audiences accustomed ...view article

Dark Star Orchestra graced the Jannus Live (Landing) stage located in downtown St. Petersburg, FL for a real good time. Ironically, I had just been listening to a Grateful Dead Winterland performance from 2/22/74 (40 years to the date) which was the year when the band played in front of their infamous ...view article