With two feet planted firmly in bluegrass, Claire Lynch’s interests and versatility take her comfortably into country, Americana with a tinge of jazz, swing, and blues in her compositions and her performances. Her career, spanning thirty-five years, includes stints with several bands and working as a house singer/songwriter with Universal-Polygram where her name appears on 160 projects, if I’m counting right. She’s been nominated for a couple of Grammies and was named IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 1997. Many of her songs are immediately familiar to bluegrass fans as is her youthful, clear, and expressive voice. Her signature songs include the recent hit “The Day that Lester Died,” “Hills of Alabam’”, and the yearning “Kennesaw Line.” Her version of “Wabash Cannonball” gives the entire band a chance to strut its stuff while always staying true to the great country original made famous by Roy Acuff.

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Quite possibly the most prestigious musical event today, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has hit the big 4-0 and in turn, has outdone itself in booking nothing less than the cream of the crop. The 2009 lineup is incredibly diverse, both stylistically and chronologically, and will take music from jazz, pop, rock, soul, gospel, folk, salsa, blues, R&B, funk, and lots of music rooted in Louisiana, such as Cajun and zydeco. The event is scheduled to take place the weekends of April 24-26 and April 30-May 3 and it's a wonder how they've managed to cram hundreds of artists into a mere seven days. There are so many artists that one wouldn't know where to start unless they have a specific genre in mind. So for now, let's extract some of the rock bands that will be playing.

Although an official schedule has yet to be released, the lineup has been broken up between the two weekends. During the first weekend, Dave Matthews Band will be featured as one of the headliners (sadly, sans the original sax player). Wilco, who strangely drew in a larger crowd than Rage Against the Machine at Lollapalooza, will undoubtedly be received with open arms.  Read more »

The summer rock festival is a hallowed tradition, and the mere mention of a Lollapalooza or a Bonnaroo calls to mind more than a few indelible images: The restless multitudes massed outside the brimming porta-potties, the eight-dollar hot dogs washed down with twelve-dollar beers, so many sunburned and shirtless party warriors being carried to the quiet mists of the chillout tent. The sun is out; people are on vacation; sometimes it rains, and we get naked in the mud.

Although displayed on the site's main page as running from November 14th-16th, the schedule indicates that a day appears to have been added at the beginning. So the event will supposedly start on Thursday the 13th, featuring additional performances by Perpetual Groove and The Motet. Other headliners include JJ Grey and Mofro, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, Yonder Mountain String Band, Soulive, The New Mastersounds, Lettuce, The Everyone Orchestra featuring Jon Fishman and Michael Kang, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Dr. Claw (another Ivan Neville outfit), and many more.  Read more »

This past Sunday was one of those beautiful, crisp fall days.  The sun was shining brilliantly in a clear, blue sky.  The temperature got up to the upper 70s and there was a slight breeze.  And my son and I were attending our second Voodoo Fest and considering the time well spent!

Stephen Rehage lost thousands of dollars in the making of the first New Orleans Voodoo Experience, the outdoor music festival he first produced in 1999 that only drew about 8,000 people.

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