Here's a festival I've been wanting to attend the last two years, and now I'm on the fence for the upcoming Joshua Tree Roots Music Festival. It's on October 18-19 in the high Mojave desert, and once again it presents a great lineup of rootsy, mostly acoustic jam bands along with some very fine individual folk-roots voices.

In my book, Peter Case is among the finest songwriters of his generation, as was demonstrated by the recently released all-star tribute album of other artists playing his songs. He is also a compelling performer when he pays tribute to great bluesmen of the past Mississippi John Hurt and Sleepy John Estes. I fell hard for Carrie Rodriguez when she was paired with Chip Taylor a few years back, and I'd love to see her solo act. Among jamgrass outfits, South Austin Jug Band and Trampled By Turtles are two of the best. Plus there's Dusty Rhodes & The River Band, The Devil Makes Three, Elephant Revival, Hillstomp, The Belleville Outfit, The Stairwell Sisters, Nathan and plenty more—too much fun.  Read more »