Canada's oldest folk festival remains one of North America's best all-around roots music festivals, judging by the just released 2010 lineup.

Some of the notable international stars on the bill include John Hiatt & The Combo, The Levon Helm Band, The Avett Brothers, Emmylou Harris and Hot Tuna. But the festival is known for its eclectic mix of singer-songwriter, world, blues, indie, string-band, Celtic, and other styles.

Other acts to look forward to include Andrew Bird, The Cat Empire, The Swell Season, Sarah Harmer, Greg Brown, Sonny Landreth, Geoff Muldaur, Alvin Youngblood Hart, The Wilders and Works Progress Administration. Hip-hop stars Arrested Development will make a much anticipated debut.

Winnipeg maintains its connection with the early days of the folk genre by presenting third-generation representatives of folk legends Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion and Tao Rodriguez Seeger. Also, nonagenarian Oscar Brand, a native of Winnipeg who played the very first festival in 1974 will get a honored appearance.

Ravinia Festival, the Chicago area concert series that claims to be America's longest running music festival, announced its popular music schedule, supplementing the previously released Chicago Symphony Orchestra repertory season schedule.

The most in-demand tickets could be for two performances by Sting backed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra as well as shows by Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sheryl Crow, and Carrie Underwood.

But there are a huge number of major stars in every popular music genre, including Backstreet Boys, Big Head Todd And The Monsters, Bobby McFerrin, Buddy Guy, Cheap Trick, Colbie Caillat, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Earth, Wind & Fire, Garrison Keillor, George Benson, Jethro Tull, John Hiatt & The Combo, Nancy Wilson, Nelly Furtado, Peter and Paul, Poi Dog Pondering, Procol Harum, Sheryl Crow, Soulive, Squeeze, Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, The B-52s, The Beach Boys, The Bodeans, The Cat Empire, The Four Tops, The Levon Helm Band, The Moody Blues, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, The Swell Season, The Temptations, Train, and Vince Gill.

The Jewish culture blog Jweekly.com has a nice preview of the upcoming Jewish Music Festival, which starts on March 28:

It’s easy to see why Ellie Shapiro, the director of the Bay Area’s vaunted Jewish Music Festival, wanted to include singer Lorin Sklamberg in this year’s lineup.

Once, at a Shabbat dinner both attended, Sklamberg led a niggun chant with such fervor that Shapiro accidentally broke her wine goblet while pounding on the table.

To see the whole article, click here.

Doheny Blues Festival added blues organ legend Booker T. Jones and four others to its 2010 lineup, bolstering a bill headed by Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Black Crowes for the May 22-23 event at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point CA.

Booker T. took home his first Grammy Award as a solo artist last month, winning the trophy for best pop instrumental album for his 2009 release Potato Hole, which he recorded with the Drive-By Truckers. The artist is best known for his decades of work with his former band The MGs.

He appeared at numerous festivals in 2009 with the DBTs, but is booked at fewer festivals in 2010 with solo billing. At Doheny, he'll be a featured act on Sunday, May 23, playing before Crosby, Stills & Nash close out the festival.

Also named for the upcoming festival are long-time blues-rock favorites The Fabulous Thunderbirds, acoustic blues guitarist Otis Taylor, Euro bluesman Igor Prado with Lynwood Slim and New Orleans funksters Big Sam's Funky Nation.