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    Leftover Salmon @ Great American Music Hall

    (San Francisco, California) Photographer Brian Spady sent in this gallery from the 2/20 show at the Great American Music Hall. Check out more of his work on Facebook.

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    Stephane Wrembel @ Merrimans’ Playhouse

    (South Bend, Indiana) When a grammy-award winning musician is playing within 45 minutes of you, it’s imperative to get out and see some live music.  I purposely kept myself off Spotify and had no idea what to expect from the guitar of Stephane Wrembel, just an idea that it may be spectacular. Merrimans’ playhouse is situated near the railroad tracks close to the southernmost bend of the St. Joseph River in South Bend, Indiana, home of Notre Dame University. It’s an eclectic college town about two hours from Chicago, and like many things in the Midwest, full of surprises. I almost drove by the venue it until I saw a small chalkboard marquee out front….

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    Greensky Bluegrass + Umphrey’s McGee in Detroit

    Michigan favorites Greensky Blugrass opened for Umphrey’s McGee two for the second night in a row. Photos by Erin Slayter.    

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    Photo-recap:My Morning Jacket, 12.28.12

    Port Chester NY- – Better late than never, some problems on our side prevented these from going live at the time… My Morning Jacket did a 3 night run at The Capitol Theater before closing out 2012 at the Agganis Arena Boston. Joe Madonna was in the photo pit on night 2 to capture the action, take a look at his gallery below. My Morning Jacket at The Capitol Theatre – 12/28/12 Setlist: Wonderful (The Way I Feel) Golden Tonite I Want To Celebrate With You The Dark It Beats 4 U First Light The Bear Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time) (Elton John cover) Lowdown I’m Amazed Old…

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    Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad | Brooklyn Bowl | 12.7.2012

    Peter L Spadaro III BROOKLYN, NY – Friday Night at the Brooklyn Bowl is where most bands on the touring circuit wish they could be, and is always a platform for the best live music in New York City. This is especially true when a seasoned, but fresh band like Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad hits the stage with fistfuls of fury. Walking into The Bowl there was a certain buzz in the air, which immediately opened my eyes and got me excited for what was to come. The fellas from Rochester, NY hit the stage giving everything they could. Seeing these guys for the first time- my expectations were none, and boy did that…

FESTIVAL NEWS

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Instagram Gallery: Electric Forest Festival

We’ve enjoyed seeing these public images from Instagram from Electric Forest and thought you would too! Want to see yours here?  Tag it electricforest.

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Videos: Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival 2012

TRUMANSBURG, NY – A collection of videos from this years Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance. Videos include performances by Kevin Kinsella (w/ John Brown’s Body) Locos Por Juana, Donna The Buffalo, Jimkata, Driftwood, The Horse Flies, Keith Frank, plus more.

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Instagram Gallery: Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival

Enjoy this gallery of Instagram photos from the fans at the 2012 Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, NY. Want your GrassRoots Instagram photos to show up here? Tag them with #GrassRootsNY.  

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Quixotic Fusion @ Electric Forest

Part of our coverage of this year’s Electric Forest Festival in Rothbury, Michigan was working with Mike Silberman of A Sustainable Reality: Redefining Roots, a Chicago-based film & production company.  We’re ridiculously excited to share this performance video of Quixotic Fusion, who also performed at this year’s TED conference.   Quixotic is a diverse group of about fifteen Aerialists, Dancers, Musicians, Choreographers, Lighting/Projectionists and Artists who strive to push the boundaries of live performance using interactions between all of their performers while creating a multi-dimensional world that the crowd gets pulled into. This performance at Electric Forest 2012 combined the natural elements of the woods into a flawless ensemble of limitless wonder. Have a look,…

DJ Griz rushed the stage for Big Gigantic's grand finale at Sherwood Court.

A Big Gigantic Forest Finale

Campgrounds have been torn down, traces of life have been left scattered across the field at Double JJ Ranch, the sun will set on a place where only a day before, over 20,000 spirits resided. The magic of the forest has unfortunately come to at end and with that end comes lasting memories of a weekend filled with music, expression, dance and livelihood. Driving home by myself this morning with heavy eyes and a strong desire for a shower, I had a lot of time to look back at what I had just experienced. The crowd and their unspoken dedication to SCI and the rest of the artists performing, the artists in Sherwood Forest and…

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Day Three – Electric Forest

Photos by e.Tree Photography It seems as if everyone and their mother went a little too hard on Friday night because everything seemed to run a bit slower come Saturday afternoon. Of course that is to be expected when Steve Aoki and DIM MAK play into the early hours of the morning and its a little difficult to avoid the “WOOP WOOP” when you’re staying in general camping. Yet come 5:30 p.m. on Saturday when Santigold took the stage, the party (including myself) seemed to regain that second wind. Santigold was a must see on my schedule for the weekend though she seemed a bit reserved, flowing lightly across the stage and making hand gestures…

Interviews

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Interview: Femi Kuti.

Femi Kuti is a creative force unlike anyone else in music today. The eldest son of Fela Kuti pays homage to his father’s legacy while innovating new sounds within Afrobeat. Femi recently called in to discuss his lyrical inspiration, how he approaches collaboration and taking his music from the Shrine to the world. He is currently touring the US. For more info on Femi Kuti, check out http://www.femikuti.tv/ What was your first musical memory? My first musical memory was when I was 5 or 6, watching my father play. You’ve really been able to carry on your father’s legacy, while also pushing into new ideas and territories. How do you balance those styles? I think…

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Interview: Butch Trucks.

Butch Trucks is a legend. He is a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. He will be teaching and performing at the Roots Rock Revival in upstate New York, along with Luther and Cody Dickinson. Butch’s passion for music and life is inspiring. For more information on the Roots Rock Revival, check out http://musicmasterscamp.com/roots_rock_revival.html How are you? I’m feeling great today. I went to FSU Florida State. A buddy of mine and I went down to the Orange Bowl last night and watched Florida State just absolutely slaughter Northern Illinois. Are you a football fan? Yeah. Who’s your team? I’m more of a pro guy. I grew up that way, but since free agency,…

Royal Teeth. Photo Credit Zack Breaux.

Interview: Royal Teeth

Royal Teeth is a Lafayette, Louisiana-based rock band. They are playing Austin City Limits 2012 and the Voodoo Music Experience Royal Teeth tour constantly and are known for their joyous, energetic live shows. Guitarist/Vocalist Gary Larsen recently wrote in to discuss how the band came together, their songwriting process and the collaborative nature of Royal Teeth. For more info on Royal Teeth, check out http://www.royalteethmusic.com/ What is your earliest musical memory? I remember deciding pretty early on that I wanted to be a big rock star one day. My parents bought me a bass for my 10th birthday and about a week later I played at my school fair. It wasn’t pretty. Did you come from a…

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Interview: TAUK – Coming to a Festival Near You

  Bands That Jam recently caught up with the Long Island/NYC  band TAUK, before they ventured out to start their summer shows. A very large portion of our readers will be able to see them perform in the  coming months,as they are playing several big festivals: Hangout Beach, Summercamp, Bonnaroo, and The Allman Brother’s Peach festival. BTJ asked a few questions, here’s what they had to say- Download their album Pull Factors for free from their website,and listen while you read. The uplifting instrumental is sure to become a permament fixture on your playlists. Bands That Jam : First things first- your name TAUK, we understand it’s a nod to your hometown and roots….  -Yes! Kinda….the name…

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Interview: Tommy Stinson

Tommy Stinson is a rock legend. He was a member of famed Minnesota-based rock group the Replacements. Since 1998, he has been the bassist for Guns N’ Roses and Soul Asylum. His latest release is the solo album “One Man Mutiny.” For more info on Tommy Stinson, check out http://tommystinson.com/ or follow him on twitter: @tommy_stinson. McClain Johnson: As a solo artist, how does your songwriting process work? Tommy Stinson: You know, I don’t really have one particularly. When I’ve got free time and my head is freed up from touring and all that stuff, it just sort of comes to me. It can come to me in any way, whether it is guitar, bass, drums,…

Keller Williams at the 2011 Electric Forest Festival - photo by Benjamin Slayter

Interview: Keller Williams

Keller’s musical career is on fire. His recent Kdubalicious album titled simply, “Bass” kicked off last December, and as we write this he’s doing his best to keep the Travelin’ McCourys from fishing off the boat during Jam Cruise.  I’ve seen Keller play with everyone from The String Cheese Incident to the Rhythm Devils, and caught up with him recently at his show in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Blind Pig.  Based on the track he shared with us (scroll all the way down), I can’t wait to see him with the Travelin’ McCourys next summer. Bands That Jam:  Welcome to Michigan Keller.  Thanks for sitting down to talk with Bands That Jam.  What were…

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Interview: Mason Jennings

  BTJ Photographer Chris Monaghan sat down recently with singer/songwriter Mason Jennings to talk about his current cross country tour, his beginnings as a musician and his songwriting style. You can stream Jennings’ latest Minnesota and see his remaining dates on his website. BandsThatJam:     How old were you when you started playing guitar, and when did you know you wanted to be a musician? Mason Jennings: I would always write these songs when I was pretty little, even when I was 8 or 9 I would write these full songs and sing them in to a tape recorder, so I was always really writing.  But I really wanted to play drums. I started on drums…

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Interview: Bob Weir & Searching for Freedom

Searching For Freedom With Bob Weir Bob Weir is the co-founder of the Grateful Dead. His other bands include Furthur and RatDog. His latest project is TRI Studios (http://www.tristudios.com/), which broadcasts high quality concerts live online. He recently called in to discuss the impact of technology on his songwriting, the creation of TRI Studios and the free-flowing nature of the Dead’s setlist creation. McClain Johnson: How did the concept for TRI studios come together? How did it get started? Bob Weir: It was a long, involved process. I picked up a recording console, an API recording console. In my opinion, it was the best console I could get. We started building a studio around it. Along the way, an old…

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Interview: Mike Doughty

Mike Doughty is one of the best, most creative singer-songwriters out today. He has a skill for writing memorable hooks, and writes intriguing, oddball, poetic lyrics. His latest album, Yes and Also Yes, will be released August 30th on his own label, Snack Bar. Mike recently wrote in to discuss his love of pop songs, how he creates beats and the challenges of being an independent artist. For more info on Mike Doughty, check out http://www.mikedoughty.com McClain Johnson: What inspired “Into the Un?” Mike Doughty: Actually, weirdly, I was asked to write something for the next Twilight soundtrack–though they rejected the song. It’s a kind of psychedelic goth fantasia–I hung out with a lot of…

Photo Credit: Michael Weintrob

Interview: Bruce Hornsby

Bruce Hornsby is a piano player/singer-songwriter who works in many different styles and with a wide range of other artists. His latest release is the live album, Bride of the Noisemakers. He recently discussed playing with the Grateful Dead, how he is always looking to expand his sound and his passion for modern classical music. McClain Johnson: How old were you when you first started playing piano? Bruce Hornsby: I started really late. I started at age 17, junior year in high school, for a couple of inspirational reasons. My older brother, Bobby Hornsby, was the original musician in our band. He was the guy who had bands in junior high school and late elementary…

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Interview: Victor Wooten, Bassist

Victor Wooten (twitter: @victorwooten) is one of the world’s most talented bass players. He is well known as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones as well as a solo artist. He discussed the biggest obstacles he’s had in his career, how he met Bela and how his family got him into music.