I'm trying to talk a few of my friends into accompanying me to MerleFest this spring in Wilkesboro, NC. But I'll probably attend the festival even if I have to go alone. The festival, which honors the late Merle Watson, features a killer lineup, starting with Doc and Richard Watson. Here's a partial list of some of the great acts who'll be there this year: • John Hammond • Tony Rice • Corey Harris • Sam Bush • The Waybacks • Jim Lauderdale • Little Feat • The Avett Brothers • Elvis Costello • Benton Flippen [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Chuck Prophet : 2009-09-26, Newcastle [mp3,ogg,flac] "Sonny Liston's Blues" [mp3] other Chuck Prophet posts at Largehearted Boy Cowboy Junkies : 2009-07-22, Seattle [mp3,ogg,flac] "Don't Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young cover)" [mp3] Cowboy Junkies : 2009-07-18, Jacksonville [mp3,ogg,flac] "Misguided Angel" [mp3] Cowboy [...]

It's been almost two years since we first featured the songs of Gillian Welch here on Cover Lay Down, though we've certainly had reason to revisit her works now and again as the coverage continues . As we noted way back when, Welch's talent is a revelation, both in performance and as a lyrical interpreter of the rural backporch mindset of the American South, and the dustbowl longing and religious overtones so often found in the works of this modern American Primitive are here in spades. There are several well-known [...]
Any Bluegrass fans out there? Merlefest has announced its 2010 line-up , featuring classic Bluegrass and "Traditional-plus" music from the likes of Doc Watson, Jerry Douglas, the recently 'Bluegrassified' Elvis Costello, and a number of other heavy-hitters in the broader Bluegrass realm. The Wilkesboro, North Carolina festival will take place April 29 - May 2, 2010, and will celebrate its 23rd year in existence. From the press release: MERLEFEST 2010 ANNOUNCES TALENT LINE UP TICKETS ON SALE NOVEMBER 10 WILKESBORO, N.C.- MerleFest 2010, presented [...]
As I mentioned last week , we had quite the musical smorgasbord in Knoxville over the weekend. Brendan James Wright, Chris Knight, The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show, Van Eaton & Friends, and The Steeldrivers all played somewhere in or around town this weekend. The biggest "event," of course, took place Friday night at World's Fair Park when the Old Crow Medicine Show and a few thousand of their closest friends gathered for The Big Surprise Tour. By all accounts, OCMS and friends [...]
What a weekend. So much glorious music not even Mother Nature could turn back the rock! Day 1 We got there as early as soon as the gates opened up at 11:00AM on Friday morning, welcomed by a slow falling(at first) rain. We just sort of wondered the park for the first hour, trying to get our lay of the land...killing time until Manchester Orchestra came on at noon. They were incredible. Sounded great and started the weekend off perfectly. After that things got interesting. The skies opened [...]

From the top: Band Of Horses, Kaiser Chiefs, The Greencards, Portugal. The Man, Friendly Fires, Sam Roberts Band, Mike's Pawn Shop
First things first, I'd like to apologize for my Lollapalooza coverage this year. Call it what you like, but I prefer to refer to it as "condensed" compared to past years. See, by this time in the week I'd normally have devoted the past four days to Lollapalooza preview coverage. That'd start with mp3s from every artist playing, followed by day-by-day previews and artist schedule match-ups. Given that my time is somewhat short these days and if I did do a post with mp3s from every artist at the festival it'd get pulled down in less than a couple hours [...]
The Greencards balance their progressive acoustic approach with admirable songwriting and appropriate arrangements.
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Cowboy Junkies : 1994-02-04, WNNX [mp3,ogg,flac] "Anniversary Song" [mp3] other Cowboy Junkies posts at Largehearted Boy Degenerettes : 2009-06-13, Baltimore [mp3,ogg,flac] "Queer for You" [mp3] other Degenerettes posts at Largehearted Boy Drive-By Truckers (with Booker T.) : 2009-06-13, Bonnaroo [mp3,ogg,flac] "Green [...]

With most eyes of the music world on 'roo hullabaloo and all of its showy splendor, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival , which takes place this weekend June 18-21, has quietly assembled one of the most electric lineups of the summer. As we can all attest, festival functionality tends to improve with age, so Telluride in its 36th year looks like it should be one of the best yet. In addition to bluegrass stalwarts like Jerry Douglas (in his 25th fest!), Bela Fleck, Peter Rowan, Tim O'Brien, Sam Bush, Yonder Mountain Strong [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Alan Semerdjian : "Your Love" [mp3] from The Big Beauty (out September 1st) other Alan Semerdjian posts at Largehearted Boy Amy Speace : "The Killer in Me" [mp3] from The Killer in Me (out June 30th) other Amy Speace posts at Largehearted Boy [...]
Honte à moi d'être jusque là passé à côté des disques des Greencards. Ce n'est pas faute de m'intéresser aux jeunes groupes de bluegrass hybride mais voilà, c'est peut-être leur pedigree anglo-australien qui m'a fait reculer au moment de la sortie de Movin' On (2004), Weather and Water (2005) et Viridian (2007). C'est Fascination que j'ai aujourd'hui entre les mains et pour une fois voilà un
Become fascinated by the Greencards musical mix!

New Bands Jack White of White Stripes and Raconteurs has a new band called The Dead Weather, basically another indie rock super group, featuring Queen of the Dean Fertita of Stone Ages, Alison Mosshart of The Kill's on vocals, and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteur's... and Jack White. I am praying they'll sign on for Lollapalooza this summer. The Raconteurs have played the last couple of Lolla's and I have heard rumors that they could be added to the lineup. They have a big gap around their scheduled show dates too that coincide with Lollapalooza. Hmmm. [...]

Lollapalooza 2009 will be from August 7th to August 9th in Chicago, of course. the line-up is pretty exciting and Chicago isn't too far away. Advance 3-day tickets are on sale now for $190 bucks. You can get them here . Here is the line-up... Depeche Mode * Tool * The Killers * Jane's Addiction * Beastie Boys * Kings of Leon * Lou Reed * Ben Harper and Relentless7 * Thievery Corporation * Snoop Dogg * Rise Against * Andrew Bird * TV on [...]

Top Album Releases: April 2009 Nick's Top The Crocodiles: Summer Of Hate Wooden Shjips: Dos Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Vs. Children Bat for Lashes: Two Suns Pomegranates: Everybody, Come Outside! [...]

Here it is!!!! The lineup actually is impressive this year...YAY Lily Allen!!!!!!!! Pearl Jam Dave Matthews Band Beastie Boys Kings of Leon Ben Harper and Relentless7 Thievery Corporation John Legend The Dead Weather The Levon Helm Band Ghostland Observatory Sonic Youth Mos Def Toadies Flogging Molly The B-52s Lily Allen Citizen Cope Arctic Monkeys The Decemberists Coheed and Cambria Andrew Bird Girl Talk STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) Phoenix Bassnectar Bon Iver !!! The Avett Brothers The Airborne Toxic Event Medeski, Martin & Wood Clutch Michael Franti & Spearhead Grizzly Bear Heartless Bastards Passion Pit White Lies [...]
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day music and art festival in Austin, Texas's Zilker Park. The Festival brings together more than 130 bands on eight stages, including rock, country, folk, indie, Americana, hip-hop, reggae, and bluegrass, and attracts a crowd of about 65,000 visitors each day. Named after the legendary PBS concert series, The festival is produced by C3 Presents, who also co-produce the Lollapalooza and Big State festivals. For more information: Check out their website here . This year the festival will take place October 2nd - 4th. [...]
The lineup for the Austin City Limits music festival down in Austin's Zilker Park was just announced yesterday. The three-day fest will go down Oct. 2nd-4th and will feature tons of music, food, comedy, dust, heat, portojohns, drugs, booze and everything else we all love about music festivals. Read on for the lineup. 2009 Austin City Limits Festival Lineup Pearl Jam Dave Matthews Band Beastie Boys Kings of Leon Ben Harper and Relentless7 Thievery Corporation John Legend The Dead [...]