With a clear, and factual, end to the election, resulting in Joe Biden becoming the President-Elect, it is now time for kindness.  We have endured 4-years of hateful speech and vile behavior from the top, while the top encouraged this same behavior from American citizens.  This is not a sustainable temperament in our society. Our democracy and our individual minds cannot endure this type of constant chaos.  

In the old days, Republicans and Democrats, along with other parties, could work together.  They weren't so polarized that it was impossible to bring them to the middle.  Right now, we are seeing the most polarized politics possibly ever.  We need to begin to heal America, while coming to the middle.  There is a Yin & a Yang in all that exists.  The way to handle this is to allow the two to co-exist and fit together as the two pieces of the Yin & Yang fit together.  This symbol represents how it is necessary to have two sides of an issue and how those two sides should fit together.  We need to embrace our differences and figure out how we fit together....

Little Village Foundation (LVF), the non-profit record company founded in 2014 by Grammy Award-winning keyboardist Jim Pugh, produces and distributes recordings by a wide array of performers operating outside of the music industry mainstream. Pugh, who has recorded and toured with the likes of Van Morrison, Robert Cray, John Lee Hooker and Etta James, created the label in 2014 to expand the reach of talented artists who might not otherwise break out of their local and regional circles.  

20 x 20 comprises twenty stripped-down songs recorded by twenty LVF artists for the year 2020. It is both a document of and a compilation for our times. Taken as a whole, the compilation unifies several undercurrent themes, including the importance of family, reevaluating our life priorities in challenging times, feeling nostalgic for bygone days, and not surprisingly, examining our political landscape with a critical eye and holding our political leaders accountable for their actions.

The opening track, “Things to Learn,” sung and finger-picked on acoustic guitar by multi-instrumentalist Nic Clark accompanied by cellist Katherine Smith, is a melancholic song reflecting on the lessons of childhood. Early on, Clark sings of learning to crawl and learning to walk, but concludes with the inevitable awakening of adulthood and the realization that “…life moves like the air.”...

Hump day in St Petersburg, FL brought in Umphreys McGee for night 1 of their 4 night FL excursion. The FL concerts will drive them full throttle into the summer festival season. The scene was a tad more mellow this year since the concert in St Pete was on a Wed. and not a weekend like years prior. The intense light show dazzled many as it flickered off the large oak tree that grows inside the venue. The VIP lounge and balcony were open to all this year and people were able to escape the crowd for a bit. Another great UM show in St Pete and they should keep coming back for more jams and god times. ...

The Infamous Stringdusters joined Chicago on this St. Patrick’s day of 2017 and made the day merrier than it already was with their bluegrass tunes, while people sported their St. Patrick’s Day Hats, beads, stickers and colors of green. They played songs of old and new, with a fantastic light show to back them up, while toasting to their fans in Chicago with shots of Jameson, the classic Irish whiskey. At the closing of the night, Infamous Stringdusters even played some great bluegrass Grateful Dead covers like “Jack Straw” and then during the encore with opening band The Way Down Wanderers they played “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad”. In all it was a very satisfying of bluegrass, jigging and friends and I can’t wait to see them again....