Mickey Hart is best known for his nearly three decades as an integral part of an extraordinary expedition into the soul and spirit of music, disguised as the rock and roll band the Grateful Dead. As half of the percussion tandem known as the Rhythm Devils, Mickey and Bill Kreutzmann transcended the conventions of rock drumming. Their extended polyrhythmic excursions were highlights of Grateful Dead shows, introducing the band's audience to an ever-growing arsenal of percussion instruments from around the world. Exposure to these exotic sounds fueled Mickey's desire to learn about the various cultures that produced them. On April 10th, 2012, Hart released Mysterium Tremendum, his first in studio album in five years, and the follow up to his 2007 Grammy winning Global Drum Project.

Yonder Mountain String Band has always played music by its own set of rules. Bending bluegrass, rock and countless other influences that the band cites, Yonder has pioneered a sound of their own. With their traditional lineup of instruments, the band may look like a traditional bluegrass band at first glance but they've created their own music that transcends any genre. Dave Johnston points out "What could be more pure than making your own music." Yonder's sound cannot be classified purely as "bluegrass" or "string music" but rather it's an original sound created from "looking at music from [their] own experiences and doing the best job possible."

Karl Denson has led a storied career as a multi-faceted recording and performing artist who first came to prominence as a member of Lenny Kravitz' band debuting on his first release, Let Love Rule, and staying on for the next five years. While developing a following overseas, he joined Fred Wesley's band, touring and recording with him on multiple releases. This led to five straight ahead jazz albums by Denson on Minor Music, the last of which was released to rave reviews and featured Karl in a trio setting with Miles Davis alumni Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. In 1993, Denson joined DJ Greyboy in creating Greyboy Records and released the legendary acid jazz staple, Freestylin. Out of that collaboration, Denson formed The Greyboy Allstars, which became world renowned as the ultimate groove band, spreading their "West Coast Boogaloo" style worldwide. Denson took this formula to the next level by putting more emphasis on vocals and adding some funk, R&B and hip hop elements. It turned out to be a winning combination, which set KDTU on the top of the heap in the touring world from 1999 through 2005, selling over 250,000 records to date.

Together with Bob Marley, the Wailers have sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide. Outside of their groundbreaking work with Marley, the Wailers have also played or performed with international acts like Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, and Alpha Blondy, as well as reggae legends such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and Burning Spear. As the greatest living exponents of Jamaica's reggae tradition, the Wailers have completed innumerable other tours, playing to an estimated 24 million people across the globe. They have also been the first reggae band to tour new territories on many occasions, including Africa and the Far East. Reggae music has never stopped evolving but for millions of people from around the world it's still defined by the songs of Bob Marley and the Wailers. It's been their heartbeat rhythms that have inspired so much of what's followed since, as evidenced by the enduring popularity of the "one-drop" reggae sound.

It's been said that the musicians of New Orleans are all members of one gigantic band that breaks up into smaller groups on a nightly basis. If this were really the case, The New Orleans Suspects would be in a class all their own. The group is comprised of musicians with experience and versatility that rival any other band that the city has ever produced. Together these five musicians create music that is firmly rooted in the modern New Orleans sound with compelling originals and tasteful covers. The rhythm section of Scanlan and Green are as comfortable together as red beans and rice. Gruver tickles the ivories or soars into the stratosphere on the organ. Watkins provides stellar saxophone fills and solos with great aplomb. Eckert's rhythm guitar work neatly complements his razor sharp solos. Though the band can clearly jam, with Eckert and Gruver trading off on lead vocals they are no simple jam band.

Melvin is best known for his long friendship and musical partnership with cultural icon and guitarist Jerry Garcia and the smile of his that lights up the room. Melvin spun his B-3 magic with the Jerry Garcia Band for 18 years and in doing so helped pioneer and define what has now become "Jam Band Music". From blues to funk to rock to jazz, Melvin Seals serves up a tasty mix with a little R&B and gospel thrown in to spice things up. Melvin and JGB brings an intuitive, expressive style, soul, spontaneity and remarkable chops to the table. With acoustic and electric ingredients and unique combinations of guitar, mandolin, slide and lap steel with savory bass, hearty drums and, of course, a heapin' helpin' of the wizard's magic on Hammond B-3 Organ and keyboards, the result is a most satisfying blend of natural organic grooves that challenges genre boundaries. Their chemistry is the focus from which they create a spontaneous and high art where the sky is the limit musically. They offer an exciting, often psychedelic musical journey that keeps audiences dancing and smiling (and some staring in amazement) for several hours. Melvin is pioneering a path deeper into the musical territory he helped to establish.

Formed in 2007, The Werks are quickly emerging as a national jam band powerhouse. As a result of their eclectic individual influences, The Werks produce a dance party that can be appreciated by a majority of musical tastes. Fusing the psychedelic shredding guitar and screaming organ of jam and classic rock with funk slap bass, synthesizers, and modern dance beats, The Werks create their own style of music entitled "Psychedelic Dance Rock". Their unique style of performing is affected and manipulated by the energy of the audience, guaranteeing that each show will be different and memorable.

If you're familiar with bluegrass music, then you're tuned in to some of what Greensky Bluegrass does. They're also known to throw a great party, rock n roll, and (if the critics are to be believed) they have great songs. They are unquestionably a team of friends that traverse the country making music they enjoy. What makes Greensky different than Bluegrass? Poignant rural ballads about real people? Dobro tone that Jerry (Douglas or Garcia) would love? Distortion Pedals? Grit and attitude from a whiskey soaked card game? Indeed, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

This quintet from Michigan has been staying up late at all the coolest festivals and stopping to play your favorite clubs and theaters across America for 11 years now. Nearly 175 shows per year has prepared them for the rigorous task of continuity. Greensky Bluegrass isn't slowing down. They're coming to your town to help you party down. Yeah. Really. Like you never thought possible.

At the start of the millennium, some of these guys met, then they met more guys. They thought Greensky was a clever name for a bluegrass band. Fast forward to 2011 when they recorded their fourth studio record, called Handguns. Among them, words like, proud, killer, and damn right! have been spoken in regards to the music of Handguns.

While they all may be accurate, we hope you'll find far more than you expected, hell - even more than we expected contained in this piece work that may well come to define one of 21st Century Americas hardest working musical ensembles.

The Donna Jean Godchaux Band with Jeff Mattson combines Muscle Shoals-soulful vocals with a legendary jamming lead guitar on original tunes and lots of Grateful Dead songs. The band includes David MacKay (from Muscle Shoals favorites The Fiddleworms) on bass, Joe Chirco (Long Island's hardest working drummer) on percussion, and Freeman White (formerly of Jam Stampede) on keys and vocals. After her stint with the Grateful Dead, Donna Jean took some time off, but returned to performance in the '90s, eventually falling into a profound musical bond with Jeff Mattson of Dark Star Orchestra. They're seriously ready to rock.

In 2006, John Brown's Body found itself at a crossroads, when the death of bassist Scott Palmer broke the band's heart. After the tragedy, several longtime members left the group. But, a strange thing happened to the band staring at its own mortality: somehow, JBB emerged transformed and inspired. A vital, creative energy sprang from the band's new dynamic and new members. JBB found itself pushing more at the edges of reggae. New songs incorporated slinkier bass lines, denser instrumentation, less predictable rhythms. Beats became funkier, more drum-and-bass inflected. JBB realized it was at a turning point: keep playing the same style of music, or follow the new sound and see where it leads. It was the same way the band members felt about reggae: how do you break rules and create something unique while still honoring the music that came before? The answer is that it's possible (and ultimately necessary) to push forward.

For more than a decade pianist/sound-sculptor/songwriter Marco Benevento has been amassing an extensive resume of composition and collaboration. His studio albums have set forth a vision for music that connects the dots between Explosions In The Sky and Tortoise on one side, Brian Eno and Brad Mehldau on the other, while in the live setting his performances reverberate with pulsating dance rock energy. The 34-year old artist takes the next step forward in this evolution with his latest album, TigerFace, on which he paints his songs in a myriad of sonic colors, shimmering with acoustic piano, synths and analog keyboards. The tunes themselves seemingly conceptualized from every wisp of melody, hook and cadence that's ever tickled his ear.

Music unites us in ways that no other medium can. Even when we don't understand one another's languages - we can be moved by a rhythm, soothed by a song. Brought together by a unified sense of purpose - the spirit of five souls working as one, in harmony, creating sounds they could never produce alone. The five souls in Elephant Revival are Sage Cook (banjo, guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo, bass and fiddle); Bridget Law (fiddle, octave fiddle); Bonnie Paine (washboard, djembe, musical saw, stompbox); Daniel Rodriguez (guitar, banjo, bass); and Dango Rose (double-bass, mandolin, banjo). All share vocals and write songs. Paine delivers additional beats via footstomps on plywood, her stockinged feet doing near jigs as her hands, encased in antique leather gloves, rub silver nickel against corrugated metal.

Over the course of the past four years, the Pimps of Joytime have evolved into a road tested and audience approved groove machine. They have excited crowds at hundreds of club shows and numerous festivals. Amazingly, their stage performance improves each night as the electricity between the band members rises to new heights. This fluidity is not something you can manufacture, it is an authentic and exciting collaboration that is the Pimps of Joytime. With every show, The Pimps are offering their fans and music lovers alike a chance to experience the electrifying rhythms that lace the upcoming album, Janxta Funk!

It's not easy being a multi-hyphenate. But singer-songwriter-guitarist-radio producer/ host-author-journalist-record producer-photographer David Gans at least makes it look like loads of fun. That he can juggle so many balls in the air is nothing short of astonishing; that he does it with such skill, passion, assurance, wit and grace is even more remarkable. Known far and wide as the light behind the widely syndicated Grateful Dead Hour radio program, several books on the Dead and a number of intriguing CDs relating to the band and its music (see below), David has in recent years blossomed into a compelling performer in his own right, touring nationally and releasing several albums, the most recent of which is the critically acclaimed Twisted Love Songs. The seventeen tunes on Twisted Love Songs offer a wonderful glimpse of the breadth of this modern troubadour's musical gifts.

Rumpke Mountain Boys have molded their own style of bluegrass/jamgrass that they call Trashgrass. Using banjo, mandolin, bass, and acoustic guitar RMB plays a wide variety original and cover material. The band's choice of songs to cover leaves no genre of music untouched. Being a group comprised of four singer/songwriters their list of originals is just as diverse. The passion and drive of their live performance has made Rumpke a favorite at festivals and music venues everywhere they go.

With a high-energy mix of funk, rock, electronica, and jazz, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has made their mark as a band that will always bring a good time. Through a continually evolving selection of original and cover songs merged together by seamless improvisational jams, the Pigeons continue to reinvent their electro-funk style at every show. Playing more and more festivals and major concerts in the regional circuit, they've built a uniquely loyal following, aptly called 'The Flock,' who they refuse to disappoint. With no end in sight, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong is here to bring the party with their danceable grooves and infectious ability to bring positive energy to any environment.

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Those were the words spoken by Neil Armstrong as he walked on the moon. After years of hard work we achieved the impossible, forever leaving a mark in the world consciousness. Cabinet's 4 th record, LEAP, is exactly that for this sometimes ragged, all the time professional band of American dreamers from Pennsylvania. After years of tearing apart American music and building it up again in their own vision, Cabinet has unveiled a work that perfectly defines.... Cabinet. The rough hewn structure that began as six musicians with divergent styles coming together has been whittled, sanded, and polished through persistence and hard work. The result is an impressive structure that shows each of the players and their unique contribution in simple, elegant beauty.

BigeaR is John Mullins (guitars & vocals), Cliff Starbuck (bass, & vocals), Steve Frye (drums, washboard, bucket & vocals), Nate Hollman (keys & organ) and Ian Caroll (lead guitar).

The Folkadelics are anything but a folk band. Led by four-part vocal harmonies, wah-wah mandolin, and beatbox harmonica, The Folkadelics blur funk, reggae, rock, and hip-hop to create a unique sound, brought to life by their high-energy live shows. The Folkadelics burst into the live music scene in the summer of 2012 with their most extensive tour to date. After kicking off the summer with a sold-out NYC concert cruise, The Folkadelics went on to support The Wailers and Rusted Root, and perform at festivals throughout the East Coast and Midwest. They celebrated the finale of their tour with a highly-anticipated hometown performance headlining Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Twiddle has started a frenzy on both coasts with complexities that conjure up Coltrane, Ranglin, and Zappa, yet still embracing the roots of Jam traditions. Finally a group of virtuoso musicians who not only understand climactic build and release, but deliver their intricate compositions night after night to jazz purists and screaming fans, all at the same time. You've got a true cross-over band when parents and their college-age children all go to the same show. Twiddle is a sound that defiantly weaves and dodges through genres. It's three-dimensional music. You can see it from all sides, and even serve it to your guests. It's Twiddle. Tasty.

From the bush of Africa, Napoleon, Joseph, Issac, Mosses and JJ Sabbah emerge. The African Showboyz hail from Binaba, a tiny village in the northeast region of Ghana, West Africa. This tribal quintet is a unique blend and remarkable experience of African drum, dance, magic and adrenaline. In Binaba, the drum is a cultural symbol in child birthing, naming, marriage and funeral ceremonies, as well as festivities marking the planting and harvesting of crops. Dance is a story told. In Binaba, there is no electricity, nor an opportunity for education, but through sheer determination and an intense respect for humanity; the African Showboyz have bridged borders; mesmerizing and enchanting audiences throughout Africa, France, and Germany. At a Showboyz performance, prepare yourself for a world class raw-roots experience. From tribal drumming and dance to phenomenal glass eating and mystical fire twirling; from comic routines to "African Black Power" exhibits, these beautiful young African men entertain all ages with vibrant heart and soul, it's contagious!

"My Sisters and Brothers" is a celebration of the Jerry Garcia Band and related music. Hailing from Lexington, Kentucky, this 6 piece strives to recreate that heavenly sound.

DSO's own Dino English is featured behind the drum kit. While on breaks from touring, he sharpens his skills with this hometown side-project.

On lead guitar and vocals is Lee Owen (Born Cross Eyed, Vassar Clements and The Little Big Band), and Brad Slutskin (Green Genes) plays the keyboards. The sound is polished by the back-up harmonies of Jenny Adkins and Katherine Adams, who recently accompanied Melvin Seals when he visited Lexington.

THE ARK BAND is a St. Lucian reggae band, based in Columbus, Ohio, founded in 1987 by Terry and Eustace Bobb. Combining heavenly harmonies with tight crisp performances, this powerhouse of talent captures their audiences with their very first note. THE ARK BAND's repertoire combines original and cover compositions with classic and current reggae hits designed to entertain, educate and enlighten all types of people. THE ARK BAND continues to be a dynamic force on the American scene after two decades, their songs expressing the love, peace, togetherness and spirituality needed in our world today!

As Tour Manager for Dark Star Orchestra, Matt Reynolds doesn't get to be on stage too often, but when he does, it's nothing short of inspiring. With just his firey red locks and acoustic guitar, Reynolds captivates audiences through originals and covers, and the band is excited once again to put their TM back in the spotlight.

Charles Hedgepath is a singer/songwriter passionate about all genres of music. Having worked with established artists such as Jeff Sipe (Aquarium Rescue Unit), Bobby Lee Rogers (The Code Talkers), and Yonrico Scott (Derek Trucks Band), Hedgepath has earned his own name throughout South Carolina with his bands The Work and The Bad Popes.