Look no further than the title track of their new Vanguard debut album The Bear to understand Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers. As the band sings passionately, "Sometimes you get The Bear, sometimes The Bear gets you. Sometimes you're gonna win, sometimes you're gonna lose… but you know in the end – there's no apologies!" Many bands talk about "keeping it real," but in The Sixers' case, they mean it. "We're not up there projecting a personality we can't believe in. I think it's important to go with the feel of each moment and take chances. If that means we get out of synch or sing out of key once in a while, so be it. The crags are cool because they're interesting." That explains why producer Tom Schick (Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright) signed up for the new record. "Each person in The Sixers really adds a lot," he says. "They're so locked in with each other. Stephen is definitely the leader of the gang, but everybody has their say," he adds of the roles played by Boots Factor and Kit Karlson. "They rise and fall together. It's amazing to watch them work."

Look no further than the title track of their new Vanguard debut album The Bear to understand Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers. As the band sings passionately, "Sometimes you get The Bear, sometimes The Bear gets you. Sometimes you're gonna win, sometimes you're gonna lose… but you know in the end – there's no apologies!" Many bands talk about "keeping it real," but in The Sixers' case, they mean it. "We're not up there projecting a personality we can't believe in. I think it's important to go with the feel of each moment and take chances. If that means we get out of synch or sing out of key once in a while, so be it. The crags are cool because they're interesting." That explains why producer Tom Schick (Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright) signed up for the new record. "Each person in The Sixers really adds a lot," he says. "They're so locked in with each other. Stephen is definitely the leader of the gang, but everybody has their say," he adds of the roles played by Boots Factor and Kit Karlson. "They rise and fall together. It's amazing to watch them work."

Johnny Winter has been a guitar hero without equal. Signing to Columbia records in 1969 called largest solo artist deal of it's time, Johnny immediately laid out the blueprint for his fresh take on classic blues a prime combination for the legions of fans just discovering the blues via the likes of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. Constantly shifting between simple country blues in the vein of Robert Johnson, to all-out electric slide guitar blues-rock, Johnny has always been one of the most respected singers and guitar players in rock and the clear link between British blues-rock and American Southern rock (a la the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.) Throughout the '70s and '80s, Johnny was the unofficial torch-bearer for the blues, championing and aiding the careers of his idols like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Today Johnny Winter is enjoying an unparalleled resurgence performing to sold out shows worldwide even after a long life full of honors and accomplishments such as a triumphant appearance at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival with Derek Trucks, Buddy Guy and Clapton that has been immortalized on the Emmy award winning DVD. His recent Grammy nominated "I'm A Bluesman" disc on Virgin/EMI, has only added to his Texas-sized reputation.

After celebrating the end of their first decade together with a massive fan release, Railroad Earth Retrospective: 2001-2009, the tightly-woven unit of Railroad Earth is embarking on a new chapter in their musical journey. The rootsy Americana ensemble will hit the stage again on their first tour of 2010 with a new bass player, a new record deal (One Haven Music), and a new album in the can (to be released late Summer 2010) for what is expected to be a great year for the revitalized Railroad Earth. Collectively, Railroad Earth wields an impressive arsenal of sounds, with each player bringing a variety of instruments and tones to the collective. The unique howl of an edgy rock-inflected violin, a fat-toned acoustic guitar with sounds bordering on a classic Gibson motif, wild fanning mandolin chording that has an almost piano-like attack, rolling or clawing banjo and dobro, and a slamming rhythm section driven by precise, rock-hard drumming and an aggressively, pumping upright bass. All of this delivered with surprisingly unique vocals, powerful harmonies and world-class songwriting.

Greg Brown was born in the Hacklebarney section of southeastern Iowa and raised by a family that made words and music a way of life. His seasoned songwriting, storytelling, and music are deeply rooted in that place. He moves audiences with warmth, humor, a thundering voice and his unpretentious musical vision. His mother played the electric guitar, his grandfather played the banjo, his grandmother was a poet, and his father was a Pentecostal preacher. Greg’s youth was spread across a map of the Midwest as they moved between churches (and even denominations), but music was always a staple. Gospel and hymns, classical, hillbilly, early rock and roll, country, and blues coalesced into a simmering stew of sound. Greg studied classical voice and piano as a child and also sang with choirs and in state competitions. At six he took up the pump organ and at twelve he learned the basics of guitar from his mother (who was also an English teacher—so books and poetry were always around the house). Greg continues to stay busy writing and performing, and with the release of his new album The Evening Call, he will be performing at festivals and theaters across North America. When not on the road, he splits his time between Iowa and Missouri with his children and wife Iris DeMent.

Hot Rize, "one of bluegrass's best and most historically significant quartets" (Nashville Scene), has reunited for their first US tour in over a decade, including recent high-profile performances at Bonnaroo and Telluride ("the 10,000 in attendance were ecstatic," writes Jambands). The band is recording new music for the first time in 20 years, beginning with a rearrangement of "Wichita Lineman." Coming your way soon! "The world is ready for a revisit from Hot Rize," says banjo player Pete Wernick, who launched the band in 1978 with Tim O'Brien (mandolin, fiddle, lead vocals) and Nick Forster (electric bass, vocals) and guitarist Charles Sawtelle. "In the rare times we've reunited for one-off performances, we've seen a level of enthusiasm that's been hard to ignore." Following the untimely passing of Sawtelle in 1999, the quartet reorganized in 2002 with Grammy winner and five-time IBMA Guitarist of the Year, Bryan Sutton. "I'm so happy to be playing with Hot Rize. I've been a fan since seeing them as a kid when they came through North Carolina," adds Sutton. "It's a joy to share the music."

Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Marc Cohn has been obsessed with pop music for as long as he can remember: "I was hooked from day one. My older brother had a band that rehearsed in our basement, so I heard Bacharach, The Beatles, Ray Charles, and Motown coming up through the floorboards from the time I was six years old. By the time I was eleven though, the Beatles were breaking up and singer-songwriters were breaking through, and a lot of that music really resonated for me." 1970 was a milestone for Marc – and for pop culture at large, given the unprecedented range of notable artists who made the charts that year. It was the momentous beginning of a new decade, and Cohn himself was moving closer to the precipice of young adulthood. The songs of that eventful year would stick with him forever, the way they would with anyone of a tender age just discovering the deeper meanings and life lessons – the romance, the sex, the sadness, the fun -- to be gleaned from a seemingly simple pop tune. Collaborating with longtime producer-arranger-multi-instrumentalist and fellow Grammy Award winner John Leventhal, Cohn doesn't merely recreate the sounds of this storied time. On Listening Booth:1970, he transforms songs from such artists as Cat Stevens, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson, Creedence Clearwater Revival and even Bread into tracks that are warm, soulful, more than a little sexy and full of easy-going charm. These highly personal interpretations say as much about Cohn's own history – his experiences, his memories, his inspirations – as about the legacy of these songs. They've been so creatively and confidently re-imagined, and sung with such feeling, they practically feel brand new.

Most artists would bristle at the term self-indulgent, but Keller Williams often invokes it in describing his own approach to music. To Williams, being self-indulgent means creating music that satisfies him - if he likes what he's produced, he figures, then his audience is more likely to embrace it too. If he's not happy with it, why would they be? And so, when Williams describes his first-ever all-covers collection, the amusingly titled Thief, as "self-indulgent, like all of my albums," that signifies not an inwardly pointed diss but a thumbs-up from one of the most tireless musical seekers around. Recorded with the Keels - husband and wife duo Larry and Jenny Keel - Thief is a sequel to the trio's 2006 collaboration Grass, and to those of us on the receiving end, there's nothing self-indulgent about it. If anything, it's about as accessible and welcoming a record as Keller's ever made. Granted, Thief does require a certain amount of blind faith on the part of the listener: This is, after all, an album that includes songs originally written and recorded by as wildly diverse an assemblage as anyone's ever likely to dream up, from Amy Winehouse ("Rehab") to the Grateful Dead ("Mountains of the Moon"), the Butthole Surfers ("Pepper") to Kris Kristofferson ("Don't Cuss That Fiddle," which opens the album, and "The Year 2003 Minus 25," which closes it). All over the place, yup, but that's the way Williams likes it. And in his hands it all makes sense - like everything he's ever touched, whether from his own pen or someone else's, it all becomes Keller Williams music.