John Prine

Dozens of luminaries from rock, country, and soul gathered at the Meadowlands’ Izod Center on October 3, 2012, to pay their collective respects in an unforgettable final tribute to Levon Helm. This incredible night was filled with one-of-a-kind performances by greats including Gregg Allman, Mavis Staples, Allen Toussaint, John Prine, Joan Osborne, Ray LaMontagne, John Mayer, Joe Walsh, Dierks Bentley and many others. The iconic artists performed songs associated with Levon Helm and The Band including “Up on Cripple Creek,” “Life Is a Carnival,” “Ophelia,” “The Weight,” “Rag Mama Rag,” “Ain’t Got No Home” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.

Mountain Stage is a two-hour, live music performance radio show staged with a theater audience, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting, and distributed by NPR.

One of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of her generation, Nanci Griffith had a gift for writing songs that were literate and emotionally complex while also sounding thoroughly universal, even when they most often reflected small-town Texas life. A proud daughter of the Lone Star State, Griffith liked to call her music "folkabilly," reflecting her influences in folk, country, early rock & roll, and the Texas songwriting community that for her was both an inspiration and a home base. Though her music was steeped in tales of ordinary lives, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind about social and political matters, and injected a progressive sound and feeling into music that embraced traditionalism. 1984's Once in a Very Blue Moon, her third album, was the creative breakthrough where she hit her stride as a songwriter and performer, 1993's Other Voices, Other Rooms was a celebration of her influences and was a critical and commercial success, and 2004's Hearts in Mind was an ambitious collection of politically oriented songs. Collection includes: There's A Light Beyond These Woods (1978), Poet In My Window (1982), The Last of the True Believers (1986), Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993), Flyer (1994).

Varese pulls together eighteen original recordings by the original artists for a decade-spanning collection of country and country-pop crossover hits that range from Johnny Cash's 1956 Sun recording of "I Walk the Line" to Lynn Anderson's 1970 "Rose Garden." There doesn't seem to be any particular theme here some of these tracks have been anthologized frequently, while others have made more sporadic appearances. Most of these tracks found crossover success on both the country and pop charts, but a few hit only for country. Mostly, Varese seems to have picked eighteen excellent tracks, sequenced them more for listenability than strict chronological order, and added informative notes about each song.

The Chieftains are a traditional Irish band formed in Dublin in 1963, by Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous with traditional Irish music and they are regarded as having helped popularise Irish music across the world. They have won six Grammys during their career and they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002. Some music experts have credited The Chieftains with bringing traditional Irish music to a worldwide audience, so much so that the Irish government awarded them the honorary title of 'Ireland's Musical Ambassadors' in 1989. Further Down the Old Plank Road is a 2003 album by The Chieftains. It is a collaboration between the Irish band and many top country music musicians including Rosanne Cash, Chet Atkins, John Hiatt, Emmylou Harris, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ricky Skaggs, and Patty Loveless.

Yep Roc to release new career retrospective of 'Sam Phillips - the man who invented Rock 'n' Roll'. This 2CD/3LP collection is curated by Peter Guralnick, companion to Guralnick's "monumental" (Kirkus Reviews), and featuring tracks by Elvis Presley, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more…. Also includes an exclusive essay by Guralnick. "Sun Records and Sam Phillips himself created the most crucial, uplifting and powerful records ever made." - Bob Dylan On October 30, Yep Roc will release 'Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll,' a companion to Peter Guralnick's forthcoming biography of the same name, and a personal, idiosyncratic survey of one of the most important bodies of work in recording history.