ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: LEVON HELM & FRIENDS

One of the main attractions of this year's Mountain Jam festival is the 70th birthday celebration of Levon Helm. This legendary performer has been touring pretty fiercely this year bringing his unique style of music to the masses with The Levon Helm Band. His shows are filled with new interpretations of his classic songs as well as a healthy mix of covers that he loves. Whether it's old school blues, soul, rock, country, or americana - every musical taste and flavor is represented in his sets. The band that he's assembled is strong and has proven it in Levon winning a recent Grammy award for his album "Electric Dirt" which includes an amazing version of the Grateful Dead's "Tennessee Jed" that he often plays during his concerts.

For the milestone of Levon hitting 70, he's got some special guests sharing the stage with him like Warren Haynes, Donald Fagen, Ray LaMontagne, Jackie Greene and more. With an event like this, anything can happen - there's no telling what surprises or special unannounced guests might show up to play along with Levon to celebrate with him. This is truly a moment in rock and roll history that cannot be missed, and it's only happening at MJVI this year.

Besides rocking festivals and venues across the country, Levon also offers special performances at his Midnight Ramble shows which are held at his house in Woodstock, NY. Click here to get more info on the Midnight Rambles and see how you can pick up tickets for them as well as check his tour schedule.

Don't forget that we'll be streaming the live video of all the action at MJVI from the main stage (especially the Levon Helm & Friends set) here all weekend. Starting this Friday (the first day of the festival), we'll also have lots of onsite festival updates, set lists, and show reviews as well as lots of pictures giving you full coverage of the festival as it happens each day. Get ready, because we're only a few days away!

BEST OF FEST: KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH MOUNTAIN JAM

For this year's Mountain Jam, we have even more ways for you to check out what's going on at the fest as well as participate in it. First, we are offering you the chance to receive text messages from us with updates from the festival grounds as well as give you the opportunity to vote for songs to be played in the set lists from select artists. All you need to do is send the text message "MTJAM" to 88288 and you'll be hooked up - remember that message and data rates may apply and this service will be powered by our friends at TRUdirect.

Another way to have all the info of Mountain Jam at your fingertips is on your phone. Just go to http://m.mountainjam.com/ and you can get our mobile app which has everything you need to know about the festival on it - including the lineup, performance schedule, and artist signing schedule.

And finally, if you can't make it to the festival you can catch all the music from the mainstage from your computer at http://mountainjam.com/ as we will once again be offering a live streaming video webcast of all the action including headliners Gov't Mule and Levon Helm & Friends 70th Birthday Celebration. We're only 1 week away the festival, and you'll definitely want to keep checking back for more info on this year's artists as well as links to free downloads. Don't forget that during the festival we'll be offering you full event coverage with performance reviews, pictures, and lots of other behind-the-scenes stuff you can only get here on the official Mountain Jam blog.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: GOV'T MULE

This year at Mountain Jam, Gov't Mule will be taking the stage headlining for both Friday & Saturday nights. It's been three long years since we had a new album from the guys, and now this year they have delivered their latest masterpiece "By A Thread". There's a new bassist in the mix, Jorgen Carlsson, and there's a guest appearance from Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top on "Broke Down On The Brazos". There's a healthy mix of sounds and styles on the new album, everything from barroom blues, psychedelic, and some good ol' fashioned air punching, foot stomping rock and roll. Their epic 9-minute song "Inside Outside Woman Blues #3" is one you don't want to miss, a perfect mix of hard grindin' blues and soul. Almost all the songs are over 5 minutes so there's lots of time for experimentation and solos. The album is out and available everywhere, so go to your favorite place to get it and you'll be ready to sing along with Warren at the festival.

The band has been playing the new stuff for a while now, but Mountain Jam will be your opportunity to hear the new stuff in concert before their US summer tour which kicks off in July. Be sure to check this to see all the dates and info for Gov't Mule's tour. Keep checking back for more festival info every Monday and Friday - and be sure to air out your tent and start shinning up your gear, we're just 11 days away!

BEST OF FEST: AWARENESS VILLAGE

Looking to take a brief break from the music at the festival? Then you definitely want to stop by the Awareness Village to check some cool acoustic sets and activities that we know you're going to love. If you're bringing the kids with you, there's the Wormtown Kids Tent which will offer plenty of stuff for the little ones to enjoy as well as some special acoustic performances just for kids on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-12:30pm. For the full schedule of all the acts (for kids & adults) perfoming on the Awareness Village Stage, go here: http://www.mountainjam.com/index.php?page=village
Also in the Awareness Village is some great shopping, food, sculptures to look at, and even a big beer garden. There's also going to be drum circles at the tee pee - feel free to bring your own drums and if not, drums will be provided for you.

There's also a few programs to see and get involved in. The first is a cell phone drive sponsored by Rock The Earth, Musictoday, SCI Fidelity, and eMusic. Make sure that you bring all your old cell phones to the fest and you'll be entered in to win some cool contests to get free merchandise and music downloads.

Next up is the HeadCount Reality Check, which is a trivia contest that can lead to you winning a poster signed by this year's MJVI headliners.

Also available at the Awareness Village is Woodstock Wellness who will be offering their services for a chiropractic adjustment, massage therapy and reflexology. To learn more about them, go to: http://www.woodstockwellness.com/

We're just 2 weeks away for the festival, so make sure that you keep checking back here every Monday and Friday for the latest festival info and links to free downloads from this years' performers.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: MATISYAHU

Here's another artist that deserves some time in the Mountain Jam spotlight - the reggae sensation Matisyahu. Blending styles, cultures, and sounds - Matisyahu is truly a unique artist. Since bursting onto the scene in 2004 with the Top 40 hit "King Without A Crown", he's put out a few studio albums, some killer live albums, and even some remix albums. I highly recommend the live albums as it's kind of difficult to capture the essence of all that is Matisyahu in the studio versions. He is truly a performer that needs to be experienced live in concert because there's alot more freedom for him to experiment and do some serious beatboxing (which he is well known for).

If you want a taste of what Matisyahu has to over, make sure to stop by his official website http://www.matisyahuworld.com/ and check out his "Archive" section. You can download selected free live tracks and check out some video as well. Whether you're into dub, ska or dancehall reggae - Matisyahu manages to blend them all into something special. Don't miss his set on Sunday at the West Stage at 4pm, you'll be glad that you did. In addition to his performance at MJVI, he will also be on tour this summer with Sublime with Rome (the new version of the punk ska band Sublime).

We're getting closer and closer to the festival so make sure to keep checking back for more artist spotlights, links to free downloads, and info on all the cool stuff happening at this year's fest.

BEST OF FEST: DAILY SCHEDULE IS ONLINE!

Okay, so we're only 3 weeks away from the festival and we've got the performance schedule so you can map out your days on the mountain. Let's start with Friday:

The Whigs, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, The Avett Brothers and Gov't Mule on the East Stage all day is a perfect combination. All this plus a late nite night rager with Les Claypool - save your strength for this one, you'll need it. You may also notice that some of the bands are performing more than once, rotating to different stages around the festival. This gives you a chance to see your favorite band twice - or get to see them if you missed them earlier at a different stage. Now let's check out Saturday:

Saturday's got lots of great bands performing on all the stages and will probably have you migrating a bit to see it all. Dave Mason, Yonder Mountain String Band, Toots & The Maytals, a second night of Gov't Mule, plus an amazing late night set from Dark Star Orchestra will be testing your festival stamina. If you're a Grateful Dead fan, you won't want to miss their show on the West Stage at 1am. Here's the lineup for the last day of fest:

There's lots to enjoy on Sunday with MJ festival favorite Michael Franti & Spearhead, as well as ALO, Matisyahu, Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, and more. Now, we all know that the biggest event of the night is Levon Helm's 70th birthday celebration. It's not just going to be a great show - you're also going to be part of rock and roll history with this one. Levon's Midnight Ramble shows at his house in Woodstock are legendary (go to http://www.levonhelm.com/ for more info on those). At MJVI, he's bringing all the magic of those Rambles to the Mountain Jam stage with a lineup of very special guests - some are part of festival lineup and others are in town just to have the honor of performing with him. It's one of those "anything can happen" festival moments - so whatever you do, don't miss the finale.

Well, now you have the schedule; so plan our your days accordingly. Keep checking back for more info on the festival every Friday and more Artist Spotlight features every Monday with access to free music downloads right here on the official Mountain Jam Blog.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: TOOTS & THE MAYTALS

This week's spotlight is on one of the greatest reggae artists I've ever known - Toots & The Maytals. "Toots" Hibbert, the leader of the band, has been making music since the 60's. At that time, ska music was all the rage and Toots started a band and starting making hits. During his live performances, Toots often tells the story of how he won the first-ever Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with his song "Bam-Bam", which became one his first big hits. While everything was going really well for the band, he was jailed in 1966 and that stunted his musical career as he was imprisoned for 18 months. That period proved to be creative for him however, as he penned another big hit called "54-46 That's My Number" about his time in jail. In 1968, Toots proudly gets credit for creating the term "reggae" with his song "Do The Reggay" (yes, the original spelling was 'reggay'). One of their biggest albums was "Funky Kingston" in 1973 which was packed with international hit songs. Other bands like The Specials and The Clash covered Toots & The Maytals music with much success in the late 70's and 80's. In 2005, Toots & The Maytals released an album called "True Love" where he re-recorded some of his biggest hits with special guest stars like Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Ben Harper, No Doubt, and others paying tribute. Recently, Toots put out a new album called "Flip & Twist" on 4/20/10, and there's no doubt that you'll get to hear some of the new stuff at Mountain Jam. The first single off the album is the sweet and soulful "Perfect Lover" which you can download for free off his official website at http://www.tootsandthemaytals.com/music/

I've been lucky enough to see the band perform several times at festivals and his shows have always been high energy spectacles. Don't miss you opportunity to check out Toots & The Maytals at the fest, and if you like what you hear, pick up his "Funky Kingston" album. It's been one of my favorite albums of all time. Keep checking back for more festival and artist info as well as links to free music downloads right here on the official Mountain Jam blog.

BEST OF FEST: NEW YORK ZIP LINE ADVENTURE TOURS

This year at Mountain Jam we're proud to announce that we've got something new for you to try - two cool activites from New York Zip Line Adventure Tours. They have two courses that will be active at the fest: the Mid-Mountain course and the Adventure Tower.

The Mid-Mountain course experience includes cruising through the forest canopy with 6 ziplines, 4 skybridges, and an exciting rappel. It's definitely something that the whole family can enjoy and takes you through a tour of the streams, waterfalls, and all the natural beauty of Hunter Forest.

The Adventure Tower is a completely different experience - it's located at the bottom of the mountain and offers a series of obstacles and challenges from the top of a 60 foot tower. This course is a more intense experience than the Mid-Mountain tour, but is definitely fun and exciting for everyone of all ages.

So when you want to take break from the music, make sure you look for the signs for New York Zip Line Adventure Tours and give one (or both) a try. It's definitely not something you get the chance to do at just any festival, you'll only get to do here at Mountain Jam.

We're just 4 weeks away for the fest, so keep checking back every Friday for more info on the exhibits, activities, and other cool stuff we've got in store for you this year at Mountain Jam VI.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS

Here's another artist that definitely deserves some time in the Artist Spotlight as we get closer to Mountain Jam this year - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. I was first exposed to their music when she put out her "Nothing But the Water" album in 2006. The title track nearly knocked me off my seat the first time I heard it and has become a fan favorite at every show with the crowd still singing the chorus as they leave the stage.
Their music is mostly a healthy mixture of Southern blues, gospel, and swamp rock which blends together to make a very powerful sound. Now, on the verge of releasing their third album which is self-titled, their music has risen to new heights - especially with their soulful new single "Tiny Light". Plus, there also has been some lineup changes since their last album, with bassist Catherine Popper and rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco joining the band. The new album won't be out until after the festival is over as it is set to be released on June 8th - so your only chance to hear the new songs will be at Mountain Jam VI. I've seen Grace Potter & The Nocturnals several times over the last few years and I can safely say that they put on a great live show. If you need to hear more from them to be convinced of their greatness, the band has been slowly releasing a series of videos on YouTube featuring acoustic versions of songs from the album - here's the link to hear/see all those videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/gracepotterofficial

Keep checking back every Monday for more Artist Spotlights and every Friday for new information about the festival.