Folk History Unearthed in ‘Newport & the Great Folk Dream,' Dolly Parton Shares Health Update
Mountain Grass Unit | Hill Country Live | Relix Soundcheck Session
Relix Daily
October 09, 2025
October 9, 2025
NEWS
Newport & the Great Folk Dream Documentary Chronicles Folk’s ‘60s Upheaval with Unseen Archival Footage
In its ‘60s heyday, Newport Folk Festival became the crucible where tradition collided with an emergent generation’s fervent, socially activated spirit to forge a new musical counterculture. This history is the subject of Newport & the Great Folk Dream, an upcoming documentary chronicling the legacy at the heart of the festival’s sustained influence with unprecedented clarity and depth.
WATCH
Dolly Parton is just fine, and she wants her fans to know it. The 79-year-old Iron Butterfly has taken to social media to dispel rumors about her current health status. After postponing her Las Vegas concerts last week, Parton’s sister, Freida, shared a request for prayers, sparking fear among fans and the music community.
On July 29, 2025, a brand-new supergroup made their debut at The Mint in Los Angeles: The Heavyweights, featuring Eric Krasno (Soulive, Lettuce), Cory Henry (Snarky Puppy, Funk Apostles), and Robert “Sput” Searight (Snarky Puppy, Ghost-Note). Captured in full on this gatefold 3-LP set, Live From The Mint showcases three of the most virtuosic players in modern funk, soul, and jazz colliding for the very first time.
RECAP
On Wednesday evening, Billy Strings began his second night at the TivoliVrendenburg venue in Utrecht, Netherlands, with “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song.” The concert opener and Highway Prayers’ original evoked a sense of the band’s own journey and current European feat while abroad and away from home. The evening’s content continued with a cover of “John Deere Tractor,” a feature of the frontman’s duo collection with his dad, Terry Barber, Me/ And/ Dad, which ultimately carved a pathway for the five-piece, who ricocheted between covers and originals, demonstrating their comfort level while positioning their songs beside the greats.
On rotation in our office and broadcasting to readers worldwide on Spotify. Stay tuned for updates every Friday, and send anything you think we have to hear to [email protected].
The Grateful Dead – The Music Never Stopped [6LP Box Set] is a sprawling, four-hour celebration of the band’s legendary live legacy. Pressed across six LPs, this limited edition box set is a handpicked journey through 25 years of iconic performances, drawing from the Dead’s most hallowed stages—from the Fillmores to Red Rocks to Madison Square Garden.
WATCH
Our latest installment of the Soundcheck Session features Mountain Grass Unit before they took the stage at Hill Country Live in New York City. Watch as they take on the timeless Dead favorite, “Deal,” American traditional “New River Train,” and their original instrumental “Boundary Waters.” See the full session exclusively at the Relix YouTube channel.
FEATURE
Samantha Crain titled her seventh studio album Gumshoe due to the reluctant kinship she felt with the gruff, withdrawn private eyes of crime melodrama. Like those “moody, lone-wolf types,” the fiercely independent singer-songwriter lived at a distance until a demanding few years forced a reckoning with her attachments to the world. On her first full-length release since 2020’s A Small Death, she strives to cast off her outsider mentality by examining the moments that broke through her defenses in some of her most vivid, sensitive and self-possessed storytelling to date.
NEWS
The National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund have joined forces to launch a charity auction. Through October 22, fans can bid on signed instruments from legends like Ringo Starr, the Eagles, Bonnie Raitt, Jason Isbell, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. All proceeds will support NITO’s continued work to reform ticketing legislation, improve transparency from Performance Rights Organizations and advocate on behalf of equitable, independent music spaces against encroaching entertainment monopolies.
NEWS
The Jerry Garcia Family has united with the award-winning game designers Twogether Studios to create Jerry Garcia’s Cosmic Journey. The new dice game will entice music lovers through its use of the legendary guitarist’s prestigious iconography and symbols synonymous with the adornments on his famed guitars: Rosebud, Wolf, Alligator, Tiger, and et al. The game is available for pre-order and is expected to ship the week of Dec. 29, 2025.
NEWS
While winding to the end of a monumental year, Ty Segall has announced plans to carry his momentum into 2026 with a North American tour. From April 16 to May 12, the garage psych trailblazer will cut across the US and Canada with 19 new performances alongside his tried and true quartet of Mikal Cronin, Emmett Kelly, Ben Boye and Evan Burrows. Segall’s next run will continue the celebration of Possession, his 16th solo studio album, which arrived to widespread acclaim in May.
NEWS
Old Crow Medicine Show is looking to start the holiday season off early. The two-time Grammy-nominated ensemble shared that on November 21, they will release a new album steeped in Christmas spirit. OCMS XMAS via Hartland Records is slated to feature two covers and 11 original songs, strung together in multicolored lights and evoking a timeless sense of string-band stomp. As part of the initial listen, the band shared their cover of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” a piece of the set and a nod to the late artist on his 85th birthday.