WEEKLY ENCORE: Your Must-Read Setlist

Here's a look at this week's top headlines.

December 13, 2025

NEWS

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has delivered the full artist lineup for its 2026 citywide celebration. From April 23-26 and May 1-4, the 50-plus year tradition will draw more than 5,000 artists and 500,000 fans to The Big Easy for two weekends of music, community, culture and more.

WATCH

At long last, Billy Strings has taken his talents to NPR’s Tiny Desk. The maestro and his band, Alex Hargreaves (fiddle), Billy Failing (banjo, vocals), Royal Masat (bass, vocals), and Jarrod Walker (mandolin, vocals) honored the bluegrass tradition while gathered around a single microphone during their visit to the music division of National Public Radio’s Washington, D.C., headquarters in a performance deemed “the way these instruments are meant to sound.”

60 Years of the Grateful Dead Experience is a landmark celebration of one of the most influential bands in American history. This 160-page, coffee-table-quality softcover book brings together six decades of the Grateful Dead’s evolution, from the acid tests and early club gigs to stadium shows and spiritual gatherings that shaped the counterculture.

NEWS

After a generous pause in festival landscapes, moe. has announced the official return of their once-annual multi-day gathering. For the first time since 2019, moe.down will take place from July 16-18, 2026. The impending event brings the group to a new location, West End Fairgrounds in Gilbert, Pa.

Dry your dishes in style with the Slowtide kitchen towel collection. Featuring bold artwork, super-soft materials, and high-quality construction, these kitchen towels bring iconic dead imagery into your everyday life. Perfect for gifting—or keeping for yourself.

NEWS

Tom Hamilton has joined SiriusXM’s Grateful Dead family. The guitarist, known for his roles in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, American Babies, Ghost Light, and Bill Kreutzmann’s Billy & the Kids project, will host a monthly radio show, Goin’ Down the Road with Tom Hamilton. The first episode will air on Monday, December 15, with a special guest, Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend, Taper’s Choice).

NEWS

The Avett Brothers have confirmed the acts slated to join them at Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Ampitheatre this summer. On July 10, Boston-bred alternative rock act The Lemonheads will serve as the Avetts’ special guests, on July 11 influential Western swing act Asleep at The Wheel will open and on July 12 the legendary Graham Nash will provide support duty.

NEWS

In the midst of Maui’s ongoing shortage of medical professionals, a group of esteemed recording artists has come together in the name of community giveback and in response to the need. On Saturday, Jan. 10, Lōkahi: A Celebration of Maui will take place at the Alexander & Baldwin Amphitheatre in Kahului, Hawaii.

NEWS

When Phish Radio launched on SiriusXM back in 2018, one of the key selling points for the pop-up station was the “Ask Trey” segment, through which listeners could get their questions to the iconic jam quartet’s frontman to address live on the air. Now, for the first time since the station moved in for JamOn to become a permanent fixture on Channel 29, the fan-favorite bit will return.