May is coming, which means it is almost time for DelFest. Held over Memorial Day Weekend (May 25-28), this festival has become a significant Roots, Americana and Jamband destination, almost rivaling Telluride Bluegrass Festival in scope and importance. It's held in Cumberland, MD, about two hours from Middleburg, and is well worth the drive. This year's incredible lineup includes The Del McCoury Band, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov't Mule, Bela Fleck and Chris Thile, Railroad Earth, The Infamous Stringdusters, Steep Canyon Rangers, Hot Rize, Tim O'Brien, Sierra Hull, Cabinet, Fruition, Jeff Austin Band, Leftover Salmon, and many others. Two stages ensure continuous music, and with this incredible lineup, you'll be yelling "Del Yeah." There are late night shows every day that always please; I would be sure not to miss The Grateful Ball featuring Travelin' McCoury's w/Jeff Austin Band with Billy Strings on Sunday night. This Memorial Day weekend, pack your camping gear and sunscreen and head up to Cumberland for the weekend. Tickets are available at www.delfest.com. If you're interested in VIP passes, you'll need to wait until 2018, as they sold out very quickly. Be sure to listen to this month's playlist, a set of tunes from bands on this year's Delfest lineup. Here's the link: https://tinyurl.com/m9d6s9o

American Roots Revue
Buchanan Hall is pulling out all of the stops with its summer-long American Roots Revue Concert Series. These monthly shows feature a variety of American Roots bands. The next show is on June 4th, with the Honey Dewdrops, a folk duo featuring Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish. My recommendation is for you to head to the Local Taste in Upperville to enjoy some of Slater Run Vineyards' excellent wine before the show. While you're there, check out their extraordinary walk-in wine cooler to buy a couple of bottles of Domaine Faiveley Mercurey Burgundy to bring home, and grab a sandwich next door at the Upperville Country Store before making your way over to Buchanan Hall for the show.

Steven Wilson Remixes
After the hailstorm in Middleburg last June, I got a new car (to me at least), and I was psyched that it had an incredible audio system, including a DVD audio player that plays 5.1 audio. This somewhat unusual format plays the music in real surround sound instead of stereo, giving it a new level of depth and richness—it sounds amazing. Next stop was amazon.com, where I began looking for other DVD audio discs. I quickly realized that this format is almost obsolete, with the exception of used discs I could buy on eBay (that demo disc that came with the car has gone for as much as $50!), some niche classical products, and a series of discs remastered by Brit bandleader and producer Steven Wilson. Wilson (www.swhq.co.uk) is the leader of the band Porcupine Tree and a big progressive rock fan. His King Crimson 40th Anniversary Series sets are extraordinary. He worked with the original tapes from recording sessions four decades old. The cool thing about these sets is they include 5.1 DVD audio and are priced at or around $20 each.

You can play a DVD audio disc in your home DVD player, making it easily accessible, especially if you can't get a 5.1 system for your car.

In addition to King Crimson, Wilson has a diversity of material available, including XTC, Gentle Giant, Yes, Jethro Tull, Tears for Fears, and Caravan. On every disc, the 5.1 format allows you to hear every instrument and note clearly while giving you a blend that truly represents the band's original artistic intent.

You can buy these discs on Amazon and other online dealers. The Yes series is another highly recommended series, with all of their important early albums like Fragile, Close to the Edge, The Yes Album, Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer available. To learn more about Wilson's work, read this interview with him: https://tinyurl.com/n89jdng

Head to Wilson's website or Facebook Pages, and you can see the large number of albums he has remastered, mostly progressive British material, but even a recent remaster of the great Chicago II and a soon to be released Songs From the Wood from Jethro Tull. See the list of Wilson remasters here: https://tinyurl.com/m3qudhx