BeachLife Festival 2022: Day Two

One good night’s sleep later, Day Two of the BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California kicked off flawlessly. Festival-goers paraded through throngs of artwork of different mediums to the sounds of Magic! to start the day. Over on the Hightide Stage, Sugar Ray was preparing to take the crowd back to the late 90s, reminiscent […]

Dry Diggings drops second reveal for 2022

“One of my favorites, ever!” That’s what I tell anyone that asks me about Dry Diggings, an easygoing backyard vibe of a festival held in the tree-shaded grass of the aptly named Grass Valley Fairgrounds in Nevada County, CA. The lineup blends classic roots and culture with a healthy dose of west coast reggae and […]

Night One with Dead & Company in Mountain View, CA

Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA welcomed Deadheads of all ages for Night One of two of Dead & Company on Monday, June 13th. Original members of the Grateful Dead Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are joined by Allman Brothers’ bassist Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti keyboardist (of Fare Thee Well and RatDog) and […]

Spoon packs San Diego’s Belly Up Tavern to capacity

Heading to Solana Beach’s Belly Up on a weeknight felt almost nostalgic… I hadn’t done it since the pre-COVID era. Despite having work in the morning, one of my favorite bands from my high school and college years was coming to town and it was simply unacceptable to miss. Spoon… the last time I saw […]

California Roots 2022: Day One

Cali Roots 2022 came and went, and we are all the better for it. All the waiting, wishing, praying was worth it — just like we had faith it would be. Patience was a small price to pay for what we experienced Memorial Day Weekend and those hugs, smiles, laughs were the currency. Most of […]

An interview with Amy Sheehan of California Roots

Join us as Top Shelf Music journalist Allie Adams interviews Amy Sheehan, Operations Manager for California Roots Music and Arts Festival 2022. Amy has been a pivotal part of the festival’s growth towards becoming the FIRST green-certified festival in California. In this interview, Allie focuses on the festival’s green initiatives and why that is so […]

Sweet roots music with Stephen Marley & Skip Marley in Paso Robles

On June 4th, Paso Robles County was blessed with a legendary performance by GRAMMY Award-winning reggae artist Stephen Marley and his nephew, Skip Marley. Stephen Marley and Skip paid tribute to father/grandfather, Bob, playing hits like “One Love”, “Jammin’” and more to remember his great contribution to reggae music. Skip started off the night making […]

Dustin Lynch brings real country to Avila Beach, CA

On May 15th, Avila Beach was blessed to host country superstars Dustin Lynch and Sean Stemaly, with local favorite Stephen Styles. Stephen Styles is an up-and-coming country artist from right here in Sante Ynez! He started off the evening with his authentic and upbeat country music, and definitely was good at getting the crowd involved […]

Cali Roots presents 5th Annual Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival

Summer is heating up in South Lake! California Roots has partnered with Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Lake Tahoe to bring you a reggae lineup of straight fire to the famed venue on the water. Pan-reggae heavy-hitters Slightly Stoopid, Dirty Heads, SOJA, Tribal Seeds and Common Kings join forces with hometown-and-beyond favorites Fortunate Youth, Artikal […]

BeachLife Festival 2022: Day One

BeachLife Festival is in 2022’s rearview mirror. Regardless, the buzz surrounding its success is still heard regularly. The highly-anticipated convergence of music, art and community where the Pacific Ocean meets the Redondo Beach shoreline kicked off Day One with the return of Jim Lindberg of Pennywise — a BeachLife staple performer. Day One festival-goers were […]

A chat with Atmosphere at Cali Roots Fest 2022

Who doesn’t love a good Atmosphere show? One half of the hip hop duo sits down with Top Shelf Music’s Alexia Johnson at California Roots Festival 2022, ahead of his big Bowl Stage performance. Tune in to hear what Slug thinks of the popular hip hop-meets-reggae Memorial Weekend event in Monterey, his summer plans to […]

ZZ Top rocks Paso Robles, California

On May 29th, I had the opportunity to witness one of the best rock-and-roll bands to ever come out of the 70s at one of my favorite venues — the Vina Robles Amphitheater in Paso Robles, California. As a kid growing up with 70s rock-and-roll due to having older parents, when I saw that ZZ […]

This Ain’t No Picnic coming to Pasadena in August 2022

In the fine words of Sheryl Crow, “this ain’t no disco” and “it ain’t no country club, either”. That’s right, because alternative rock is harder and here to stay. In this same vein, the fine festival producers over at Goldenvoice introduced This Ain’t No Picnic to high acclaim, set to grace the Pasadena Rose Bowl […]

JXDN brings Tell Me About Tomorrow Tour to Los Angeles

JXDN’s Tell Me About Tomorrow Tour hit Los Angeles recently and, WOWZA, what an incredible performance! Singer-songwriter and TikToker, Jaden Hossler (familiarly, JXDN), is exceptionally talented. JXDN is Travis Barker’s protégé, so we have so much more to look forward to!  I’m sure we can all agree, JXDN’s life changed in the Blink of a (182) eye! LOL The […]

Animal Collective lights up Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre

It was cool, cloudy and hazy Friday evening in late May at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The stage, however, was lit with a range of bright colors and a backdrop of rozy panels for the headliner, Animal Collective. As I waited in the pit for the music to start, there were talks amongst […]