The most visually arresting story of the week did not come from a festival stage or an arena. It came from Church Street Boxing Gym at 25 Park Place in lower Manhattan, where an indie and experimental songwriter named Hank Heaven hosted an intimate surprise EP release show for his new six-track record “Welterweight,” and where Phish frontman Trey Anastasio appeared near the end of the set to join the band on an original song called “Hank Heaven’s 113th Wet Dream.” The audience and the band were gathered in the round inside an actual boxing ring, in an actual athletic training facility, with all of the aesthetic strangeness and raw energy that setting implies. Read More!
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have made a career out of defying expectation, and their midnight surprise drop of “Alien Metal,” their 28th studio album, released independently through their own (p)doom records label, is the fullest expression of that ethos in years. The album was recorded entirely on a single massive modular synthesizer rig the band nicknamed Nathan, and the result is a one-hour unedited live studio improvisation moving through modular techno, house, and electronic rave music with the confident, unhurried exploration that only a band twenty-eight albums deep can produce without it feeling like experiment for experiment’s sake.
The drop serves as the official launch of their 2026 tour, kicking off this weekend at their curated Field of Vision festival in Buena Vista, Colorado. The Brooklyn Rave Show that follows signals that King Gizzard is currently most interested in what their music can be in spaces and formats that their rock festival audience has not necessarily followed them into yet. Read More!
This is the story that reminds you why live music is different from every other art form. Billy Strings, who has been selling out arenas all summer, quietly appeared at a tiny dive bar in West Virginia for an unannounced acoustic set in front of fewer than a hundred people who had no advance notice he was coming. He played deep-cut traditional bluegrass covers and old-time instrumentals, stripped entirely of the production and full band setup that defines his major touring operation, in a small room for a small crowd because he wanted to.
Billy Strings playing bluegrass in a West Virginia dive bar is exactly as valid and exactly as significant as Billy Strings playing Bethel Woods. Different rooms. Same music. Same reasons. Read More!
The co-headlining moe.mentUM Summer Tour produced its most talked-about moment over the weekend when the two bands merged on stage to perform moe.’s high-tempo progressive track “Rebubula,” interrupted mid-song by an extended improvisation built around a classic Paul Simon composition, before weaving back into the original and completing it. The Paul Simon choice as the detour material is itself interesting, his compositional sophistication creating a very different kind of musical space than moe.’s progressive rock foundation, and navigating between the two in real time in front of a live audience is the kind of challenge that great improvisers relish. Read More!
Rather than performing standard individual sets, members of Eggy and Dogs in a Pile began swapping places on stage mid-song during their shared festival billing, gradually and without breaking the musical momentum, until the stage held a combined ten-piece configuration featuring dual keyboards and triple guitars that proceeded to stretch a Talking Heads cover past the twenty-five minute mark. The distinction between the two bands stopped mattering entirely, which was obviously the point. Read More!
Phish has announced a deluxe multi-LP vinyl box set pressing of their legendary July 1997 Amsterdam runs at the Paradiso, universally revered as the peak of the band’s cow funk improvisational period. The complete, uncut soundboards of the July 1 and July 2 shows include the extended improvisational sequences through “Stash,” “Ghost,” and the Worm Town jams that have been discussed in the Phish community for nearly thirty years. The physical object is part of the point. Read More!
Les Claypool has officially resurrected the Flying Frog Brigade for a surprise slate of late-year dates built around a single, ambitious nightly performance: Pink Floyd’s 1977 masterpiece “Animals,” played completely in its entirety. The touring lineup includes Sean Lennon on guitar, Harry Waters, son of Roger Waters, on keyboards, and Skerik anchoring the horn section. The Claypool Gold Tour places the Flying Frog Brigade on the same bill every night as Primus and the Claypool Lennon Delirium. Read More!
The Kitchen Dwellers have announced a special multi-night livestream event from an isolated historic theater in the Rocky Mountains, centered on custom spatial audio equipment designed to translate their effects-heavy acoustic bluegrass into a fully immersive surround-sound experience for home listeners. It is a statement that the home listening experience deserves to be designed for rather than approximated, and from a band building the galaxy-grass sound they have spent years developing, it is worth paying close attention to. Read More!
Pull back from the individual stories and the collective picture is one of a live music ecosystem in a particularly creative and generative moment. King Gizzard making their twenty-eighth album on a single synthesizer and dropping it at midnight. Trey Anastasio playing inside a boxing ring with an experimental Hudson Valley songwriter. Billy Strings playing traditional bluegrass in a West Virginia dive bar for a hundred people. Les Claypool performing “Animals” with Roger Waters’ son on keyboards. Eggy and Dogs in a Pile dissolving into each other for twenty-five minutes over a Talking Heads cover. All of it describes a scene doing what the best scenes always do when they are healthy: producing new work and honoring old work and refusing to treat those two activities as if they are in competition with each other. This is what JamFest covers every week, and weeks like this one remind us exactly why it is worth the attention.Coming Up on JamFest
🎵 All Things Considered Live— Mondays at 7 PM EST
🎵 NewGrass Radio — Mondays at 7 PM EST
🎵 Live Nuggets — Tuesdays at 9 PM EST
🎵 NRN Radio Show — Wednesdays at 9 PM EST
🎵 Festival Radio Show — Thursdays at 9 PM EST
🎵 What is Hip?! — Fridays at 10 PM EST
🎵 Club Night — Saturdays at 10 PM EST
🎵 Sunday Spunday — Sundays at 2 AM EST
🎵 Gospel Lunch — Sundays at 12:30 PM EST
🎵 Project Reggaeologist — Sundays at 10 PM EST
🎵 Live From The Vault — TBD Coming Soon!
Stay tuned to JamFest for breaking music news, concert coverage, festival updates, tour announcements, and the greatest live recordings ever captured. Read More!
JamFest | All Things Considered Live at 8 PM ET, featuring NPR Music live recordings from iconic venues and festivals across the country. The NewGrass Radio Show at 10 PM ET, six hours of progressive bluegrass from the founding legends to the boundary-pushing new generation. Traditional artists and Music Without Rules, every week on JamFest.
Radio Show
Monday’s - 7:00PM - 8:00PM
A curated journey through NPR Music’s most compelling live recordings, All Things Considered Live showcases standout performances from iconic venues and festivals like Newport Folk Festival, SXSW, and the 9:30 Club. Each broadcast delivers authentic, high-quality live sets from some of today’s most compelling artists. Read More.
Every Monday Early Evening
Radio Show
Monday Nights - 9:00PM - 3:00AM
Where tradition meets innovation, NewGrass Radio Show spotlights both classic bluegrass roots and the new generation redefining the genre. Inspired by the boundary-breaking spirit of New Grass Revival, this show celebrates “music without rules” through bold, genre-blending performances. Read More.
Every Monday Night
Radio Show
Tuesday Nights - Begins at 9:00PM
Every Tuesday night at 9PM EST, Live Nuggets delivers a carefully curated, full-length live concert experience, broadcast in its entirety. Each edition is handpicked to showcase standout performances across the live music spectrum—capturing the raw energy, improvisation, and atmosphere that only a true live set can provide. It’s not a highlight reel—it’s the whole show, exactly as it happened. Read More.
Every Tuesday Night
Radio Show
Wednesday Nights - Begins at 9:00PM
A handpicked spotlight on the latest release from your favorite artist, NRN Radio Show brings new music to life with depth, emotion, and intention. Each broadcast dives beyond the surface, showcasing the artistry, storytelling, and production that make every release worth experiencing in full. Read More.
Every Wednesday Night
Radio Show
Thursday Nights - 9:00PM - 5:00AM
Every Thursday night, Festival Radio turns JamFest into a nonstop live festival experience. For over 8 hours, every track comes straight from iconic festival performances—bringing you back to the shows, the crowds, and the moments you loved most. Read More.
Every Thursday Night
Radio Show
Friday Nights - 10:00PM - 9:00AM
A deep dive into the sound and soul of New Orleans, What Is Hip?! celebrates the birthplace of jazz through its roots in Dixieland and traditional New Orleans styles. Each show channels the rhythm, history, and unmistakable groove that define one of music’s most influential cities. Read More.
Every Friday Night
Radio Show
Saturday Nights - 10:00PM - 2:00AM
Every Saturday night, Club Night brings the energy of the world’s biggest dance floors straight to JamFest. Featuring DJ sets, studio mixes, remixes, and top-tier EDM from the planet’s most iconic festivals, it’s a nonstop pulse of late-night sound and rhythm. Read More.
Every Saturday Night
Radio Show
Sunday Mornings - 2:00AM - 9:00AM
The party doesn’t stop—Sunday Spunday keeps it going from 2AM through 9AM EST with a seamless overnight flow of live energy and late-night vibes. It’s the after-hours soundtrack that carries you straight into Sunday morning. Read More.
Late Saturday Night & Early Sunday Morning
Radio Show
Sunday’s - 12:30PM - 2:00PM
Every Sunday from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM, Gospel Lunch serves up a vibrant blend of NOLA-style gospel and soul. Rooted in the spirit and sound of New Orleans, it’s an uplifting, feel-good set that brings powerful energy to your Sunday afternoon. Read More.
Sunday Lunch
Radio Show
Sunday Nights - 10:00PM - 6:00AM
A global celebration of reggae culture, Project Reggaeologist delivers nonstop reggae, dancehall, roots, ska, and world music straight from the scene and the world’s top festivals. Blending legendary artists with fresh releases and rising talent, each show keeps the heartbeat of reggae alive and evolving. Read More.
Every Sunday Night
Daily News Reports
Four (4) Times Daily - 9:00AM, 12 NOON, 6:00PM & 8:30PM EST
Stay informed throughout the day with NPR’s News Now, airing four times daily with concise, up-to-the-minute coverage of the latest headlines. It’s a fast, reliable snapshot of national and global news when you need it most. Read More.
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