if you are looking for some new tunes, check out my friend Ann's new venture, festivalink.net.

They offer LEGAL live downloads of music recorded at some of the great festivals in the US. Quality is amazing, because this is done the right way. Unlike the live bootlegs you've probably heard, these are recorded by professional audio engineers from direct feeds, and then taken back to a state of the art studio, remixed, mastered and packaged. So you won't hear that goon sitting by the PA who kept screaming "freebird!" during the quiet passage in that gillian welch song.

What do I mean by legal? Well, the artists get paid. The writers get paid, everyone who had a part in making the music gets paid. Doesn't happen that way with tape trading. Artists aren't against downloads, they just want to
A: make sure everything out there sounds great. (Who'd want a tape circulating from a show featuring you, out of tune? Flink gives artists final approval on all cuts)

B: be compensated for their work. The folks here are working musicians. They aren't on major labels, they aren't making 250,000 dollars a show. The majority of their money comes not from live shows, but from CD sales.

(another important piece of info: always try to buy direct from the artist, not from best buy or amazon. When I used to be involved, we bought CDs for 7 bucks each from the label. Sold them for 15. 8 dollars "profit," though you've got to take expenses (gas, lodging, promo, etc) out of that. Buy from a store, and the artist is lucky to see a dollar. Before expenses)

One of the more amazing pieces available is David Bromberg and his large band recorded at Merlefest in April. Bromberg hasn't released a record in more than a decade, so fans are snapping this up at an amazing pace. it's Festivalink.net's best seller! COming in second is a wonderful set by my buddies jorma kaukonen, Jack cassidy, and Barry Mitterhoff, better known as Hot Tuna. There's no new live acoustic Tuna anywhere, and this sounds great. If you liked that recent dylan album where he turned into an old bluesman, you'll love this. Great stories, too.

Who else is there? The austin lounge lizards, Tim and Mollie O'brien (we need more mollie! you may have heard her singing on Prairie Home Companion for a few years. Brother tim is an amazing songwriter and performer, together: perfection!), The Del McCoury Band (nm, buy that for al!), Doc Watson, A fantastic new band from Boston called Crooked Still, Darrell Scott, and more.

If you don't know what you'd like, ask me. I'll pick out something according to your tastes.

Do yourself a favor and check this out: festivalink.net. If you can't download, they'll sell a fully produced CD.

Everybody wins!