It's not too early to make plans for Halloween weekend, and if you want to make this year especially memorable, hop a plane to Las Vegas for the Vegoose Music Festival. It's an impressive lineup of tons of bands in one place: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Mars Volta, The Raconteurs, Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band (we'll see about that), Gomez, Fiona Apple, Jenny Lewis, BRMC, and a bunch of those jammy/jazzy bands that people seem to like, including Widespread Panic, G. Love, MMW, and more. more ›

Renaissance-woman entertainer Peaches Christ topped our personal dream list of SFist interviewees since before we started the site, but (and we're not kidding about this) we've always been too starstruck and intimidated to actually approach her. That's right, we'll march boldly up to Gavin and say all sorts of stupid s**T, but PC left us shaking in our flip flops. Hey, at least we have our priorities straight! more ›

Were you among the tens of thousands who attended the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival this year? We cannot say enough good things about this event. If you're a fan of folk, Americana, country, bluegrass, or roots music of any ilk, you should have been at Golden Gate Park on September 30th and October 1st. This year's Hardly Strictly drew over 50 acts, most of which were headliners in their own right. Lucky for us, a friend of ours who was performing hooked us up with all access backstage passes, and we were able to witness how the vibe was as nice among the artists as it was among the crowd. more ›

Amazing what getting in the wrong turning lane will do for you. After a movie at the Century 20 Daly City — about which theater, the less said, the better, but let's just note the presence of a half-dozen cop cars parked at the curb as like, a regular thing — we got into the far left lane and were shunted onto a road that led us past Val's Restaurant & Lounge, on Junipero Serra in Daly City. And seriously, with an old-skool neon sign like that outside, who could resist? We were instantly in restaurant-lust. But it was late and we still had a TiVo'd Yankees game to watch, so we passed it by. Couple nights later, after a beery afternoon at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (Dolly Parton — she's sparkly!), we decided to hit Val's on the way home. more ›

How amazing is Dolly Parton? From "9 To 5" to "I Will Always Love You" and beyond, the woman has written a zillion classic songs and has sung them in a voice sweeter than any bird we've ever heard. Maybe it's her laugh, her over-the-top persona or just that she's been around so long, but Dolly is woven into the fabric of our musical memory. more ›