FEATURES

HISTORY OF THE TOUR: They called them circuses in Roman times, and to a degree, only the technology has changed—one ticket to many, many rides.

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH TRAVEL: Tour manager George Cruze recounts how he came by his job, and makes it sound almost sane to stick with it.

DEPARTMENTS

From the Executive Director: Arnie Goodman waxes nostalgic about the thick and thin of it.

Influences: Piano aces Bill Payne and Marcia Ball explain that the right hand really does know what the left hand’s doing.

Kickin’ in Your Stall: Tour bus or self-propelled garbage can? Carl Gustafson delves into the fine points of touring.

Festivals: Through Rivers, Mountains, Thunder and plates of BBQ, Elmore-ites travel to high-quality parties. See some lineups here.

On the Record: The Boss sings the workingman’s angel: The Seeger Sessions. Charlie Musselwhite, Angel Rissoff, Sugarcane Collins, Hazmat Modine, Javina Magness, Hiromi and others with unusual monikers share space with Gary Allen, Howard Tate, John Long; it’s not what’s in a name, it’s what’s on the CD.

Also Appearing: DVDs, books and concerts, and of course, Merlefest.

Collecting: The next best thing to being there is a recording by someone who was. Collecting the best live albums.

Re. Issues: Hot Tuna’s Keep on Truckin‘ leads off a stellar collection of reissues. Bigger and brighter than the originals, here are CDs to replace those worn-out Orbison, ZZ Top and Allman vinyls.