Steve Vai tells UCR about the current and upcoming plans for their group, Beat. Continue reading…

Sierra Ferrell is giving fans an extended version of her sophomore record. To kick off the new year, Sierra Ferrell announced the deluxe edition of Trail of Flowers, and today, its full expansion is here. The deluxe version of the record features new music, like a new version of her song "The Garden," which was initially featured on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbird & Snakes. Sierra Ferrell released Trail Of Flowers in the spring of 2024, and the highly anticipated record lived up to the hype, serving as a stellar follow-up to her debut record, Long Time Coming. Ferrell highlighted that she is genuinely a songbird on record, showcasing her blend of blues, soul, bluegrass, folk, and jazz throughout the tracklist. The record turned heads outside of the country music community, gaining recognition from The Recording Academy, earning Grammy nominations for Best Americana Album, Best Americana Performance ("American Dreaming"), Best American Roots Song ("American Dreaming"), and Best American Roots Performance ("Lighthouse"). Not to mention that Trail Of Flowers was also named #4 on Whiskey Riff’s Top 40 Country Albums of the Year list. Trail Of Flowers solidified that we are living in the Era of Sierra, and the release of the deluxe record combined with her recently announced 2025 Shoot For The Moon tour dates extends the era. https://www.instagram.com/p/DFN0VR8vFMQ/?img_index=1 I am thrilled to finally receive Ferrell's cover of "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" with the release of the deluxe album. I first discovered her take on the classic bluegrass song "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" when she performed it during a Carter Vintage Guitars session. Although Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers initially recorded the song, Doc Watson, Flatt and Scruggs, The Foggy Mountain Boys, and others famously covered it. Her gritty take on the classic song gives the song a new perspective with a lead female vocalist. She starts the song softly during her studio cut and ramps it up as the song continues. Given the lyrics about losing it all, Ferrell unleashes an electric fiddle solo after the bridge before dialing everything back to mourning that the narrator now has nothing. "Hey, don't let your deal go down No, don't let your deal go down No, don't let your deal go down Till your last gold dollar is gone Well, I've been all around this whole wide world And I've done most everything I played cards with the best of men I lost everything..." Sierra Ferrell does not miss a thing, and this beloved, once-unreleased cover is a perfect addition to Trail of Flowers. Fire it up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehuk73y-BGo Sierra Ferrell Tour Dates 4/25 - Indio, CA - Stagecoach Music Festival 4/27 - Sacramento, CA - Venue TBA 4/29 - Salt Lake City, UT - Rice-Eccles Stadium* 5/1 - Albuquerque, NM - Revel Entertainment Center 5/2 - Flagstaff, AZ - Pepsi Amphitheater 5/3 - Las Vegas, NV - Allegiant Stadium* 5/6 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Criterion 5/7 - San Antonio, TX - Alamodome* 5/9 - Arlington, TX - AT&T Stadium* 5/10 - New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre 5/11 - Atlanta, GA - Mercedes-Benz Stadium* 5/13 - St. Louis, MO - Busch Stadium* 5/15 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland Theatre 5/16 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee 5/18 - Detroit, MI - Ford Field* 5/20 - Minneapolis, MN - U.S. Bank Stadium* 5/22 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field* 5/23 - Cumberland, MD - DelFest 5/24 - Philadelphia, PA - Citizens Bank Park* 5/26 - Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre* 5/28 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium* 5/29 - Pittsburgh, PA - PNC Park* 5/31 - Lexington, KY - Railbird Festival 7/12 - Milwaukee, WI - Harley-Davidson Homecoming 7/15 - La Vista, NE - The Astro Amphitheater 7/20 - Tacoma, WA - Dune Peninsula 7/22 - Edmonton, AB - Winspear Centre 7/25 - Sandpoint, ID - Festival at Sandpoint 7/26 - Bonner, MT - KettleHouse Amphitheater 7/28 - Fargo, ND - UP District Festival Field 8/2 - Minneapolis, MN - Surly Brewing Festival Field 8/3 - Saint Charles, IA - Hinterland Music Festival 8/26 - St. Louis, MO - Stifel Theatre 8/28 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre! 8/29 - Dillon, CO - Dillon Amphitheater 9/2 - Columbia, MO - 9th Street Central Bank Downtown Live 9/5 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall 9/6 - New York, NY - The Rooftop at Pier 17 9/7 - Washington, DC - The Anthem 9/9 - Richmond, VA - Brown's Island 9/10 - Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater 9/12 - St. Augustine, FL - The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre 9/13 - North Charleston, SC - Firefly Distillery 9/14 - Asheville, NC - Asheville Yards *w/ Post Malone & Jelly Roll !w/ Nikki Lane

Its value as the key that unlocked the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs is world-famous—but the turbulent history surrounding the Rosetta Stone’s discovery and translation is more obscure.

This pithy word may only be three letters long, but it's deceptively complex. According to one lexicographer, it has 645 distinct definitions.

Learn the key differences between the two before the next polar vortex.