The Varsity Grill hosted the Wintergrass dance stage over the weekend. And while I was in there checking out the Tallboys, a fun bluegrass band from Seattle, I noticed all the posters advertising a Dierks Bentley meet and greet coming up Saturday. Looks like the country star will be ducking into the Varsity a few hours before his opening slot for Brad Paisley at the Tacoma Dome. And venue owner Jon Tartaglia tells me there will be some kind of a raffle to see Bentley perform an intimate unplugged set in that little theater they’ve got in there.

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Despite a couple of sound problems, was that Bee Eaters performances at the Hotel Murano ballroom with Darol Anger and Paul from Big Trio amazing or what? With some Beatles done bluegrass style to boot. FYI, I learned that a bee eater is apparently an African bird, in contrast to the funnier image you may have had of some knucklehead shoving bees in his mouth. Hence the bird on the cover of the Boston group’s self-titled debut album.

Make sure you go back and check out the interview clip from the other day if

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Darrell Scott is a great interview, with answers as thoughtful and engaging as some of his lyrics. And since I had only a small space to work with for my story on Wintergrass in today’s paper, I thought I’d post a few clips from out conversation online, including this one with Darrell talking about the electric vibe that comes with playing Urban Grace Church.

After a long day yesterday, I’m getting a late start at the festival today. But Darrell’s comments give me more incentive to get there in time for Mike Marshall & Choro Famoso,

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Alright, here’s where I give you two compelling reasons to go see the Boston-based Bee Eaters today at Wintergrass, namely these breathtaking tracks the quartet played for a few lucky folks behind the scenes at Hotel Murano this afternoon.

The Bee Eaters play “The Tree Climber”

The Bee Eaters play “Stoneground”

After you give those two killer cuts a listen, you’ll probably wonder about the album they came from (which with Darol Anger, by the way), their influences, how they met and all that good

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I’m holed away in a room at Hotel Murano working on my first batch of uploads for Wintergrass. And being one of three people who got to catch singer-songwriter Darrell Scott deliver an intimate, acoustic performance? Yeah, this is the part of the job I really love.

With the artist’s permission, I’m willing to share, of course. Click the links below to hear a couple of songs Scott said he’ll likely perform tonight, or just go check the guy out at 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Hotel Murano Pavilion or 10:45 p.m. at Urban Grace Church. (The latter

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… here’s staffer Joe Barrentine’s video from last year. It’s a great primer for folks who have never been, too, for that matter.

The 16th annual Wintergrass festival kicked off Thursday night at the Hotel Murano Pavilion, where I caught great performances by Seattle’s Tallboys, Canada’s Widow Maker and mandolin master Mike Marshall’s latest project, Big Trio (above with Marshall in the maroon shirt with Alex Hargreaves on fiddle, upright bass player Paul Kowert not shown.) I had my Microtrack with me, and the plan was to record a few “bootleg” clips throughout the festival to either show you what you missed or help you figure out who to catch next. But

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I was listening to a radio show early this morning that mentioned Tom Leykis being fired. After calling Leykis’ producer Gary Zabransky and going to voicemail, I checked The Los Angeles-based shock jock’s web site. And it said that today’s episode of the Tom Leykis Show will, indeed, feature the final installment of Leykis 101, the on air class for men about “how to get the most tail for the least amount of money.”

The web site for KISW-FM (99.9), which has aired Leykis since 2005, confirmed the show’s end with this explanation:

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Dave Matthews fans know guitar virtuoso Tim Reynolds from the live CDs "Live at Luther College" and "Live at Radio City." Several thousand saw the dynamic duo headline a concert in honor of the Dalai Lama last April at KeyArena.

But Saturday (Feb. 21), Reynolds will bring his main band, TR3, to Jazzbones. And recently I caught up with him to talk about Tibetan Buddhism, songs from TR3′s new "Radiance" disc, and his roots in Charlottesville, Va., where he met Matthews and helped push him toward arena rockin’ glory. Here

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For the forthcoming "War Child presents Heroes" compilation, a bunch of hipster-approved artists remade some of their favorite material from their own idols, all to benefit children displaced by war. (Click here to learn about the cause.) Beck recorded that remake of Dylan’s "Leopard-Skin Pill-box Hat" local fans heard him play at Bumbershoot last year. TV on the Radio revamped their homie, David Bowie’s, "Heroes." And I’m kind of partial to Peaches’ electro-punk treatment of this classic Stooges tune.

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