Robert Randolph & the Family Band

Robert Randolph and the Family Band's new album, We Walk This Road, is a celebration of African-American music from the past 100 years. Randolph grew up in the House of God church and was only allowed to listen to Christian and gospel music; he began playing pedal steel guitar in the church at the age of 15. At the age of 19, Randolph was given tickets to a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert. "After that, I wanted to play pedal steel like Stevie Ray played his guitar," he said. "I wanted to take another path than the people who played traditional pedal steel to take it to a whole new level."

Randolph and his band started playing and touring around New York City in 2000, and things started to take off. They were selling out large New York clubs with no record deal, and were soon signed to Warner Bros. Randolph toured with artists like Eric Clapton, the Roots, Pharrell and John Mayer. "We have been fortunate to be accepted by a wide range of fan bases, and we have been able to build from there," said Randolph. "I definitely feel as if everything has been working up to this moment, to this record."

After finishing their last record, Colorblind, Randolph began searching for a producer to help guide the follow-up. "We wanted someone who understood me and the road I've walked this far, who understood our connections of my roots within rock and gospel and the church, who would help us put those things in their most compelling context," said Randolph. He found T Bone Burnett, who "shared the vision of how gospel, blues and rock could be put together in a way that could relate to my history and connect to my present. It was important to us that we make the record we wanted to make, even if the end result was unclassifiable. We just focused on making great songs and great music that spoke to me, and that reflected the way I try to speak to the world."

We Walk This Road was recorded over about two years, after Burnett had finished working with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant on their album Raising Sand. "We went into the studio with virtual libraries of songs, whole volumes worth of material to go through. T Bone brought in old archival songs from the twenties and thirties and many of them were in the public domain. I had songs that I had written with the band, or that other artists had sent me, and we sat down and starting sifting through history."

The record is a mixture of original material and covers, including songs written by Blind Willie Johnson, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Prince. Spin called the result "irresistible... Randolph brings old-time uplift to driving beats," while Popmatters raved, "Boy, this guy can play. Not that there was any doubt before this album, but Randolph seriously kicks things into another level on We Walk This Road."

Opening the show is Canada's The Sheepdogs, winners of Rolling Stone magazine's "Choose The Cover" contest. While most rock bands are all too focused on the riff, the Sheepdogs remember the importance of those other elements that make for great rock music: melody, harmony and groove. To see them live is pure rock and roll jubilation, to revel in the splendor created by 3 part vocal harmonies and heavy hitting dual guitar leads. Their latest album, Learn & Burn, is a beautiful blend of power and imagination, ranging from ferocious rockers to southern boogie and grooving psychedelia. Big guitars, stacked harmonies, vintage organ and piano skillfully color each of the album's 15 tracks, proving that these boys are as dedicated to the craft of songwriting and album making as they are to playing a dynamite live show. The Sheepdogs are an old-school rock and roll revival. After securing the reputation as the most exciting band to see in their hometown of Saskatoon (and being voted favorite local band by the readers of Planet S magazine), The Sheepdogs have taken their show on the road, touring from coast to coast in Canada and down into the US.