Natalia Zukerman might as well have been born on the road. She is the child of two classical musicians who traveled a lot. (Her father is violinist, violist, and conductor Pinchas Zukerman.) She said last week that she got on a plane for the first time when she was six weeks old, and "I've learned to pack and unpack since I was a little kid.

"Having a regular, stay-at-home home life, that's the challenge for me and my family," she continued. "I love that it's something that is definitely in my blood. My grandfather was a klezmer musician and a gypsy of sorts. Traveling troubadour is part of my DNA."

She's carrying on the tradition.

The Future Is Unwritten , last year's beautiful love letter to the life and passion of Joe Strummer, has just been released on DVD, packed with bonus material not seen in the original film. Even if you don't subscribe to the motto that The Clash was "the only band that ever mattered," I can't see how any beating heart couldn't tear up at director Julien Temple's salute to the purity and soul of a man who, despite his fame, walked with the common bloke in humble soles shared by Woody Guthrie and Bob Marley.

To blues it may concern:

Peace and blues to you all, and welcome to the 2008 IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival. Come hell or high water, the fest must go on! This year's Mississippi River flood only strengthened our resolve to bring you the best in blues, even if we can't be in LeClaire Park.

The blues musicians of the Kinsey Report - composed of Kinsey brothers Donald on guitar, Kenneth on bass, and Ralph on percussion - haven't released a new CD since 1998's Smoke & Steel, and during a recent phone interview, Ralph states that "we don't tour as much as we want. One reason is because the venues aren't there anymore, and another reason is because we've been working on a new record for some time now, and we want to come out with something fresh."