There are gates to the city of American roots music, entryways that lead in new generations every decade. One of these gates is the Grateful Dead, whose love of folk and roots music has led many younger fans back to the source. But what gates did the Dead themselves use to come to the city? The answer lies with Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, whose rough-and-tumble roots music in the 1960s directly inspired countless bands like The Lovin' Spoonful, Country Joe and the Fish, and The Dead via Bob Weir. Now, just over 50 years since Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur first joined up, they're back together with a brand-new album on Kingswood Records (Kaia Kater, Michaela Anne). Penny's Farm is a laid- back romp through some of Jim and Geoff's favorite roots songs. There joined here by some world-class musician friends, like pioneering steel guitarist and dobroist Cindy Cashdollar, blues fiddler Suzy Thompson, renowned composer Van Dyke Parks, and vocalist Juli Crockett (The Evangenitals). If there's a humbleness to the music, a kind of delightful restraint, that's because they're trying to prove a point. It's the same point Jim and Geoff started out to prove: that the music of the past has as much meaning today as it ever did. As Jim says, "We're hoping that this album will help to remind people that folk music has a rich and deep history