Looking to get out of the city for the weekend? Then consider getting funky in Vermont at the Royal Family Affair on August 12-14. Headlined by Soulive, Chromeo, Lettuce and Big Gigantic, the line-up also includes Medeski, Deitch & Skerik, Break Science featuring Chali 2na, The London Souls and a closing set by the Royal Family All Stars.

In addition to your typical festival programming, the Royal Family Affair is hosting afternoon music workshops that cover a wide range of topics including composition, improvisation, production and engineering. The esteemed faculty? Eric Krasno, Adam Deitch, Neal and Alan Evans, Skerik, John Medeski and the Shady Horns’ Ryan Zoidis and Sam Kininger. Workshops cost $15 each, $75 for an unlimited workshop pass, and are free with a Full Rager VIP Pass.

If that weren’t enough, the Royal Family Affair is offering a wide range of activities that are free to all ticketholders, including hiking, free beer tasting, paintball and tennis.

Sounds like the makings of an awesome weekend. The Royal Family Affair will be held at Stratton Mountain in Bondville, Vermont, which is accessible by car, train or shuttle bus. CLICK HERE for more info about planning your trip, and get your tickets HERE.

Over the last two weeks, Soulive took over the Brooklyn Bowl for their second annual Bowlive event. We caught the show on Wednesday, March 9, which featured John Scofield, Marco Benevento (pictured above with Eric Krasno of Soulive), Oteil & Kofi Burbridge, Ivan Neville and many more. In addition to the astounding range of talent that they manage to assemble on stage, it’s amazing to see the mutual respect and admiration that the musicians exhibit while playing together. My only regret is that I was only able to make it to one performance.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ALBUM

This Saturday at Terminal 5, Royal Family Records is putting together one of the biggest nights of jazz, funk and hip hop that New York has ever seen. Headlined by Soulive, the third annual Royal Family Ball will feature special guest appearances by John Scofield, Talib Kweli, Christian Scott and Big Sam, along with performances by Royal Family artists Lettuce, Nigel Hall and the Shady Horns.

This is a rare occasion that is not to be missed. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the event, and be sure to check out Soulive’s most recent release, Rubber Soulive, in which the trio pays tribute to the Beatles by reworking 11 classic songs (available on iTunes).

This New Year’s Eve, there’s so much going on that we have to break it down for you in a more organized fashion. So without further ado, we present The HiFi Cartel’s Official Guide to New Year’s Eve… after the jump.

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