There are many surf festivals around the globe, more than I can enumerate, but Surfer Joe Summer Festival is so special. I mean, there's a baseline of special at any surf event: you see these performers that are so exceptional, legendary even, but only within this tiny genre. It feels like a secret. But to converge upon Livorno, a charming Italian town scarcely mentioned by the rest of the world, with roaring waves behind you, and for every person you meet to be sporting a different accent, and to be immersed deeply in this for four days... it's dreamlike.

Surf music has come a long way, but it didn't need to! Some groups are ready to go with a reverb tank and a Sentinals record. This category is for bands that are trying to recapture the magic rather than develop it.

SurfGuitar101 is back and, to embrace cliche, bigger than ever. This year organizer Jeff "BigTikiDude" Hanson partnered with a few other organizers, dropped the moniker of Convention, and moved to the 3-day weekender model, held at the Golden Sails hotel, where I failed to get a room before it filled up.

After 50 years, surf music has morphed and evolved in many ways, but some groups strive to tap into the sound and feeling that it all came from back in the early 60's.

I've been snatching up old Sir Bald LPs in Discogs not even realizing that he was still pumping out new stuff. Sir Bald Diddley is a favorite for trad-style surf instrumentals that still have that 60's teenage grit and with his new outfit The Ripcurls you can expect more of that great sound and attitude.