More than 50 musical acts are scheduled for this week's Sunfest in West Palm Beach, Fla., billed as Florida's largest music and arts festival. Performers slated for the event, which began Wednesday (May 3) and runs through Sunday, include the Indigo Girls, Beausoliel the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Jimmy Cliff and the Average White Band. For more information, check the festival's Web site (www.sunfest.org). ...

HighTone recording artist Deke Dickerson (Deke and Dave, Untamed Youth) has compiled a collection of 45s and EPs from his label, Ecco-Fonic Records. This is Ecco-Fonic! contains previously unreleased tracks, too. It can be ordered from Dickerson at P.O. Box 304, Hollywood, CA 90078, or purchased at one of his shows. ... Nancy Wilson and Jerry "The Ice Man" Butler will highlight a concert for the N'DIGO Foundation on June 17 at Chicago's Orchestra Hall.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, the 22-year-old guitar prodigy, recorded a show on Feb. 17 at New Orleans' House of Blues that will be cybercast for 24 hours beginning at 6 p.m. PDT on Monday (May 8) at the venue's Web site, www.hob.com. Tuesday (May 2), HOB disclosed plans to begin selling live video performances by download in the Windows Media format. ... Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dripper and charity organization Sweet Relief co-founder Victoria Williams will be the opening act on the upcoming tour by punk godfather Lou Reed, according to unconfirmed reports ...

Acoustic bluesman Kelly Joe Phelps and W.C. Handy Award winner Rory Block plan to record tracks together this fall for Block's next record. ... Songwriter Jim Lauderdale and long-ago band cohort Buddy Miller, now guitarist for Emmylou Harris and producer of Jimmie Dale Gilmore's latest, One Endless Night, are considering recording a duet album in the fall. ... Laurie Lewis is wrapping up production chores on a disc of the late Charles Sawtelle's music, to be released on the Acoustic Disc label. Peter Rowan's among the guest artists. ...

Banjo legend Tony Trischka and the North Carolina bluegrass fusion band Acoustic Syndicate are discussing playing some shows together. ... Tish Hinojosa has plans for a summer of touring in support of her new album, Sign of Truth, due May 23 on Rounder. It's her first release since the critically acclaimed Dreaming from the Labryrinth (Warner Bros.) was issued four years ago. Hinojosa showcased the tile tune and several others from the new disc at MerleFest and said she's following a more personal turn in the lyrics for the songs on this album. The cover art for Hinojosa's new disc was done by fellow Austin, Texas, singer/songwriter Sara Hickman. ...

Willie Nelson has an album of blues songs due in August, reportedly with cuts from B.B. King and Susan Tedeschi, among others. ... Peter Rowan, meanwhile, has been recording a reggae-flavored album in the Caribbean. No word if Panama Red will make an appearance. ...

With MerleFest officially a wrap, Nanci Griffith is headed for concert dates in the British Isles. ... Sam Bush is looking toward a late-summer release of a retrospective album of live performances recorded at the Telluride festival, going back to 1982. They'll include several songs he hasn't released on record before. He plans to spend the summer touring with Lyle Lovett. ...

Tim O'Brien's lyrics on "I'm Running Out of Memory for You," sung with MerleFest's Millennium Jam band partners Bush, John Hartford, Stuart Duncan, Mark Schatz, Craig Smith, O'Brien, Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas, garnered laughs from the crowd with such up-to-date lines as "You sent an email to me darlin'/ You said you'd sent me a file." The song included continuous references to such cyber-items as JPEG files, memory cards, Zip drives and expansion slots. ...

In Britain, lawyers for movie star and Blues Brothers singer and harmonica player Dan Aykroyd have threatened a Blues Brothers tribute band to drop the name or face the consequences — in court. Aykroyd owns the rights to the Blues Brothers name — it originated in skits on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live" that Aykroyd developed with the late John Belushi that were expanded on in a hit movie and records. With actor John Candy, Aykroyd reprised the film in 1998 as "Blues Brothers 2000." The original movie featured cameo appearances by a host of blues, jazz and soul stars, including Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and many more. Aykroyd's representatives also are demanding the British band turn over "all cash" earned by the group, according to the Associated Press. ...

The California Bluegrass Association announced the lineup for its 25th Annual Father's Day Weekend Festival, which will be held in Grass Valley, Calif., from June 15–18. Appearing will be J.D. Crowe & the New South, IIIrd Tyme Out, Lost Highway, the Reno Brothers, Lost and Found and others. There'll be workshops, camping and jam sessions. For more information, check the association's Web site (www.californiabluegrass.org). ...

Razor & Tie Entertainment, home to such artists as Marshall Crenshaw, Dar Williams and the Continental Drifters, announced Wednesday it has signed Denver's Appalachia-meets-goth, punk-bluegrass-rock band 16 Horsepower. The band's David Eugene Edwards sings and plays accordion, bandoneon, mandolin, banjo and hurdy-gurdy. 16 Horsepower round out their sound with guitar, drums, piano and upright bass. The group will support its album, Secret South, due Sept. 12, with a national tour, Razor & Tie said. ...

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones and the String Cheese Incident will travel to New Orleans from their appearances at this weekend's MerleFest to play a club date at the Saenger Theater amid Jazz & Heritage Festival madness. ... Also that weekend, in St. Augustine, Fla., Richie Havens headlines the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival and Donna the Buffalo headlines the Electric Stampede at the Northeast Florida Rodeo & Fairgrounds in Callahan, Fla. ... Starting May 9 in San Antonio it's the 19th Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival, featuring more than 42 hours of Tejano, Conjunto and Norteno music. ...

In Los Angeles on May 12, The I-10 Chronicles — the Gavin Americana chart-topping album — comes to life with a House of Blues show featuring Joe Ely, Charles Musselwhite, Chris Hillman and Flaco Jimenez. ...

From May 12–14, at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.'s baseball stadium, look for Geno Delafose, Wayne Toups, Lil' Brian & the Zydeco Travelers and the Savoy Cajun Band to keep things hoppening at the four-day Cajun-Zydeco Crawfish Fest. Other Cajun-zydeco stars on the bill include Rockin' Dopsie Jr. and Balfa Toujours.

— sonicnet.com staff report