Kevin Gordon "Watching The Sun Go Down"

The blues is deceptively simple, a framework really, upon which can be laid gold and silver, curlicues and cold hard insistent riffs, you know, the kind that lay down the law. I was on Bleecker Street in NYC a few weeks back at a club called Terra Blues, populated by Brit, German, and French tourists. It was exactly what you would expect from a downtown Greenwich Village Blues bar, way too small, way too many people, but the music washed over you with its heat and sensuality.

The blues haunted me as a teenager. It hinted at the mysteries, of love and heartbreak, joy and sorrow. Because of that, I especially cherish the time I spent living in the south and getting to travel the Delta, furthering my understanding of where the blues came from. In April, I visited Louisiana State Penitentiary, which is bordered on three sides by the Mississippi River. I was there for the Angola rodeo, which was a trip unto itself. I will tell you about that soon. It is not a place you would want to try to escape from, bloodhounds on your trail.

On the plane flying down to NOLA, I couldn't wait to feel the earth under my feet. Today, we offer a tune replete with the moss of the delta in its DNA, “Watching The Sun Go Down” from Kevin Gordon. I got to watch Kevin play this week, as he came to Hill Country Live in NY for a performance on Thursday. I can tell you it is great to have a home for his music in NYC, with so much Delta influence, as will it should be for this Louisiana native now living in Nashville. Music Fog captured this version of “Watching The Sun Go Down” at Americana Fest in 2011.

-Jessie Scott

Shinyribs "Bolshevik Sugarcane"

Wow and just like that, it is springtime! Cue the sun, daffodils are blooming, trees are budding and flowering. It is a time of renewal and rebirth. I always loved this time of year, it feels so gentle on one's skin. And doesn’t it feel good to shed the extra layers of clothing and not have to carry so much around. I have been telling anyone who will listen, the secret to city dwelling is wearing the right shoes; long walks, weather, and style all being important criteria. And voila, it is time for Chuck's again!

I have the perfect springtime anthem from Shinyribs, as they are delivering a brand new album tomorrow called Gulf Coast Museum. Of course you know Kevin Russell is from The Gourds, but since he is such a prolific writer, he began performing solo shows under the pseudonym Shinyribs around 2006. Kevin and the gang are a persuasive lot, including Gourds drummer, Keith Langford, bass Jeff Brown and keyboardist Winfield Cheek. We first brought you this video in 2010, having recorded Shinyribs during the 2010 Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s WHQ during SXSW that year. We bring you one from the Fog Bank for you today, “Bolshevik Sugarcane.”

-Jessie Scott

Over The Rhine "Only God Can Save Us Now"

I call New York City a contact sport. Most people who don’t live here think it is an unfriendly, foreboding place. Really nothing could be further from the truth. There is the burgeoning realization here that we are all in it together. Saturday night there was a gaggle of club kids on my subway car, well dressed with the least possible amount of clothing on. Snap judgments aside, upon talking to them, I found out that they were actors, and coming home for seeing a show on Broadway. They were cultured, multiracial, educated, and full of joy. People watching reigns supreme here. Not to mention, the chasing of dreams is a high art form in this city.

Over The Rhine is dream chasing, too, as they want to record two albums this year. They are doing a house concert at their farm on May 26th to raise money for the project. We love self-funded, self-propelled projects. It keeps the vision focused. Over The Rhine has been passionately following their own path for over two decades now. This is music infused with milk and honey. Music Fog caught up with Over The Rhine during Americana Fest 2010, when The Long Surrender, was soon to be released. Here are multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Linford Detweiler and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Karin Bergquist, AKA OTR, with “Only God Can Save Us Now.”

-Jessie Scott

Robert Ellis "Friends Like Those"

Wowie zowie, Music Fog is about to hit 15 million views on our YouTube Channel. We do over 500,000 views every month, as people tell people and virally spread the word. We love the role of curator, providing an opportunity to reach Roots Music lovers worldwide. There are a couple of things you need to know. We all have fulltime jobs outside of Music Fog, because it has never sustained us financially. So requests for us to show up in different cities to video your band are unlikely to happen. We are an enigma. We don’t live in Texas or Nashville; we don’t even live in the same city as each other. So to get us all together for an event requires some planning and some cash, for that matter. We were self-funded while we could do that with our XM severance pay, but that is long gone. We hope that we can find funding for the Americana Music Association Conference and Festival in September, but I ain’t holding my breath. Sponsorships are hard to find, and most of the artists we would want to film don’t have budgets for these kinds of things, as they are mostly just scraping by themselves. That said, maybe a coalition of the willing could be formed. BTW, we won’t do another Kickstarter campaign to get it done.

The video today is from Robert Ellis, recorded in Nashville during Americana Fest 2011. “Friends Like Those” has a particularly poignant message, especially as we lead such mobile lives these days. Thankfully there are ways to stay in touch that make it easier to bridge the miles, but there is nothing that can compare to being together. Big news from Robert’s camp is that he is working on the follow up to the 2011 Photographs album, where you will find this song. He is steeped in the old school tradition, especially when he is solo, but you owe it to yourself to see him with his band, as it becomes an altogether different vibe. Great musicianship, great songs, great voice. Here is Robert Ellis with the Music Fog video of “Friends Like Those.”

-Jessie Scott

The Hobart Brothers with Lil Sis Hobart "Why I Don't Hunt"

It is time for SXSW, the annual rite of passage into Spring, and I do hope you turned your clocks ahead on Sunday like you were supposed to. Thank goodness for computers and smart phones, cause now they do it for you.

But seriously, SXSW won't be the same for me as it is when the rest of the Music Fog crew is in attendance. I arrived Sunday, and am doing two official showcases at The Saxon Pub for Hill Country Live in NY and DC, which is my new job. As of October, I am director of the music program for Hill Country Barbecue Market. This will be HCL's third year of official SXSW showcases (badges and wristbands needed for admission.) I am also putting on a day of music at Threadgill's WHQ on Friday for KDRPlive.org. you can listen to the Saxon shows and the Threadgill's daytime show on KDRP.Alas it won't be the same without the pictures, and the Music Fog crew…and our yearly piñata!.

Today's video was filmed at SXSW last year. One of the things that is ever cool are the special events at SX, and last year that included the magic of The Hobart Brothers with Lil Sis Hobart. They are JonDee Graham, Freedy Johnston and Susan Cowsill, in case you don't know, and they kicked their heels up upon the release of their album At Least We Have Each Other last year. From that, we have the Music Fog recording of “Why I Don’t Hunt,” from last year’s Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s during SXSW music week.

-Jessie Scott