Our Music Fog visit today is with a compadre of mine. I mean, I am blessed to consider a pretty extensive group of musicians as friends, but there has always been a special bond between me and Jack Grace. When we met, we realized we were both from Westchester County, New York, and we each started listing other Westchester folks we knew who are active in the industry. For a suburban NYC county to have become something of a petri dish of media and Americana activity is a just bit mind-bending.
It was Jack who booked the NYC’s legendary Rodeo Bar which closed earlier this year, and it was Jack who recommended me for my new job where I work alongside of him, as talent buyers for the roots rock and roll club, Midtown Live. This new initiative is being done under the parent company Webster Hall Presents, the legendary New York venue Webster Hall, which has been in operation as a social meeting place since 1886.
Midtown Live is housed at an interesting site too, the Recording & Rehearsal Arts Building, at 251 West 30th Street. This location has played home to musician friendly spaces for decades. There are still guitar shops on the block too, and in this ever changing New York landscape, that’s saying something. We have announced some way cool shows: Danny B. Harvey with Jyrki 69 Eyes, Annie Marie Lewis and The Bowery Boys on January 2, and on January 10, an official APAP showcase produced by Export NOLA, with Cedric Burnside Project, Luke Winslow-King, and an opening set from New York’s own African American string band, The Ebony Hillbillies.
Back to the video tape…Music Fog filmed the Jack Grace Band during the 2011 Music Fog Marathon in Austin at Threadgill’s WHQ.
- Jessie Scott