Sometimes it feels like the universe is conspiring to slow you down. I was flying and the connecting flight was supposed to be an hour and a half. It turned into four hours, and to make matters worse, my phone just kept going into airplane mode, rendering me out of touch...I couldn't even tether my phone to my computer! I wanted to nap, but I also wanted to keep my eye on the flight board, just in case they let us go early. But no, they just kept pushing it later and later. There is something to be said for carrying on one's bags, then you can jump on another flight. Next time for sure!

I am on a constant crusade to travel light. There were careful choices involved in packing and I scuttled the new screaming yellow Reeboks with raspberry laces for the charcoal grey Chuck's. I was raised with the notion that one had to 'dress' to go to the city. I mean wearing pearls and heels and something sophisticated, though that was a LONG time ago. Yep, Chucks will do just fine.

Joy Kills Sorrow wowed us during SXSW®, as they came to play the Threadgill's stage for the Music Fog Spring Marathon. Today's tune is called "New Shoes," and it is from their Darkness Sure Becomes This City album of 2010. They have a more recent one out, This Unknown Science came out last year. The band hails from the Boston area. You know there are a lot of musical gypsies up in New England. JKS combines mad skills and a love of all kinds of earthy, honest music. See them tonight at The Iron Horse in Northampton, Mass, and here are the rest of their dates.

- Jessie Scott

Tuesday was my birthday, and it was a glorious day, made especially so by the stealthy arrival of my son Trev and his girlfriend Kate. They totally surprised me by driving from New Orleans on Sunday, and hiding out in the back room at Threadgill’s when I was getting ready for my Sunday night School Night Sessions show there. It was totally disarming, and I so appreciate it. Truly, their presence was my best present. Tuesday night, I had Rosie Flores, and her new band The Rivetors, and Jackie Bristow come and play my Threadgill’s series, and Phoebe Hunt got up and played fiddle with both ladies. The room was rocking, there was chocolate cake and candles, not to mention a roomful of people singing “Happy Birthday.” Just delightful. No stress, either, the night just fell together beautifully.

I think that things happen when they are supposed to, and you can’t rush them, though sometimes we sure would like to. I gotta think it was that was for Cory Branan, who is a magnetic, albeit quirky, songwriter out of Memphis, who was recently signed to Bloodshot Records in Chicago. I have known him for a decade, and have been waiting for him to have some light of day, which is finally happening. He is a remarkable performer; engaging even if it is just him on stage. He writes compelling, left of center songs, and he came to play some of them for us during the Music Fog Spring Marathon in Austin this past March, also at Threadgill's. Cory’s new album Mutt came out on Tuesday. Here is the Music Fog version of one of the tracks, “The Corner.”

- Jessie Scott

I trust you got through the eclipse over the weekend with no ill effects. I don’t know about you but it made for some spectacular pictures on the tube, ones that stop and make you think about the cosmos. Gotta wonder how the ancients processed all these occasional occurrences. Coming out the other end of one of these, when the sky gets dark, and then things return to normal, had to be cause for celebration and song. Just add music. There is something so cathartic about it, blues and gospel, especially. And there is no finer purveyor than Ruthie Foster, who has quietly, yet powerfully, captivated Austin and who is now impacting well beyond that. These last few years have been about coming into one’s own for Ruthie. Learning, exploring, growing, and keeping on. And what a fine place she is in. Her new album Let It Burn, was recorded in New Orleans and features some of its best and brightest lending a hand.

Ruthie’s trajectory has been an odyssey; from a start in an East Texas church choir, to a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy Band, to chasing the dream in New York City, and then a hiatus as she returned to Texas to care for her ailing mother. Ruthie resumed her music career in Austin, and she has been racking up the accolades since, at the Austin Music Awards, Best Folk Artist in 2004-05 and Best Female Vocalist in 2007-08; Ruthie was nominated for a GRAMMY®, Best Contemporary Blues Album for her last studio release - 2009’s The Truth According to Ruthie Foster; and then she won Blues Music Association awards for both Best Traditional and Best Contemporary Female Blues Artist in back-to-back years.

Here is Ruthie Foster with percussionist Samantha Banks and bassist Tanya Richardson performing a vocal rich version of "The Titanic," the original of which can be found on her new album Let It Burn. This was filmed during the Spring Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s in Austin this past March.

- Jessie Scott

The Brothers Comatose simmer a stew that combines old and new for soul satisfaction. A quick note about what separates old school bluegrass from this music - it's the rock and roll structure to the composition. You gotta see these guys on their ambitious summer touring adventure, Respect The Van indeed! Speaking of ‘seeing’ them, there is a series of strip poker-esque photos, as the band did a countdown to this week’s album release. A layer of clothing was removed by each member for each photo, culminating here. Here is one of the songs from the new album, “The Scout,” which of course, features the van. I wonder if it has a name...

- Jessie Scott

Did’ya see Mick Jagger on Saturday Night Live? He did a great job hosting, and made an especially joyful noise when he performed “The Last Time” with Arcade Fire. He also did performances with the Foo Fighters and Jeff Beck. I guess it takes three bands to replace the rest of the Stones (LOL). Lately, I have been picking tracks for my new radio show at KDRP and I have to tell you that there is plenty of early Rolling Stones in the mix. There is something so eternal about how they translated the great American blues and R&B traditions, and then brought it back to the shores of the U.S. The roots music movement owes those Brits a huge debt of gratitude.

Connor Christian & Southern Gothic’s music lives at the intersection of Southern music: Roots Rock, Americana and Country. CCSG's latest release, New Hometown (Part 1), an eight song set, is actually two EPs that were recorded at the same time. New Hometown strips down what the band did on the 2009 release 90 Proof Lullabies. Back in January none other than Billboard, the venerable music biz trade magazine, cited CC&SG as a “Best Bets 2012.” We had them come to our lair, the Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s during SXSW® music week, and I was most impressed with their honest, passionate, and impeccable delivery. Here is a taste, “Sheets Down.”

- Jessie Scott

Lost dog alert! Kate in New Orleans found a really cute pup in the park on Thursday, and so far, no one has claimed her. What to do? The microchip implant is registered to a phone number that is not in service. No one has reported a dog with her description missing. I just might have to drive to New Orleans to bring her home with me if no one claims her. I have been thinking about getting a dog. Dogs rule here in Austin. And what a face!

We have an unreleased track today from one of our favorite bands, The Defibulators. They simply bring joy and energy in their hybrid of bluegrass, rockabilly, honky-tonk, and punk. The first time we filmed them was at the Americana Music Association’s Americana Fest almost two years ago in Nashville. Plans are already underway for this year’s event which takes place September 12th through 15th. It was great to see the whole band at Threadgill’s WHQ a few months back during our Spring Music Fog Marathon. They have some dates this summer for you to catch up with them. Here they are: Erin Brueggemann- VOX, Bryan Jennings - VOX, banjo, acoustic guitar, Justin Smith – fiddle, Chris Hartway - Electric Guitar, Spencer Zahn – Bass, Dave Scalia – drums, and Michael Ginsberg - washboard, harmonica; doing “You’ll Never Get Your Papers On Me.” Woot!

-Jessie Scott

We still have several artists that we filmed during the Spring Music Fog Marathon that have yet to see light of day on our pages. Ya gotta know that it is so hard to sort all this out, and by no means are the last any lesser than the first. We just have to work through the process - curating 44 bands and countless songs. Quite frankly, we wouldn’t have booked the folks we did, if we didn’t want them ALL. As you know, we only scratch the surface, as we would love to do even more acts during our marathons, but we have to sleep at least a little bit. So, in answer to a post on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, it is time for some Midnight River Choir!

We first encountered MRC during MusicFest at Steamboat Springs in January of 2011. We loved having them. This year at MusicFest, I did video webcast of the sets from the "big tent." As this time the Fog production team didn’t make the trip. That left me to see music and hang out, and I got to catch up with a whole lot of folks that I know and love. Among them, the MRC guys. Since Music Fog was not in attendance in 2012 for MusicFest or for Folk Alliance, that made for a bit of a scramble in making sure we had all the musical ‘constituencies’ covered during our Spring event at Threadgill’s in March. On that roster was Midnight River Choir, and we were all super impressed with how much they have grown as a band since we saw them last. We are talking your fined tuned machine! Mitchell Pyeatt, Bobby Drivel III, Justin Nelson, and Eric Middleton played a bunch of tunes for us from their Welcome To Delirium? album. Why is there a question mark at the end of the album title? You can ask them when you see them.

-Jessie Scott

Man oh man, life has gotten FAST all of a sudden! What with my new job at KDRP on the radio from 2pm to 7pm Monday through Friday, and then working with the other usual stuff, Threadgill's, and Music Fog, and various tour stuff, artists, and writing...well ya know, there doesn't seem like there is time to eat even! Truth be told, I am loving all this, I have to say.

Making time for the family, now that is something that is always essential, but never easy for a touring musician. Cody Canada took time to write about that in a song for his sons Willy and Dierks, as he knows the drill all too well. By the way, Cody and The Departed are in the studio today recording their next album, and I am getting to sit in a watch for a bit. I am so excited! Music Fog had the honor of filming Cody in March during our Spring Marathon at Threadgill's WHQ. He played a brand new song for us, "Your Brother and You."

-Jessie Scott

Megan Reilly is a Memphis-native with a grounding in both the languages of Irish fatalism and Southern Gothic. She has just released her first album in six years. It's  called The Well, connoting both a dark and scary place, and one that is rich with depth and possibilities.

Megan began writing at age sixteen. At twenty-three, she moved to New York City, and was shepherded in her new hometown by Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. He acted as her guide into the New York music scene and introduced her to guitarist Tim Foljahn. That duet was soon to lead to a full band - Steve Goulding on drums, Tony Maimone on bass, and Eric Morrison on piano. The group recorded Megan's first full-length Arc of Tessa, which was hailed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, No Depression and others. Her second album in 2006, Let Your Ghost Go garnered more acclaim. It has been a long time between albums, and though they are luscious to dig into, it's the video that grabbed us. Impossibly well-cast, and utterly impenetrable. It is one of the songs from The Well, vast and deep, "Throw It Out."

-Jessie Scott

Otis Gibbs has today’s tune from his album Harder Than Hammered Hell, which came out back in February. The import version is available as of today on Amazon. It is Otis’ sixth album, and it’s the fourth release to come out on his own indie label, Wanamaker Recording Company, the East Nashville endeavor he started in 2008 with long-time partner Amy Lashley. The album title comes from a comment about digging in frozen ground, by a seventy-year-old friend and co-worker with whom Otis worked as a tree-planter in Indiana. Otis feels that is also an apt description for the creative process today. In the meantime, it’s time to take a drive! Here is “Detroit Steel,” let’s go!

-Jessie Scott

A good cup of coffee is imperative first thing in the morning. And woe, the grinder on my coffee maker was making this whirring, whimpering noise. Avanti - to the internets for information! The consensus was to unplug it, turn it upside down, and clear it all out with a chop stick, so as not to damage the wheel of the burr grinder. And voila, success! This morning I am a happy camper for two reasons, I don’t have to buy a new machine, and there is a place to do research which actually provides meaningful information. So while I sip my brew this Monday morning, let’s dig in. What can I say, I am a woman of simple pleasures.

I recall being deliriously happy when I took the shrink wrap off the Lydia Loveless album almost a year ago. I love when you hear new music, and ‘get’ it instantly, when that connection is clean and pure and total. Lydia Loveless simply rocks. She was raised on a farm in Coshocton, Ohio, her dad owned a country music bar, which meant there was often a house full of touring musicians. She struck out on her own to Columbus, OH where she immersed herself in the punk scene. I love when the worlds of country and punk collide! We have been trying to get Lydia Loveless in front of the Music Fog cameras since the Indestructible Machine album came out. When we found out she was coming to Austin to play SXSW, we knew we were going to do a session with her at last! She and her band, Ben Lamb - upright bass, Parker Chandler – drums, and Todd May – guitar, brought us a whip smart set. Here is the Music Fog recording off “Can’t Change Me” from the Spring Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s in Austin.

-Jessie Scott

In our continuing campaign to discover cool music, we present the band Hurray for the Riff Raff. Their new album Look Out Mama just came out a couple of weeks ago. It was recorded in Nashville and produced by Andrija Tokic, who worked with the Alabama Shakes. The song we bring you today is the title track, “Look Out Mama,” led by the band's writer, lead singer and primary creative force, Alynda Lee Segarra. She is a Puerto Rican runaway who grew up in the Bronx until she was 17, then she bounced around for years riding the rails before landing in New Orleans. I think that is a really good fit.

- Jessie Scott

I had a scary time a couple of nights ago. My mouse froze, the fan started whirring on my computer, and I shut it down as fast as I could. The only problem was, then I couldn’t get it to reboot afterwards. You know the deal when you go to the doctor if you are sick, and all of a sudden your symptoms go away in the office while you are waiting to see him? Well, it was just like that. I brought my computer to the Geek Squad, and it magically came back up. “What’ja do,” I asked, totally bewildered. He said there was nothing wrong with it. Not wanting to trust this was just an anomaly, I got a terabyte hard drive and am now backing up while I still can. I never back up my computer, do you? This is fair warning, and my public service notice for the weekend. Whether hard drive, on a cloud or whatever, back your stuff up.

I think it is generally a good idea to get out of one’s routine sometimes to do things differently. That’s what Shooter Jennings did when he up and moved to New York. No matter where you grew up, New York is a different deal. It is a fast city, and like a fast river you just jump in and ride it, or should I say you let the current carry you at its pace. There is something freeing about this, and really you can’t fight it anyway, you just have to go with it. Juxtaposed against the concrete and steel, the roots music movement there keeps getting stronger. And Shooter is part of the fabric of it. Very cool! You know he was just on the road with Cody Canada and The Departed for the Magical Misdemeanor Tour , I’ll bet that was fun. Shooter’s new CD Family Man came out in March. On it, there is a loving homage to Drea DeMatteo called “The Deed & The Dollar.“ This is the Music Fog version, filmed during our Spring Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s WHQ in Austin, Texas.

- Jessie Scott

OK, I admit it, I am a radio junkie. Or at least I was, it is hard to embrace what most radio has become today. Back in the day, they was a magic to it. It captured your imagination, made you feel as if the communication was directed to you alone, or in the case of tuning in faraway AM stations, you felt as if you were peering into life on another planet. Part of the joy of it all was music discovery, which is something that will never happen if you are listening to your iPod. In the annals of far off signals, maybe none have been so romanticized as those of the Mexican border radio stations which started to see light of day in the 1930s. It was in homage to border radio that my XM station was named with a “X” for Cross, X Country. Speaking of which, I would love to be programming a radio station again, but I digress….

Dave Alvin used to do a show for my now defunct station. We called it “9 Volt” after a tune on his 2004 Ashgrove album, and the monthly show was simply some of the finest radio that there ever was.  The show was totally eclectic; he made it work by the art of the segues and the depth his knowledge as a musicologist. When Dave came to me with the idea for the show originally, of course the first thing that came to my mind was to call it “Border Radio,” after yet another of his homage songs noting the indelible mark radio left on his psyche growing up. Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis covered the song during their appearance before the Music Fog cameras last month in Austin at Threadgill’s WHQ. This is hot news, as Bruce and Kelly, each with illustrious solo credentials, have formed a most amazing band. We are talking layers of virtuosity here, from the songwriting, to the singing, to the phrasing to the immaculate playing They did the Kickstarter thing,  to fund their new album which will be out later this year. Yes, we have no choice but to wait, but first, savor their take on “Border Radio” from the Spring Music Fog Marathon.

- Jessie Scott

I always get a kick out of reading the comments on the videos we post on YouTube. By and large, there are glowing reviews for John Fullbright. Most people are just amazed at his skill, his depth, and his sheer talent. Not to mention that he is an old soul in his early 20s. Music Fog has been lucky to have followed John for the last three years, the first time we taped him was at Folk Alliance 2009. I had already heard his name whispered by some mighty talented and well respected elders. When Jimmy LaFave brought him to our bus, I couldn’t wait to hear him. He didn’t have much time to be with us; I think it was only with us for two songs and then he had to race off to make it his next commitment. We all looked at each other when he left. Whoa, cool. And his Music Fog videos have consistently drawn views. The word is spreading that he is one to watch.

John Fullbright’s first full-length studio album, From The Ground Up, came out yesterday,  hell yeah, at long last.  It is everything I had hoped it would be, showcasing John’s prodigious talents; songwriting, singing, and instrumentally. The album release was a Kickstarter project, and was released on CD, digital download, and vinyl too!

It was three years ago that he burst upon the music scene with a live album recorded at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City. He is from Okemah, Oklahoma, which is also the home of Woody Guthrie and that would be just one of John’s influences, the others being Townes Van Zandt, Mickey Newbury, Randy Newman, and Jimmy Webb. Schooling aside, John is quite simply a prodigy. Here is the Music Fog recording of one of the songs from the new album. “Gawd Above” was filmed during our Spring Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s WHQ in March.

- Jessie Scott