Radney Foster "Half of My Mistakes"

A long, long, time ago, Radney Foster walked by the XM Performance Studio during a promotional visit with me at X Country. I told him the kinds of things we were doing in that room, like our interview performance series Artist Confidential, and the series Then Again…Live, which gave artists the opportunity to perform an entire album back to back, in essence, recreating it for a new day. Radney surmised that we should do that with his album, Del Rio, Texas 1959. It was released in 1992, and was Radney’s brilliant solo debut during an especially accessible era in Country Music history. Then came the boy bands and the girls with belly buttons showing. Steve Earle calls the time before ‘the Great Credibility Scare.’

Radney drops a new CD today, recorded at Cedar Creek Studio here in Austin, TX. It is an acoustic take on his Del Rio album called Del Rio, Texas Revisited. The first thing is this album is a gold mine of great tunes. The second thing is it sounds fresh, timeless even, with its acoustic treatment. In early March, Radney assembled Dixie Chick Martie McGuire (fiddle), Jon Randall Stewart (guitar), Glenn Fukunaga (doghouse bass), Michael Ramos (keyboard) and Steve Fishell, who produced the original album, and plays guitar on this new recording. Find out all about it in Radney’s website, where you can also listen to the tunes.

While we are shining a light on Radney Foster, here is a solo video Music Fog captured back at the 2011 MusicFest at Steamboat Springs. Here is "Half of My Mistakes," though make note, it is not one of the songs found on the new album.

-Jessie Scott

Lydia Loveless "Back On The Bottle"

We used to be called the weaker sex, but coming off the Olympics, I am heartened by how much has changed for females as the decades have rolled on. Tough stuff to compete in, too the motocross, heptathlon, track and field, beach volleyball, basketball, etc. Even having women as commentators is a revelation. Little known fact. I auditioned for ABC to do local sports in New York in autumn of 1979. People at the time were incredulous. I was asked if I even knew what a Hat Trick was in hockey. I did. And having played field hockey, as well as all the other sports in high school, my athletic education was pretty well rounded. In any case, I am hoping that these Olympics have inspired yet another generation to get out from behind the sedentary computer and live it all in Technicolor reality. Get fit America!

Yes, women call be bad asses, no matter what the endeavor. Lydia Loveless is a prime example. Her debut album, Indestructible Machine was released to resounding accolades last year. We had the band come by our showcase during SXSW at Threadgill’s for the Spring Music Fog Marathon. Just a quick note, our Kickstarter campaign only has eleven more days for us to raise the funds that will allow us to travel to Nashville for the Americana Music Association Festival, where we would like to stage our Fall Music Fog Marathon. If we don’t make the goal, we don’t get any of the money, and we won’t be able to attend. If you could post, tweet, Google +, Pinterest, or email your Americana loving friends, we sure would appreciate both the pledges as well as spreading the word. Lydia Loveless and her band are going to be in Nashville for the event, here is the rest of the lineup. Wristbands are available for purchase. Lydia channels Patsy Cline on this song, “Back On The Bottle,” except, I don’t think Patsy swore. So, yes, this is your “language alert.” Don’t watch with the kids around, or while at the office unless you wear your ear buds.

-Jessie Scott

Eric Brace & Peter Cooper "Peace Like A River"

It is a lazy Sunday in the summertime. It occurred to me that maybe, you would just like to hide from the sun, and do a bit of movie watching. Are you hip to SnagFilms? This is a way cool resource - they have over 3,000 films that you can stream for FREE on Snagfilms.com. And then again, you can watch them anytime, and anywhere in the world that you might be, on your iPad, Kindle Fire, Blackberry tablets, Android smartphone, Roku Box, and other devices. Talk about being wired in! As a special incentive to intrigue you even further, the Paul Simon documentary Under African Skies, is available just for two weeks in this month as we are coming up on the 26th anniversary of the Paul Simon Graceland album on August 12th.

So today we put forth a Paul Simon tune to honor the occasion, though it is not a tune from that remarkable album. Come to think of it, Paul Simon has had a pretty damn remarkable career, so today we have his song, “Peace Like A River,” as done by Eric Brace & Peter Cooper. The song is on the Paul Simon self-titled album, which came out back in 1972. Eric Brace and Last Train Home just got done playing the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Festival, which is a fun affair every year. There are dates coming for Eric Brace and Peter Cooper too! They make such a compelling duo on stage. We filmed them doing this song during Americana Fest 2011 in Nashville. BTW, if you love Music Fog’s videos, help us get to Nashville to produce more videos with another Music Fog Marathon, by pledging to our Kickstarter Campaign.

-Jessie Scott