Jon Dee Graham "Beautifully Broken"

There are touch stones that make you stop and take note, even when one is in pain. This weekend up in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, the colors co-mingled to glorious effect. This morning, I am up with the sunrise, heading into NYC for meetings. The streets of New. york are a contact sport, ready or not here I come. Over the last two weeks, I have been physical in a way that just doesn't exist in most cities. In New York, you walk, you take the stairs, you carry bags. Every night I feel like hamburger meat, but I am seeing results already; tighter, lighter, more energy. And, it is woven seamlessly into your life, plus it's free! 

Whatever your addictions, your bad habits, use this day to start a new cycle. It starts by simply mustering up the will to change. Get off the couch, come into the sunshine. Don't think you can't. Jon Dee Graham is here to tell you that you can, having dealt with addiction himself. He sings about it here, "Beautifully Broken," filmed during the 2011 Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill's WHQ in Austin.

-Jessie Scott

Gretchen Peters "Five Minutes"

Today, this right here, is exactly what is wrong with today’s country music. The emotional resonance is just up and gone, you know? Everything is too squeaky clean, too packaged and predictable. Not like this song. This covers ground! This takes you from the insignificant to what is really happening with a fine eye for detail, one that makes it possible for all of us to see ourselves.

I was going to write about how fast everything is, then remind you to get your doctor for a check-up, and then I was just swept away by the human drama; regret, sadness and resignation to it all. What a song. And what a performance. Gretchen Peters is an impassioned purveyor of the truth. She is also on tour, glory be! You should go see her if she is in your neck of the woods! This is “Five Minutes,” from Gretchen’s latest album Hello Cruel World, with Barry Walsh on keys.

-Jessie Scott

Mike Farris with John Fullbright "Mercy Now"

What is it they say, that moving is one of the most stressful activities on the earth. And I am still knee deep in the experience of my trek back to New York. Last night, my truck came and as the men were doing the heavy lifting, one thing and one thing only fell out of a box. It was the receipt for the wedding ceremony to my late husband Robert in Los Angeles in 1987. He just might have been welcoming me home!

Everybody could use a little mercy now…the immortal words of Mary Gauthier here, from a session we did with Mike Farris at the Spring Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s in March, oh yeah, with John Fullbright sitting in. Can you say lightning in a bottle? Here is “Mercy Now.”

-Jessie Scott