Guy Clark "El Coyote"

Whoa Baby! Happy New Year! I am struck by how much movement there has been since we started this grand Music Fog project, January 1, 2009, five years ago. In many ways, Music Fog has exceeded my expectations, becoming a music discovery entity of note through great recordings and beautiful pictures. Not a day goes by that I don’t get 10 “asks” for coverage on our pages.

About that music, it is seriously exploding right now. There are so many artistic endeavors that are worthy of one’s time, just not enough time to even check them all out. I am struck by how many ‘Best of 2013’ lists I looked at this year; and by how many titles were on them that I haven’t heard of, let alone have had time to explore. Though the music ‘business’ is doing some serious morphing, the creativity of musicians is a growth industry for sure. Some of my favorite albums of the year are the entries from Jason Isbell, The Mavericks, Sturgill Simpson, Luke Winslow-King, Delbert & Glen, The Howlin’ Brothers, Band Of Heathens, Mike Stinson, Amos Lee, and Guy Clark’s My Favorite Picture of You.

We have a new video for you today from a session we did with Guy at Americana Fest 2011. It was an honor and a privilege to be in the same room. Today, we bring you the Music Fog version of “El Coyote,” from the album My Favorite Picture Of You. BTW, the title song was number one on American Songwriter's Top 50 Songs of 2013, and you can see our version (recorded before the album was released) through this link.

We hope, sometime in 2014, the Music Fog crew gets to reunite for a video shoot, where artists gather to make magic. We wish you a sweet New Year!

- Jessie Scott

Cory Branan "Yesterday (Circa Summer 80 Somethin')"

I take the train every day now, past river rocks and greenery, great old outcroppings of stately building and ones that didn't fare so well over the span of time. I could be anywhere in the country where there is a railroad and a river, but it is NYC, and it is home. I show friends that come to visit pictures of where I live and they are incredulous that that vista portrayed is that of  the big bad city. My first summer back up north has been thankfully temperate, easy on the skin, and lush to look at. We have been blessed this year. I feel for you if you live in a part of the country that has had the challenges of wild fires, floods and drought. I have lived those topsy-turvy, scary seasons too, and I, and the rest of the Music Fog crew, wish you a return to normalcy as fast as possible.

Of course being home, the landscape is ripe with the ghosts of seasons past. They bombard me at their own pace, and you never know what sight or smell might uncover a lurking memory. Of coming of age, of loves and job changes and of all the people who have come and gone. It’s time for your recollections to come forth, as today’s song captures the essence of young summer love. It is “Yesterday (Circa Summer 80 Somethin’)” from Cory Branan, a scintillating  performer who has the capability to capture the moment and to hold you fixed in his gaze. This is a tune that can be found on his Mutt album, but here is the Music Fog recording of it from the 2012 Music Fog Marathon during SXSW in Austin. BTW, that was the last time Music Fog ventured out for a session.

-Jessie Scott

Carrie Rodriguez "I Don’t Want To Play House Anymore"

Last night, I hung out in a smokey old bar - well except for the smoke part, that behavior has been outlawed indoors,  thank goodness. The Led Zeppelin covers flowed, and the audience twitched and pulsed with every chord change and guitar riff. The dog days of summer have descended upon us early this year in sleepy New York, and you take your 'cooling' where you can. Having spent the last three years in Austin, of course, it begs the comparison. Austin has the relentless triple digit heat, not quite so humid, true, but day after day in the upper 90's and 100's does something to a person’s psyche after a while. In New York we declare it a heat wave when we are going to touch 90 for three days in a row. I must say it has been a Zen challenge, in keeping it in check while the air doesn't seem to stir.

Every year it seems there are musical Texans who make their way here to the the culture Mecca of NYC; the latest being Phoebe Hunt, who is bouncing between ATX & NYC. Chris and Eleanor Masterson were up north for a while but moved back, as did Carrie Rodriguez. I suspect for the amount of time these folks spend on the road, it matters little what zip code one calls home. Carrie is heading off to Europe for August, still touring in the wake of her most recent album, Give Me All You Got. We revisit the Music Fog Marathon 2011 now, to bring you this presentation, “I Don’t Want To Play House Anymore, “ when we filmed Carrie & company at Marathon Recorders in Nashville back in 2011.

-Jessie Scott