Dale Watson "Give Me More Kisses"

Awards season is solidly upon us. The GRAMMYs© were Sunday and the good news is it seems the roots music categories are expanding every year! Music Fog congratulates all the nominees, and tips our collective Fog hat (ahem) to the winners, among them triple awardee Rosanne Cash, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jo-El Sonnier, Johnny Winter, Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer, Jack White, The Earls of Leicester, and Mike Farris, who is coming to NYC, playing Midtown Live this Friday evening. (Click for tickets.)

A few weeks ago, Music Fog set up on a Sunday at Midtown Live to film seven artists, including Dale Watson. He has spent a musical life pursuing pure Honky Tonk, Rockabilly and Bakersfield spirit; what country music was known for in decades past. These sounds are sure not being heard right now on mainstream country radio, which is obsessed with what I call "Party Country." Hoist your 6 pack, there’s a girl in the front seat of your pick-up truck in her cut offs, as you head down to the lake to party. Oh, what a stereotype that has become. Country used to be about so much more.

Dale Watson not only honors the traditions in song but in his actions, founding the Ameripolitan Music Awards in 2014. The second annual event is happening on February 17th in Austin, TX at The Paramount Theater, and a limited number of tickets are still available. Awards are being handed out for Honky Tonk, Rockabilly, Western Swing, and Outlaw. It will be a gala evening celebrating real deal stuff. If you are in the Austin area, we highly recommend getting over to see it in person. We grabbed a tune to get you in the mood from Dale Watson & His Lone Stars, which originally was released on the album El Rancho Azul in 2013. Here is the Music Fog recording of “Give Me More Kisses.”

- Jessie Scott

Mipso "Tried Too Hard"

Living in the music is what I love best. It was great to “get the band back together,” as the guys traveled up to New York to film our first new sessions in nearly two years. Man, it felt good to have the Music Fog crew back together, this time in the Chandelier Room at Midtown Live. Let me tell you a little bit about this new club. The initiative is to book Roots Music of every description there. We will welcome Ronnie Fauss and Anne McCue this week in support of their brand new projects, then next week GRAMMY® Nominee Mike Farris is coming to play. Check the schedule at midtownlive.com, there are lots of supercool folks coming to see us. You should too, if you are around the NYC area and want to hear some great Americana music.

More than anything, Music Fog is excited to bring you some new music. People ask me all the time about how I find bands, and for sure, one of the ways is through trusted sources. In this case, I got turned on to Mipso through Dave Magazine, with whom I used to work. He is down in NOLA now, at House of Blues, and is rocking it down there. Mipso is on a tear of its own, visiting 26 states in the first two months of 2015. The North Carolina renegade traditionalist quartet has been together since 2010. Jacob Sharp, Wood Robinson, Joseph Terrell, and Libby Rodenbough bring close harmonies and effortless music. We sure do hope you enjoy this song, which was on their 2013 release Dark Holler Pop. Now here’s the Music Fog recording of “Tried Too Hard.” We’re back!

- Jessie Scott

Kevin Gordon "Don't Stop Me This Time"

Photo Credit: Abbey RoadWell, we did it! Music Fog got back to being behind the cameras and mixing board from the chandeliered splendor of Midtown Live, NYC during a day-long mini-marathon. Thanks to the New York crew who helped to make it seamless, Aaron Thompson, Nick Allen, Alex Berenson, Tom Ballinger, Michael Morello, Jeremie Garrido, and Cameron Kush. As these are the guys I work beside every day at Midtown Live and Slake, I want to say, "y’all rock."  Thanks for everything that you do. We also can’t thank the artists and managers enough! We filmed 7 sessions, including Dale Watson, Rosie Flores, Ebony Hillbillies, Mipso, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Kristin Andreassen, and Morgan O’Kane. Expect them all on the Music Fog pages over the next few months. The Foggers are super stoked to have been back at it!

Meanwhile, Snowpocalypse 2015 is descending on New York and New England, so as we are in the white out, we bring you Kevin Gordon, who notes there is “daylight ahead.” Kevin is getting ready to travel, to Folk Alliance in February, and then some more Midwest dates. In March, he will do some dates opening for Todd Snider which will be not to miss! We bring you a video today that we filmed at the 2011 Americana Festival and Conference in Nashville, “Don't Stop Me This Time." Yes, there is daylight ahead!

- Jessie Scott