Eric Brace & Peter Cooper "Silent Night"

Happy Holly Jolly Holidays from all of us at Music Fog. As the year comes to a close, we wish you all good things for this very special time when we leave the minutia of everyday life behind to immerse ourselves in something grander, slower, and more glorious. The spirit of Christmas is in one’s heart. Hope you can spend time with people you love, enjoy the food and drink and companionship. Do something good for someone and be kind to all, especially yourself.

I am on an adventure! I am excited to be doing some end of the year rambling. I stopped by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on Friday to tour the incredible IM Pei designed building. While there, I attempted to absorb as much of the history of rock and roll as I could in one day (which is simply impossible, a week wouldn’t be enough for me!). I was honored to use the studio to record an interview with Eddie Spaghetti on the making of the new Supersuckers record, Holdin’ The Bag. After pit stops to see dear friends, I am in Nashville and looking forward to returning to The MusicFest in Steamboat Springs, which is coming right up. Abbey Road and I will be there capturing audio moments with a full dance card of artists. You will be able to hear some of the songs from these sessions on my Sun Radio show, Monday through Friday from 11am to 3pm CT.

Today we bring you music from the Fog Bank. We originally published this on December 24, 2010 from Eric Brace and Peter Cooper. By the way, Peter has a new album out, Depot Light: Songs of Eric Taylor. That is a great point of entry to yet another amazing songwriter that indeed you should get to know. From Music Fog’s AmericanaFest 2010 sessions, here is “Silent Night,” written by Jon Byrd.

- Jessie Scott

The V-Roys "Sooner or Later"

A couple of weeks ago, I hit the road for Nashville driving I-81 to I-40, and then back through Virginia again. The drive was simply beautiful with the last glow of autumn colors. My car started acting weird outside of Bristol, and so started a bit of an odyssey through hill and dale to find the solution. Ain’t nothing like when the engine lights come on at 70mph to freak you out. First stop was Smith’s in Marion, VA. They diagnosed it dead-on and tried to do a quick fix, as otherwise I would have had to wait a few days for the rest of the parts to arrive. So I ventured back out on the road to try to make it to a bigger town, Blacksburg, VA. As it turned out, I had to wait a few days anyway for it to be fixed. All is good, and I had no further problems, but I have to say, sometimes the universe sends you a signal that you just have to slow down. The real joy of the weekend was that EVERYONE I encountered along the way was terrific: kind, caring, helpful, into listening and offering solutions, giving of themselves. It wound up being a wonderful exercise in trust, quick decision-making, and creative problem solving.

While in Blacksburg, I got back in touch with Virginia native Scott Miller. He offered his assistance if I needed it, but thank goodness, I was on my way. Scott is working on a new album with Bryn Davies and Rayna Gellert, AKA, The Commonwealth's Ladies Auxiliary, which of course pays homage in name to the 'Scott Miller & The Commonwealth' music era. Look for a multiple night stand at The Down Home in Johnson City, TN in early December. Allow us to continue in reverse chronological order; so right after college, Scott moved to Knoxville and formed The V-Roys with another dear friend, Mic Harrison. Mic Harrison recently christened a new show for Knoxville’s WDVX just a few weeks ago, called the WDVX 6 O'Clock Swerve.

In honor of my trip through the area, Music Fog brings you some footage of Scott Miller and Mic Harrison in Nashville a few years back, as they participated in our Music Fog Marathon during AmericanaFest 2011. Here they are as The V-Roys with “Sooner Or Later.” All in due time.

- Jessie Scott

Eddie Spaghetti "Pretty F'd Up"

A couple of months ago, my soul sister Shilah Morrow sent me a soon-to-be-released album from The Supersuckers, called Holdin' The Bag. As a long time Supersuckers and Eddie Spaghetti fan, I was blown away by the song craft and musicianship. In fact, I think it might be the finest work the Supersuckers have ever done. I signed on to help spread the word. As we were in the planning stages of album release, it was discovered that Eddie Spaghetti had stage 3 throat cancer, and needed immediate surgery. Touring was put on hold and Eddie underwent two successful surgeries. We had planned to have The Supersuckers play at AmericanaFest to launch the album. What to do? A ‘Plan B’ was put in place; an Eddie Spaghetti Stand Up was made! We call him Flat Eddie, and he wound up on stages all over Nashville during AmericanaFest; with Los Lobos, Raul Malo, Nikki Lane. “Flat Eddie” made his way to LA for a benefit show at The Viper Room this past Saturday night, but lo and behold, Eddie Spaghetti himself took the stage!

The album comes out on Friday, October 16th, and what an album it is! The title track "Holdin' The Bag" is a stone contender for song of the year in my book. There are mighty cool contributions from Hayes Carll, Lydia Loveless, Jesse Dayton, and Mickey Raphael. Listen to a few tracks here, on Soundcloud.

In the meantime, here is Eddie Spaghetti with Metal Marty from the 2011 Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s in Austin, Texas. Eddie was on a solo album release tour for the Sundowner album. Today’s song is from The Supersuckers 2003 album Motherf**kers Be Trippin', "Pretty F**ked Up."

You can contribute to the Eddie Spaghetti Beats Cancer fund, and also check out the special pre-release bundles here. The next Eddie Spaghetti benefit show happens this Saturday night in Seattle!

- Jessie Scott