The John Henrys "Sweet as the Grain"

It might be hard to fathom, but Gram Parsons would have turned 65 this year. Some of our most influential artists were mere shooting stars, and in the blink of an eye they were gone. Like Otis Redding and Buddy Holly, Gram left an indelible mark on music. He created a paradigm shift which is still celebrated sonically to this day, maybe even more so today. Back in those musty 60s, the genres were separate, sacred; slaves to their own structural DNA. And Gram changed all that. He made the country earthy, performed the soulful alongside it, and generally explored the genre bending that would spawn today’s Americana scene. Country, rock, hillbilly, blues, gospel, folk. Throw it in the pot and stir it up.

There are continuing Gram Parson’s Birthday events going on worldwide. The next one is this Saturday in Boston, one of seven cities holding a GIN IV this fall (in four countries) For the uninitiated, those initials stand for Gram InterNational. There is more about it here.

The John Henrys song today, “Sweet As The Grain,” just put me in the Gram mood. We filmed the Canadian band last year at Americana Fest. As we get ready to do this year’s event next week, I am thinking about Gram, and his huge contribution to the music I love. We are busy working on the line up for our gonzo latter day archivist gig. Think of us as John and Alan Lomax, but with today’s moments to capture, in glorious video with amazing sound. That is our mission. We will be announcing our schedule soon, and we will be streaming it from Nashville, along with the usual capture presentation in the weeks and months to follow. We can’t wait to bring our line up to you! Meanwhile, here's the John Henrys with a song from their album of the same name.

- Jessie Scott

Foster & Lloyd "Hiding Out"

We are a week away from Americana Fest...yippee, Music Fog is returning to Nashville! Now don’t scowl, Nashville is much more than the big bad city of Mainstream Country Music. There are so many talented people that live there. They play clubs like The Basement, The Rutledge, Music City Roots at the Loveless Barn, The Ryman, and the newly expanded 3rd and Lindsley. There are any number of world class nights that could only happen in places like Nashville, or Austin, for that matter; with renowned locals and exceptional national tours coming through. Not to mention that Nashville has long been a migration destination for songwriters, guitar pickers, singers, and producers, relocating from parts unknown to pursue a life of art.

The Americana Music Association is headquartered in Nashville, too, and every year in the fall we do our annual Festival & Conference, which includes the Americana Honors & Awards Show. I am proud to report that I will be anchoring the webcast from the booth at the Ryman Auditorium once again, as Folk Alley has asked me to co-host this year with NPR’s Ann Powers. If you are not planning to attend, you can listen online at NPR.org the evening of Thursday, October 13th.

We filmed Foster and Lloyd at the Music Fog Marathon in March at Threadgill’s World Headquarters in Austin. They are one of the many artists that will be playing the Americana Fest schedule this year. I am so glad they are gracing the world with their close harmonies again. Foster and Lloyd treated us to this Everly-esque tune, here is “Hidin’ Out.”

- Jessie Scott

Mary Gauthier "I Drink"

We are just two weeks out from Americana Fest in Nashville. Music Fog will be setting up shop at Marathon Recorders on October 12, 13 and 14th, and we are going to live stream the mini sets. We have booked some very cool sessions; Guy Clark, The Black Lillies, Ian McLagan, The Bottle Rockets, Sammy Llanos, and The Blind Boys of Alabama, with more to be announced soon. Taking a kind of cliff’s notes version of what Music Fog has attained over our almost 3 years of existence: We generate over 20,000 impressions a day, not counting our 15,000 Twitter followers. We have over 5.5 million views of our  700 videos on YouTube. We are averaging around 100,000 views of those videos each and every week. We add 10 to 15 subscribers everyday on YouTube. We generate between 5,000 and 10,000 impressions on everything we post on Facebook within 24 hours. And maybe the most amazing thing about this campaign we have been waging to bring real music to you, is that it has been viral. We haven’t done any advertising. It has all been word of mouth - that’s yours, and the artists we film who share Music Fog’s videos with their fans, and so on. Thank you for being part of our tribe.

The one thing I know, is that this is music that deserves to be heard whether it is played on the radio or not. I wish Americana Radio could be in every city in this country, all over the world, really. Today’s era reminds me of the early progressive rock period in the 60s. Before the music was widely played on the radio, it was shared by friends, by tips from folks at the record store, and ultimately it found its own level and acceptance. I wish the same for these artists. We filmed Mary Gauthier at last year’s Americana Fest. She is an American original, an exquisite poet and performer with an eye for heartbreaking detail. The song “I Drink,” is a modern classic, having originally appeared on Mary’s landmark album Mercy Now. If you are not familiar with her work, that is a very good place to start. She performed it for our cameras with Tania Elizabeth.

-Jessie Scott