Malcolm Holcombe "Down In the Woods"

There are some people who you just scratch your head about when you see them. You wonder how they live, and what shaped them, what material they are made of, because it sure isn’t the cookie cutter stuff that most of us are carved from. Not to say that we aren’t all unique entities, but some of us are just stone originals, and so it is with Malcolm Holcombe.

I first met him in 1997 or 1998 in Nashville. It was whispered that he was living in his car or something at the time. He showed up one happy hour on the platform of Nashville’s Union Station Hotel. When I was at Lightning 100 Radio, we had started a weekly series there at the hotel, outdoors overlooking the tracks on Friday evenings. It made for wonderful punctuation when a train rode through. Malcolm came to one of those shows. I have been in awe since. It is like he drinks from a different well, or sees another dimension besides the ones we do. No doubt he has had a tough life, and yes there have been demons. But again, he carries such an elfin spirit about him. I know you will see it in this video we filmed a couple of weeks ago at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival.

Malcolm’s eighth album To Drink The Rain was recorded at Cedar Creek Recording in Austin. Welcome the newest member of the Music Road Records family, Mr. Malcolm Holcombe with “Down In The Woods.”

- Jessie Scott

Ray Bonneville "Nightwalker"

On Wednesday night, as the sun was going down, I was at Steak Nite in Waring, Texas wrapping up a wonderful dinner with homemade peach cobbler, and homemade chocolate cake with the creamy frosting that melts in your mouth. On the way out to the Hill Country, I passed hogs and goats and cattle. Real deal one lane roads, arroyos and signs with markings for alerting one to the height of the water in case of floods. Not that that has been our issue in Texas this year, nope, it has been dry as a bone. In fact the flooding down the Mississippi should have been apportioned as rain to the south of the I-10 corridor, instead of it all going north. We met up with some folks that live in New Orleans a few days ago at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival, and they were remarking how dry it had been there this winter, too.

One of the artists we hooked up with at Cherokee Creek last weekend was real deal Ray Bonneville, with plenty of that New Orleans cadence woven into his music. And this time, it was an especially magic recording, as Ray was joined by Rad Lorkovic, and John Fullbright. Thanks to Chip Dolan for leaving the keyboard with us. And watch out Mike Meadows...Rad might just have passed you in Music Fog MVP appearances, having played on four different sessions in just one day!

We love it when we capture something one of a kind, and we hope this one grows wings. This was recorded in an old ranch house on the grounds, just 100 yards from a loud festival stage, with the musicians playing the song together for the first time, in one live take. See what you think.

- Jessie Scott

Jimmy LaFave "Hideaway Girl"

We have been on site at Cherokee Creek Music Festival, immersed in craft and song.  The music of three days has washed over us, the friends and fun has made for a memorable occasion.  I am thankful for the opportunity to be immersed in music like this.  Good songs.  A good song can be interpreted in lots of ways. A good song takes you there, communicates, coveys, can touch your soul.

In Keith Richards' book Life, which just came out in paperback and which I highly recommend, he talks about music structure.  I appreciate the peek behind the curtain, because it is not just the song, but then the sound, the texture, the way the lyrics lay into the music, Keith even talks about the use of certain syllables working in different situations.  Fascinating.  When I stop to think about it, about music in general, and specifically what moves me, it keeps coming back to a delivery of authenticity. I don't care whether the voice is beautiful or gruff, I do care that it all works together, the song, the message, the delivery system.

Saturday, we captured nine more sessions, from Jess Klein, Patterson Barrett, Jude Johnstone, Chip Dolan, John Fullbright, Malcolm Holcombe, Stonehoney, and Ray Bonneville. We will be bringing you music from these folks soon. A huge thanks to Kelcy Warren, Fred Remmert, Mark Huber, and Ashley Warren for making us welcome at Cherokee once again. And special thanks to Jimmy LaFave. He was so busy running around this weekend, that we didn't get a chance to tape him, so we are bringing you one from a couple of months back. You can feel the passion from Jimmy and band, Jeff Plankenhorn, Glen Schueltz, Chip Dolan, and Bobby Kallus. This is the second version of the song "Hideaway Girl" that we are bringing you. The first was on the Music Fog Bus at Folk Alliance two years ago, and this one is from the Music Fog Marathon in March at Threadgill's. They are both simply a joy.  And we thank you all.

-- Jessie Scott