Guy Forsyth "Things That Matter"

I called the cops a few nights ago; there was a domestic altercation next door. It raged for three hours until 4 am. Maybe even more disturbing than the yelling, is that the cops never came. One would hope they would have if they thought it was a more dangerous scenario, and not just two people having a set-to against each other. It set me to wondering how love turns to hate. Whether substance induced, jealousy inspired, or as a response to issues of dominance; how the passion gets diverted and turns inwardly destructive. As Muddy Waters said "...everybody's fighting about the same thing." I had a conversation with Barbara Jo from KGSR the other night, about why the blues is still evocative. We ran into each other at Jenni Finlay's 4th Anniversary Bash at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos, and we were talking about the ability the blues has to heal, to soothe, to articulate feelings, even through its sometime heaviness. It is with interest that I watch so many marquee artists, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, Sheryl Crow, and Cyndi Lauper, just to name a few, embracing earlier musical forms like the Blues, Folk, Bluegrass, and R&B. It says something to me about them, moving back to that music which is eternal.

Guy Forsyth came to visit us at Threadgill's this past March. He graced us with a couple of as yet unreleased tunes. "Things That Matter," a country blues tune, is one of them. As usual, Guy nails the simple, yet sublime, sentiment; the real golden rule. It speaks to perspective. Both the music and the message are stripped down to what's important. It is a beacon of simplicity to illuminate the way.

Guy is doing some dates in Texas before heading to Europe at the end of the month. You can see his full schedule in the tour dates section on his incredible website! And though I hate to be the first to mention Christmas, I am hoping that the magnificent holiday show Guy does with Carolyn Wonderland comes to a venue near you at the end of the year. It is a must see. So is this. "Things That Matter," a tune which he dedicates to the late Stephen Bruton.

- Jessie Scott

Red Dirt Rangers "Without My Baby"

Our own Music Fogger Chris Walsh asked me for a definition of Red Dirt Music last trip. We were deep in Oklahoma, and the heat was knocking us back a tad. I explained that it was a pure Oklahoma thing, although it gets lumped into becoming Texas-Red Dirt in lots of people's minds these days. And although both movements look in a similar direction for inspiration, and draw from a similar passion, they are really different entities. Red Dirt is epicentered in Stillwater, which is the home of Oklahoma State University. There was a two-story, five-bedroom, funky old place called The Farm that acted as its home. The Red Dirt Rangers started hanging out there as a band in the late 1980's. But years before that, Ben Han, John Cooper, and Brad Piccolo became an integral part of the Farm’s musical brotherhood; first trading songs and licks with folks like Jimmy LaFave, Tom Skinner, and Bob Childers. Later, with the next generation; Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland & the Stragglers and Stoney LaRue.

The Rangers represent all the musicians who honed their chops in that living room, front porch, garage (aka The Gypsy Café) and campfire-dotted acreage of the Farm, where the sheer joy of creating music with friends transcended everything else. As Rangers' mandolinist-vocalist John Cooper has noted, "The Farm was as much an attitude as a physical structure. It allowed a setting where freedom rang and all things were possible. Out of this setting came the music." The physical structure burned down in 2003. But the music, and the Red Dirt Rangers are still going strong.

We caught up with the trio at the main stage at WoodyFest, and asked them to come see us the next day. And so it was, as they brought us new songs and tales of enigmatic Red Dirt Godfather and guiding light of The Tractors, Steve Ripley. Look for him to produce their next CD, as he did the last album, Ranger Motel released in 2007. "Without My Baby" will likely be on the new one, which is set to be recorded soon! Meanwhile, enjoy the very first recording of this song, and witness the early stages of what should be a Red Dirt Rangers classic.

- Jessie Scott

Tellu-Writing 3

We have been cruising the downtown streets, looking at the finest dog collection on the planet, and taking in the rest of the scenery as we get ready for tonight's Telluride Americana Weekend Concert with Sam Baker and Joe Ely.

HaaganWe were out strolling earlier (the altitude here is somewhere upwards of 8,700 feet, and so is best done slowly with lots of pit stops) when we saw an intrepid pizza salesman on a pedi-bike with a hot-box storage bin. "Pizza Makes You Stronger" was his slogan. It is obviously working for him. Don't think it is just us that are wusses in the thin air, the artists all talk about having to pace themselves when they sing, and that if there are a lot of words it could be hard to deliver the song without being out of breath, or turning purple while trying to power through it!

There are a lot of words in this one, but Amanda Shires and Rod Picott seem to do just fine with it. From the stage of the Old Sheridan Opera House comes the incandescent pairing; she from the sun-driven plains of West Texas, and he from the northern mill towns of New England. There are more tour dates on tap, so catch them if they are coming your way.

-Jessie Scott