Warren Hood & The Hoodlums "The More I See You"

It has been a pretty good week in Americana. First the GRAMMYs®, which featured performances from The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons with Bob Dylan doing a rousing version of "Maggie's Farm." There were awards picked up by the late Stephen Bruton and T Bone Burnett for the Crazy Heart soundtrack, and T Bone and Ryan Bingham for "The Weary Kind," Mavis Staples, Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Patty Loveless, Patty Griffin, Marty Stuart, and Neil Young. Heady stuff indeed.

Then the Bonnaroo lineup was announced, with plenty of Americana participation; Robert Plant & Band of Joy, Mumford & Sons, The Decemberists, Ray LaMontagne, Alison Krauss & Union Station with Jerry Douglas, Gregg Allman, Old Crow Medicine Show, Mavis Staples, Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson, Justin Townes Earle, Abigail Washburn, Ryan Bingham, Deer Tick, Amos Lee, Hayes Carll, and Railroad Earth. This year is the tenth anniversary of Bonnaroo, and it sounds like a must!

We have our sights set on SXSW®, though, as that comes up first, about a month from now in March down here in Austin. Music Fog will be doing our four day unofficial showcase at Threadgill's South. We have been doing it there, through the magic of chicken fried steak, for the last four years. Our lineup is being finalized as we speak, and so I suspect we will be announcing it VERY soon. Lots of cool stuff is coming, we promise you that. Shall we savor something from last year's set? I think Warren Hood and The Hoodlums fit the bill. Though they aren't on the B'roo list, Lord knows they SHOULD be! You can catch them at Old Settler's Music Fsetival this April in Austin. There are plenty of other dates, too. It doesn't matter where you see Warren, just that one of these days, make sure that you do. As a case in point, here is "The More I See You."

- Jessie Scott

Jason Eady "This Old Guitar and Me"

I was on the road Wednesday afternoon, driving up from Bozeman, Montana to Big Sky for a gig with John Bohlinger, the band leader from Nashville Star, and Claudia Williams from the band Montana Rose. We are so deep in the Rocky Mountains that we are being swallowed by the pines. The audio accompaniment is the new Robbie Robertson album, How To Become Clairvoyant, and here is a hot tip - track 8, "Madame X," is a perfect tune to listen to as the sun goes down, as it is bathing us in a peach glow.

I look at The Rockies as old friends now, as this is the third time in the past year that I've visited. The first was Beans and me cruising from Albuquerque to Telluride for the Americana Music Weekend. BTW, the lineup has been announced for this year's event...check their website. The second trip was last month's MusicFest at Steamboat, where we soaked in the sun, snow, food, great music, and abundance of close friends.

Photo Credit: David BybothFrom those Music Fog sessions in Steamboat Springs, we bring you a video from one of the somewhat unsung Texas heroes, Jason Eady, a man that follows the heart and soul of his own muse. He brings all kinds of textures and flavors, delivered with flawless authenticity and musicality. On his next CD, AM Country Heaven, due out in April, he embraces some old school country forms. That has always been part of his subtext. "This Ol' Guitar And Me," will be on the new album, and here's the Music Fog version to act as a tease. Recorded in our Steamboat Grand studio last month during The MusicFest 2011.

- Jessie Scott

Sons of Bill "Santa Ana Winds"

It is Monday. The weekend is over, and it is finally quiet again. One of my neighbors has taken to playing his bass LOUD, loud enough that the frequencies rumble through the concrete slabs and into the house. It is a bit unnerving having this incessant amplitude that is being delivered hour after hour (just ask Noriega). But today, the vibrations have stopped. I live in Austin, it comes with the turf. (Insert your favorite "How Many Austin Musicians Does It Take..." joke here.) But you have to practice to get anywhere, you know about the 10 years or 10,000 hours rule to become an expert? 

Sons of Bill have been plying their craft. The are on a tear around the country, traveling intrepidly from stage to stage, from state to state. In the midst of the march, they are just completing work on the third CD, the follow up to the aptly named One Town Away album. In the studio with them producing is David Lowery - yes, of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven fame , THAT David Lowery. We are looking for this as yet unnamed CD to be a spring release. A couple of months back, we got our hands on a smoking video of one of the songs from the forthcoming album, "Santa Ana Winds." When Sons of Bill stopped by our studio at the Steamboat Grand in January during The MusicFest, they gave us a sweet acoustic version of it. So exciting to watch James, Sam, and Abe Wilson just get better and better!

- Jessie Scott

Update on 2011-11-05 03:06 by Music Fog

The Music Fog version of this song is now available to download at either of the stores below: