Oh yum. Being out in California recently was just delicious. The air, the low humidity, the colors of sky and flowers, the towering mountains. It is all overwhelming to the senses. I have that awareness every time I visit, that it simply is the promised land, well, the way it looks anyway. A friend from California asked me a few days ago ‘what I am doing in the desert’ it gave me pause for a moment as I reflected on the lush California landscape, and compared that to the drought and convection oven heat we are dealing with day after day. Yes, Texas is that hot. It feels biblical here.
Jason Eady "Paid My Dues"
Can I say...that I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you been. This is starting off like the Memphis Slim blues tune “Mother Earth,” which is required listening, by the way. I like Eric Burdon and War’s version of it too. The truth of it is for as long as you live, there are checks and balances. There is always something new to learn, and there are always reasons to be humble. And if you forget this, or somehow think you can rise above it, trust me, something will make you remember you are no better than the next. Or as Bob Dylan wisely wrote, “To live outside the law you must be honest.” We are all in this together, this life, and you never get done paying your dues, for as long as we all shall live.
Today’s tune is from Jason Eady. He has neo-classic pipes, All-American good looks, and an amazing facility for songwriting. He has just come off a West Coast run opening for Cody Canada & The Departed. Boy oh boy, I’ll bet that they had a great time. Jason came to visit us during our sessions at The MusicFest in Steamboat Springs, from our makeshift studio in The Steamboat Grand. He played us some brand new tunes, this being one of them. “Paying My Dues,” is a co-write with Micky Braun, and you can expect it to be on Jason’s forthcoming CD AM Country Heaven, which we hear now has a release date of January, 2012. Meanwhile, Music Fog brings you our version of it. Always paying our dues.
- Jessie Scott
Corb Lund "R-E-G-R-E-T"
I have had a lovely week of music so far. OK, here is the skinny. You know that I am living in Austin, and that Threadgill’s has been a home to me for about a decade now. So I am doing a new series that is not a Music Fog thing, so no, you won’t see any videos of it. But Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights I am booking the talent, and hanging out for the School Night Sessions. It ends early enough to get you home in time for a good night’s sleep before work or school the next day. Sweet. And the first three days of this new series, Beck & Cauthen, the Garrett LeBeau Band with Jamie Oldaker, and Dustin Welch with Brandy Zdan performed, and it was mighty fine stuff. You know I have been sitting in bars and venues since I was fifteen years old. Some people would say that they are done with that lifestyle. But for me, MUSIC is what it is. I am happy in real time, sitting and absorbing it all. Though there have been times in my life where I have had the realization that I have spent an inordinate amount of time in saloon settings. And that can be a hard thing for many.
We recorded Corb Lund solo during the Americana Fest in Nashville. He sings a song about being in exile in a bar, but he is not happy. R-E-G-R-E-T. He spells it out. I am not certain that this tune has ever found its way to an album, yet. This is a sorrowful country tune. Folks ain’t writing them much like this anymore. Simple. Heartfelt. Heartbreaking. Corb Lund is the whole package. He can write sad, and he can write funny. He is a wonderful musician, and an exceptional performer. Get to know him as he travels.
-Jessie Scott