Elephant Revival "Remembering a Beginning"

I've been thinking about the slogan we had for the workforce at XM Satellite Radio, it was AFDI...an acronym for "actually F***ing doing it." It is so easy to dream, to ponder and scheme, and then to do absolutely nothing about it at all. I suspect that is a very common occurrence. We all have aspirations, though most of us don’t follow through and then the dream dies. I am struck by how musician friends travel the globe, knowing they can’t stay home to make a living, and that they must leave what they love to keep their careers alive. How that act of packing the vehicle and the bags and setting back out on the road becomes the norm, the forward motion.

Photo Credit: Anne Stavely

All I can tell you is that you have to put the 10,000 hours in, and have the fire burn deep within you to make it a reality. You never get done paying your dues; but the mere fact of continuing to walk the path is its own reward. If we had bailed on our dreams, we wouldn’t have encountered Elephant Revival in Nashville during the Americana Music Festival. Wow. Pure and simple, with a Celtic tinge. The five are Bonnie Paine (vocals, washboard, djembe and musical saw), Sage Cook (electric banjo/guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, viola and vocals), Dango Rose (double-bass, mandolin, banjo and vocals), Daniel Rodriguez (acoustic guitar, electric banjo/guitar and vocals) and Bridget Law (fiddle and vocals). Their second album Break In The Clouds, came out in June. The song we're presenting to you today, “Remembering A Beginning,” is an unreleased entrée into their articulate, intricate, and earthy world.

- Jessie Scott

Who's First? Music Fog Sessions Volume 1

Today we're excited to announce the availability of our very first digital album! Twelve artists from the Music Fog archives have joined with us to offer the audio from selected performances to you on our compilation project Who's First? Music Fog Sessions Vol. 1. Yes, we have opened a Music Fog download store, so you can take the Fog with you on any of your devices. So many people have asked to purchase our versions of songs over these last few years, and now you can! Our MP3s are offered at the higher quality 320kbps rate, which will play back beautifully in iTunes, Windows Media Player, your iPod, etc. Audiophiles will also be happy to know that you can optionally download each song in the FLAC format, which will allow you to experience the recording in it's native sonic form---better than CD quality. You can add multiple songs to your cart, if you want to pick and choose, or simply purchase the whole album for the quickest route to all 12 delicious tracks! Checkout is secure via major credit cards or your PayPal account.

These songs were recorded in hotel rooms, condos, tour buses, and from the stage. Each unique location and configuration adds to the novelty of the recording, and offers a different perspective of the song. So join us, won’t you, in revisiting these amazing and intimate performances captured by the Music Fog crew. We're proud to present to you our very first album! Does this mean we are a record company now? Wow! Happy listening!

- Jessie Scott

Update on 2011-11-05 00:35 by Music Fog

Great news for iTunes lovers...Who's First? Music Fog Sessions Vol. 1 is now available in the iTunes store! Just click on the link below, or scan the QR code with your smart phone to be taken directly to the album page.

Sons of Bill "Siren Song"

ACL Music Festival is now a memory, and I didn’t go anywhere near it this year. Oh I heard that Stevie Wonder rocked and that Coldplay was cool, I saw some of Alison Krauss and Union Station on the stream on You Tube, and I am sure some stars were born this weekend.  Now if I wasn’t doing anything else I would have been happy to be there, as I have attended for the last five or so years, but weekends are my busy time now, and you can’t be everywhere. Well, I take that back, maybe you can be everywhere, but it has to be sequential, just one day and one date at a time. 

I have lots of friends who are trying to do just that, and we lovingly refer to them as road dogs. Virginia’s Sons of Bill are busy making every day count. They have been touring a bunch by themselves, and after this summer's run with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, SOB were asked to continue with RCPM on their dates through the Northeast and the Great Lakes this month.  Sons Of Bill are anxiously awaiting the release of their next album, which they had hoped to deliver this fall. But we hear now that it will be coming out after Christmas, which is only three months away! Yowsa!  We had SOB in front of the Music Fog cameras at MusicFest at Steamboat 2011.  Wait a minute, that means 2012 is just over three months away, and that is a wonderful thing, since we will be returning to Music Fest.  Happy, Happy; Joy, Joy!  The song we bring you today is as yet unreleased, but is forthcoming as part of the new album from the brothers Wilson. “Siren Song,” new music from Sons of Bill.

- Jessie Scott