Guy Clark "My Favorite Picture of You"

“Wish I was in Austin,” is the opening line from the classic Guy Clark tune “Dublin Blues.”  For those who have never visited Austin, it is a compelling and lyrical place.  Friendly, arty, a tad weird, laissez faire, interesting, urbane; unlike any other place in Texas, that’s for sure…maybe even the world.  It is the confluence of the University of Texas, government, High Tech and the arts that makes it so.  To even spend a bit of time here makes you yearn to come back. And when you live here, there is nothing like the welcoming feeling to have one’s feet back on this turf.  

“Wish I Was In Austin” is also the title of tonight's celebration of Guy Clark’s 70th birthday at The Long Center in Austin.  So many people will gather in salute, onstage and off, to mark this occasion, and to profess gratitude for the works and persona that is Guy Clark. I can hardly wait. That is not the only Guy news however, as December 6th is the release of the tribute album, This One’s For Him. Many artists who recorded tracks for the thirty song CD will debut them at the Long Center concert.  By the way, tonight’s house band includes Lloyd Maines, Verlon Thompson, Shawn Camp, Jen Gunderman, Glenn Fukunaga and John Silva. Yowsa.  Can’t wait for that either.  Now to the business at hand.  Music Fog was honored to have a visit from Guy Clark, as he has released his own new CD, Songs and Stories, recorded in Nashville at The Belcourt Theater. When Guy walked into Marathon Recorders during Americana Fest 2011 last month, as you can imagine, a hush fell upon us all. Beans and Chris bathed him in blue light. He anointed us in the holy water of his craft. Here is a brand new song. “My Favorite Picture Of You.”

-- Jessie Scott

Kevin Gordon "Colfax"

School.  Can you believe that so much of our lives are informed by who we were and what transpired then?  I have been looking back again lately, maybe because Facebook makes all the eras mesh so seamlessly.  When I was in school I loved to dance.  Saturday night at Sam’s Burger Joint, I had the great good luck to see the Texas Tornados on their home turf in San Antonio.  They were a joy, between Augie Meyers on keyboards and Flaco Jimenez on accordion, how can you have a bad time?  And Shawn Sahm and the rest of the band do such a great job of keeping the spirit of Doug Sahm and Freddy Fender alive as well.  I am always so taken with the multi-culturalism of the audiences there. White, Hispanic, African American, all enjoying the music together. On Saturday night, there was a woman dancing, wizened, wiry and yet somehow spry. She had a cane but was helped to the dance floor, where she held court without it all evening.  At the end of the night, I asked her daughter how old she was, and she said, "92." God bless her.

Kevin Gordon is an East Nashville cat, by way of Louisiana. He is a natural resource, harnessing the energy of rocking and rolling instead of the sedentary life of poesy.  I was so happy to make the booking with him during our Americana outreach.  Our first time with Kevin, though I had been playing his music for years on the radio.  

Kevin’s plan is to do a new album, Gloryland, in 2012, and he played us a new song, "Colfax,"  that I suspect will be on it.  Peter Cooper of the Nashville Tennessean has said, "We'll empty your spit-valve for life if you find us anything more stunning than 'Colfax,' [Kevin Gordon's] undeniably superb song that could only have come from one mind, and from one person's experience. It's ostensibly about a kid in the marching band but winds up being about the heart of American darkness and the steel that it takes to move beyond."  So here's "Colfax," from our recent Nashville stint.

-- Jessie Scott

Ange Boxall "Fireflies"

Halloween weekend, and there are costumes everywhere. I particularly love seeing the kids come to the door, and the grown-ups in full drag everywhere in the evening. Walking the streets, in the supermarkets. It is so much fun to step out of your comfort zone. Imaginative, fun, sexy; this year’s fare includes Angry Birds, Black Swans, Snooki, Lady GaGa, Waldo, Charlie Sheen. Of course there are all the old stand-bys, pirates and ghosts and witches and such. And don’t forget, with white face, black eyes and a drizzle of blood, an everyday outfit can be zombie-ized. Out in California this past July 4th weekend, I was among the perennial parties-goers that attend the High Sierra Music Festival. There were Merry Pranksters and gypsies, and lots of ethereal wings on the women with hippie threads (and it wasn’t even Halloween yet!). Yes, wings are big business this year.

We get our wings today from Tasmanian, by way of England, Ange Boxall. She spends quite a bit of time stateside these days, as she is especially drawn to Nashville. Actually she always seems to be traveling somewhere. Of late, she has been doing some shows under the moniker of Take Three Girls along with Sara Petite and Brigitte DeMeyer, angels all. They are in Moreno Valley, California tonight. Ange’s latest album Writing Letters came out earlier this year, but when she came to see us for the Fall Music Fog Marathon in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, she played us a brand new tune. Tom Mason and Bones Hillman accompany her here on “Fireflies.” Have fun this weekend and get home safe.

- Jessie Scott