Gary Nicholson "Listen To Willie"

The first time I got to hang with Willie Nelson was when the Teatro album came out. I traveled to Boulder, CO to accompany Emmylou Harris, Willie’s designated hitter for back-up vocals on that album. It was for a performance at a music industry event, The AAA Summit, held in August ever year. We stopped at legendary radio station KBCO for an in-studio. I chatted with Willie for a few minutes afterwards, and his eyes told me the story. There is such quiet strength and peace in them. The constant demands through the decades must be really hard to reconcile though, folks tugging on him - that just keep coming all the time. Somehow, Willie is his own vortex of calm. I have had many visits with him in the years since then, and I am always in awe of the aura that surrounds him. It is a gentle magnetic force that Carlos Castaneda might have crafted. Powerful stuff.

Willie just keeps on, a Texas gift, and a national treasure. Today we bring you a video homage from another Texas treasure, Gary Nicholson. You know his songs, even if you don’t know his name. We brought you his version of “Fallin’ & Flyin” a while ago on the Music Fog pages. That was one of the featured songs on the Crazy Heart soundtrack, a co-write with the late Stephen Bruton, delivered in the film by Jeff Bridges. Gary has written for too many folks to mention, plays guitar for even more, and has produced albums you know and love. His credits are here.

Clever devil that he is, there is a song on his most recent album Texas Songbook, saluting the words of Willie Nelson, "Listen To Willie." It starts by citing "Bloody Mary Morning," then references "The Party's Over," "Hello Walls," "Night Life," "Crazy," "On The Road Again" and "Me And Paul." Here is Gary Nicholson from last year’s Fall Music Fog Marathon from Marathon Recorders in Nashville during Americana Fest.

-Jessie Scott

Kenny Vaughan "Carolee"

So are you watching the Olympics? I hope so. Does it make you want to run and jump and swim and dive? Do the gymnastics give you a sense of the wonder of the artistry and a desire to chase perfection? The games are a reminder of that most basic striving, to conquer what you do. Practice, practice, practice. The stories of these contenders are amazing as well, for they put ‘normal’ life on hold to chase their dreams.

Obviously the particulars are different, but if there were a contest for guitar players, I would want Kenny Vaughan on that team. I am quite sure he put his 10,000 hours in for that impeccable guitar playing of his. I love me some quality guitar playing. You know, that seems to be so much more underground when you think about how guitars ruled in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It is hard to be a household name now. Of course Kenny shines as a member of Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives, and has many credits with folks like Rodney Crowell, Billy Burnette, Jim Lauderdale, Mike Farris, and Will Hoge. The list goes on and on. You can check it out here. Last year, Kenny put out his long awaited solo album debut, V. Kenny came to see us during the Fall Music Fog Marathon at Marathon Recorders in Nashville. Here is “Carolee,” with Rich Brinsfield on bass, and John Radford on drums.

-Jessie Scott

the V-Roys "Cold Beer Hello"

Today let’s drink to beer. Especially this time of year when we are all hot, it is everywhere. The snap of the pop top, the uncapping of the bottle, the Ahhh of satisfaction after the first swig. Cold beer is written into the American DNA. Cold beer is a rallying point for musicians everywhere. Where the beer flows, the music cranks. Threadgill’s got the first beer license in Austin,TX which is why the musicians started hanging round there. It was one of the seeds planted early on for Austin’s music scene to grow.

There is evidence of beer being made and consumed as far back as 7000 years ago. The history on WIKI is a good place to start. Last year, while we were recording our Fall Music Fog Marathon in Nashville at Marathon Recorders, we had Mic Harrison and Scott Miller come by to play together as they were issuing a V-Roys reunion album called Sooner Or Later and doing a select amount of shows. There is a brand new Mic Harrison & the High Score album, Still Wanna Fight which just came out, and Scott is working on a new one too. Let us revisit a song from their collective history, that was originally released on Just Add Ice. “Cold Beer Hello.” It’s beer thirty people!

-Jessie Scott