Kasey Anderson "Sooner/Later"

Have you noticed the wide array of headgear we bring you enshrined in video on these pages? Americana music might single-handedly bring back the chapeau, which had been all but abandoned as a must-wear since men came back from World War II. And the hats are not monochromatic, either. There are chapeaus of every description: fedoras, baseball caps with the perfect bend to the brim, cultivated in fraternities. There are berets and toques and headwraps; snoods, military issue and fur trappers with the great ears, and cowboys hats, of course! You know, Music Fog has been looking for a few good sponsors, but we haven't knocked on any hat purveyors' doors...yet! Here is a good one!

Photo Credit: John MeloyKasey Anderson wears hats quite well, thank you very much! He has been spotted in Pull-ons, Maos, and Pork Pies, but the Newsboy look might just be his favorite. He has been on tour all summer, doing gigs with Steve Earle, Peter Case, Joe Pug, and a bunch of other luminaries. He and the band just wrapped tracking a new record for a later release. Kasey says, "I wanted to make a record that sounded like a band. So I wrote songs with a band in mind. We'd get a take we liked and used it. No autotune, no "nudging" stuff in ProTools, none of that. People have become so careful and mechanical in the way they make records, and I really don't have any interest in any of that. Thematically, it's a record about trying to figure out how to live in a world that's collapsing, how to reconcile that and what we can do about it. It's not a political record - it's a record about finding out who and what you can depend on when things get as dark and horrifying and infuriating as they are right now - what to do with that fear and rage, how to use it." He continues, "I played a gig in Bellingham, Washington once and, afterwards, a guy came up to me and said, 'You remind me so much of Woody Guthrie.' I was so taken aback. I'm not sure there's a bigger compliment you can pay somebody who stands up there with an acoustic guitar and sings. We all owe something to Woody. I told the guy as much, explained that 'I Ain't Got No Home' was the first song I ever knew the words to, and mentioned that the Joe Klein biography was the first book I ever bought with my own money. The guy looked me dead in the eye and said, 'Yeah...it's mostly just the hat.'"

"Sooner/Later" comes from Kasey's last CD, Nowhere Nights, which came out in February 2010. Looks like he is shooting for February 2011 for the new one! We revisit the stage of Threadgill's for the Music Fog SXSW Marathon video shoot!

- Jessie Scott

James Hyland "Come to Me"

Last night was the first time I perceived the sun going down earlier than it was at summer's height. I know, I am a little slow on the uptake here, just been busy and not out at sundown much, I suppose. This past weekend, there was oyster stew and football, and nothing says fall to me like soup, sundown, and screaming at the TV. Our buddy Jenni Finlay posted an autumn recipe on Facebook:

All Saints Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 pkg hidden valley ranch dressing (envelope)
1 pkg taco seasoning mix (envelope)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can pinto beans
1 can hominy (white or yellow - I use yellow to make the soup more colorful)

Brown ground beef and chopped onion in a big pot. Add green chilies. Add envelopes of seasonings. Stir to mix completely. Add cans of veggies and beans (just dump them in with water and all). You can add two cans of any one of these if you want to make it go further. This is especially good served with cornbread and garnished with fresh chopped cilantro, grated cheddar cheese, and a squeeze of lime.

Now, mind you, it's still 90 degrees in Austin, but that feels like a marvelous cooling off from the 100's of a few weeks back. Everything is relative.

Jenni has a fine roster of folks she works with, among them, is James Hyland. For 10 years, he was the lead singer and principle songwriter for the acclaimed South Austin Jug Band. Back in March, he and Kim Deschamps took part in our video shoot at Threadgill's during SXSW. This song, "Come to Me," was originally featured on the SAJB release Strange Invitation. The song is reborn now, as a much slower and intimate version, on James Hyland & The Joint Chiefs' new CD, Celestial Navigation, which just came out last week. There is a cool video of some of the recording process here. He describes his music as "the love child of Beck and Bob Dylan’s band at a Tom Waits party, while Willie Nelson's "Sad Songs and Waltzes" plays on the jukebox.” Waits and Beck, huh...now I am not sure if it's major lust, or forever unattainable. Nonetheless, it is delicious. Pass the spoon.

- Jessie Scott

The Wronglers "Hurricane Creek"

The weekend. Ahhhh! Saturday. The word alone makes me happy. Pro football on Sunday, and all is right with the world. Even though the summer season has yet to turn in Texas, I am watching the weather maps for the impending changes, with the inexorable march of fronts dipping ever southerly, starting to cool things off elsewhere in the country. Yes, the slant of the sun already feels different, a harbinger of cooling in the south one of these weeks, or months. And lest we forget, it's hurricane season; Hermine, Karl, Igor, Julia. They come from the pea shooter of the Atlantic and the warm water of the Caribbean. Those of us that are in the path hold our collective breath, actually until December 1st, when "the season" is over for the year, and we can exhale. I lived on the beach in Florida, and felt the mark of the "X" on our backs. It was a major reason for moving out of the clime, though I love that lifestyle. Hearing the ocean, tasting salty air, or as they say, "having sand between your toes." Irresistible.

But on to today's video. Though it's been calling my name for years, I have not yet attended the also irresistible Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival! This year is the 10th anniversary of the magical three-day event in Speedway Meadow, at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. This is an absolutely free, non-ticketed event, a gift to the citizens of San Francisco and beyond. Its musical lineup is a shrine built to salute Americana music. Just reading who all will be performing makes me giddy. It is where I am hoping to be October 1st, 2nd, and 3rd! We invited the gracious benefactor of HS, Warren Hellman, and his band The Wronglers, to visit us on the stage of the back room at Threadgill's during SXSW 2010. The song here is an instrumental called, "Hurricane Creek." Batten down the hatches. Stay out of those gullies. Be prepared not to drive into standing water. Seek shelter when you must. Plan ahead. See you at Hardly Strictly!

- Jessie Scott