Gurf Morlix "Cold Cold World"

It is so hard to wait, especially when you know something really big is right around the corner. Not that this wasn't a whole lifetime in the making, but when the finish line gets close it has to be excruciating! Gurf Morlix released his new album yesterday, Blaze Foley's 113th Wet Dream. It pays homage to Blaze, with whom he played over 20 years ago before Gurf became a ubiquitous Americana MVP. They met in 1976 when Gurf played a show in Austin, having left the chill of his native Buffalo, NY after high school. That night, Blaze invited Gurf to his first gig, which spawned a friendship for the next few years, as the two iconoclasts became runnin' buddies.

Blaze Foley was a brilliant songwriter but tragically flawed character. He was murdered in 1989 at the age of 39. Gurf's album is being released in conjunction with the debut of the documentary, Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah a movie about Blaze's life, itself 12 years in the making. A few years back Gurf contributed liner notes for a European Blaze Foley tribute CD, and we quote them here:

“Blaze Foley – soulful, passionate singer songwriter. Champion of the downtrodden. Friend of the working Girl. Truth seeker. Atmospheric disturbance. Tender caring person with a big ol' bag of deep-rooted troubles stuffed down into one of his pockets. Blaze could cut right through the bullshit, or he could be the cause of it. The funniest person I ever met, and also the most tragic.”

Gurf will be touring in conjunction with film screenings, which will be followed by a set of Gurf playing Blaze's songs. Here he is from the Threadgill's stage, during our Music Fog showcase from SXSW 2010, with the song that closes out the new album, "Cold Cold World."

- Jessie Scott

David Beck & The Well Dressed Thieves "Room for Me"

When I am on the road, there is always one day that totally gets away from me. A day that is so frenetic, even my copious amounts of tech cannot connect me to the outside world. A day when I don't actually communicate with people, just dimly acknowledge their having reached out to me through the haze. It is so thick, that sometimes, when I look at their email afterwards, I don't remember having seen them before. It is like having a brain wipe (is that even possible?). And when you come up for air, it's like a brave new world, a new landscape, unfamiliar terrain. It's hard work that does that, and commitment to it. I might add that it is fine with me! Especially when our work is also such a pleasure.

Just having wrapped MusicFest at Steamboat, we are all in recovery mode. But savoring the good times mode, too. We need a nap, and we promise, we will be rolling more MusicFest videos here on the Music Fog pages. But in the meantime, as I start thinking about booking artists for our SXSW coverage, let's revisit last year. I had just made the acquaintance of one David Beck, as he was playing bass for Matt King. He gave me some tunes to listen to, and we talked the next day. Since then, David has recorded two more projects on his own, produced some CDs for others and is extending his wings in collaboration. Did I mention he is just 23? He says, "The last few months have found me in the studio producing records, like Carmel by the Sea for Marshall Anderson and Gone by Miss Cate James. Be on the lookout for those two. I've started a new group with my good friend Paul Cauthen. We've been busy writing, getting ready for our debut album in April."

Here is something from last March to tide you over, shot on the Threadgill's stage during SXSW 2010. Music Fog captured the first ever live performance of this particular tune, "Room for Me," which you can find on his release Grand Island.

- Jessie Scott

Shinyribs "Who Built the Moon"

A plea for sanity. We are all Americans, and our country is in trouble. We need jobs, a cohesive vision to create the industries that will take us into the future. We need to reduce the debt. We desperately need campaign reform. How about offering media advertising free to candidates, so they wouldn't have to be paid for by raising money from special interests. And remember Equal Time, and the Fairness Doctrine.

And don't forget that we are not alone in the world, there are countries who are better educating their children, and creating the jobs of tomorrow. We must be better equipped to answer these challenges. I have to say that our "Pursuit of Happiness" seems to be the only thing on the mind of many folks. With freedom comes responsibility. Why the rant? Because we are posting a Shinyribs video today, that speaks to me about the grandeur of setting one's sights high. After all we are the country that put men on the moon!

Photo Credit: Joe WinstonShinyribs is fronted by Kevin 'Shinyribs' Russell. He was born in Beaumont, Texas and raised in The Church of Christ, but found himself at 17 in Louisiana biker bars playing a hybrid of loud country, blues, rock, and psychedelic swamp. Kevin formed The Gourds in 1994 and they have been cranking for over 15 years. Only problem was Kevin was writing so much, he needed another outlet, so he started doing solo shows under the pseudonym Shinyribs in 2006. And that evolved into the current band; Gourd drummer Keith Langford, Cerebral Pony bass man Jeff Brown, and Kentucky Fried keyboard whiz Winfield Cheek. Shinyribs put out Well After Awhile in June, produced by Kevin and his long time friend George Reiff. There are guest appearances by Ray Wylie Hubbard, Mark Rubin, Scrappy Judd Newcomb, Michael Fracasso, Phoebe Hunt and more. There is such a lovely, and yes zany, connect-the-dots quality to this song. Let's build something great America. "Who Built The Moon," from our SXSW 2010 shoot at Threadgill's South in Austin.

- Jessie Scott