Happy April Fool's Day. Where does this stuff come from, anyway? We start with the magic and majesty of Groundhog Day and then comes the month of March with the mantra "In like a lion, out like a lamb." Next up it is April Fool's, which traces its history back to The Canterbury Tales. And don't even get me started on the Easter Bunny. Taken as an aggregate, it looks like our society is crazy about the whimsical. I hope the culture that excavates us has a sense of humor, or will they think we are pagans of some inexplicably strange order?
Happy April's Fool's Day. Happy Eleven Bones, quite the cast of characters, too. Here's a Music Fog exclusive track, "Fool's Holiday," from our session with them at our Threadgill's marathon during SXSW® week 2010.
Oh man, I have not wanted to talk too much about this twilight time that I have been living in. I have been through almost a week now of haze, of drifting in and out, of sleep overtaking me, and then of weird, implausible dreams. But so it is after surgery. I am in very good hands though, between the medical folks, and then that of Hag and Dee, who are angels watching over me. I have not been on my feet much, heck, I have hardly even been out of bed. Today is the day that the bandages are coming off, and the healing continues. And I have a super cool new red scooter to tool around on! I will keep you posted on my progress, but thanks for all the well wishes you have sent my way.
We wrapped up the Music Fog Marathon a week ago last Saturday, and here is our first video from those sessions. We grabbed a handful of performances that Beans started working on immediately, while waiting for Aaron to return to DC with the rest of the masters. Not to mention that this is worthy of being the first video we bring to Music Fog on the strength of the other two performances we filmed of Eilen Jewell at Threadgill’s two years ago. With over 100,000 views, she has the number two most watched video in Music Fog’s archives, “Sea of Tears,” and a MF top 20 with “Rain Roll In.”
Her name is pronounced E-lin; that is with a hard E, that is then softened by her bob haircut and pearls. Coming off of the success of Sea Of Tears, she found herself suffering a severe case of writer’s block, and retreated to a cabin in the mountains of Idaho. Back in the land that she is originally from, she was able to lay the groundwork for the forthcoming album Queen of the Minor Key, due at the end of June. Joining Eilen are her longtime band; Jason Beek (drums, harmony vocals), Jerry Miller (electric, acoustic and steel guitars), and Johnny Sciascia (upright bass) who have performed 150-plus shows a year, these past five years. The song we bring you today is from the forthcoming album, and is an ironically worded homage to Cupid called, “Bang, Bang, Bang.”
Wow. Simply wow. I am basking in the afterglow of an amazing day of music yesterday as we wrapped the third day of the Music Fog Marathon, presented by Neustar, at Threadgill’s WHQ in South Austin. We've been holed up in the back room, with the red velvet curtains, capturing magic as the music emanates from the stage. We started the day with Chapin Sisters, and then solo sets from Robert Ellis and Ron Sexsmith. Then a couple of hot young bands in Ponderosa and Deadman. Then it got packed and crazy, with visits from Jimmy LaFave, Dave Alvin, Malford Milligan, Carolyn Wonderland, and Brigitte DeMeyer. We wrapped and ate, and pondered the next round. So it is upon us, Day Four. We will be sending out a live feed here on Music Fog once again, via Ustream. Here is the schedule of our final day...it's a sprint to the finish now!