Carolyn Wonderland "Judgement Day Blues"

The first time I saw the name Carolyn Wonderland was on a Stubb’s marquee back when I first started going to SXSW. I would travel from gig to gig, sometimes only seeing one or two songs from an artist before I moved on to the next. I used to jump taxis, hitch rides, walk, pedicab, whatever it took to get to the next thing highlighted in yellow on my schedule. So I had plans, and didn’t detour to go see Carolyn play, though I was totally intrigued by her name. That year, back at work, I did some research. She is from Houston, she is an evocative guitar player, with an expressive voice. She is fun, she is serious, and she rocks. Now you know I like that.

© Todd V. WolfsonFour years ago, I had Carolyn come to Threadgill’s back room to tape an audio segment for X Country. I booked her back to back with Bonnie Bramlett (yes, of Delaney and Bonnie.) I don’t know if anything came out of that, but I wanted them to know about each other. Same thing with Joe Ely and Jason Eady that year, I booked them back to back, and that yielded some gigs for Jason to open for Joe. LOVE that! It was a joy and a pleasure to bring Carolyn Wonderland back this March, during the Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s. Carolyn is an Austin treasure, and always delivers an exceptional show. Also, a 'not to miss' is the Christmas show she does with Guy Forsyth, which, thankfully, was recorded and released last year under the title Fireside Songs For The Soul.

Today marks the release of Carolyn’s new album Peace Meal, her follow up to 2008’s album, Miss Understood. We go back a bit further for today’s song, which is from 2003’s Bloodless Revolution. Here is “Judgment Day Blues” with Cole El-Saleh and Rob Hooper.

 -Jessie Scott

Miss Tess & The Bon Ton Parade "New Orleans"

New Orleans. We are driving around town listening to the soul of the city, community radio WWOZ. Between the funky oldies and the Dixieland and the Louis Armstrong – the cool horns, the hot Hammond B3, the licks and the grooves, I am in musical heaven just from the radio.  We took a drive into the bayou, to Morgan City, for some sightseeing, to the mouth of the Atchafalaya, and then paralleled the Mississippi River for a while.  Levees to the left. Poverty, oil fields and plantations to the right.  Why is life so unbalanced? But the overarching principle here, is to enjoy the moment no matter who you are or what you have got.  

"New Orleans” comes from Miss Tess and The Bon Ton Parade.  They recorded it for the Music Fog cameras a year ago in March at Threadgill’s.  The ease and spirit that this song embodies is the prevailing wind of the Big Easy.  There is a sassiness, a certainty, and an innuendo to it all, that is assured, insinuating, and I must say, very appealing.  Miss Tess and the band are gigging, if you want some more.  And Miss Tess has a throw down every Wednesday via YouTube, where she challenges you to give her a tune to cover.  She takes song requests in order, learns the song, videotapes it wherever and with whoever she feels like playing with. Cool. “New Orleans” now from Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade, as I bid NOLA adieu.

- Jessie Scott

Robert Ellis "Friends Like Those"

One viciously hot day this summer, I wound up in the frosty confines of the Cactus Café on the University of Texas campus for a stellar evening of song with Robert Ellis.  Jonny Corndawg opened, he brings a zany Steven Wright-esque approach to his music.  Or maybe Jonny should be counted among the likes of John Hartford and John Prine, the school of acerbically analyzing the oddities of life.  Whatever, Jonny is a decidedly left of center character who quite obviously marches to a different drum.  Check out his homage, “When a Ford Man Turns To Chevy” here.  He just released a record called Down On The Bikini Line.  It is required listening.  I admit, I am a sucker for the strains and refrains of old school country.  And I like it served with a distillation of modernity on it too, a twist of a phrase that speaks of ‘today.’

photo by Tim GriffinAt 22, Robert Ellis is a young master of the genre.  At the Cactus, he brought his band, equally as elegant as they are earthy. They deliver another level, bringing hipster and traditional together, all wrapped up in a baritone-led package. Robert is as comfortable sharing the bill with the likes of Dawes, as he is with Jamey Johnson and George Jones, his hero, with whom he will share the stage at ACL Live at The Moody Theater in Austin on October 6th. All his dates are here.  Music Fog had a magic moment of our own with Robert Ellis during our Spring Marathon at Threadgill’s in March.  From that session, we bring you a solo version of “Friends Like Those.”

- Jessie Scott