Today the Big Blue Crew truck departs the DC area for a drive across I-40 west to Nashville. Denise and Dave and I are making our final preparations for our departure tomorrow morning. The Americana Fest holds such promise as a meeting of the tribe, and as an opportunity to recharge batteries. So much music, so many incredible people getting together for fun, work, and time to explore, plan and learn. If there is one thing that all these years ‘in the biz” has taught me, it is that things are continually changing, and one needs to grow and adapt… and think differently. Yes, I am still mourning the loss of Steve Jobs, and if you haven’t read the text of his commencement speech to Stanford University in 2005, it is well worth pondering. It is an explanation to why we do what we do at Music Fog. We are dreamers, we are following the path we love. It will take us to Nashville for a three day webcast, and we can’t wait. So shall we say, “Let It Rock”? Yes, I think so.
We will encounter all the Americana sonics; the bluesy, the bluegrassy, the western swingy, the rockabilly, the folk, the gospel, and the alt. The good stuff. We have had an incredible run of artists “in the zone” for our cameras. We are so lucky to be flies on the wall for these amazing performances. They are the perfect marriage of tech and soul. And especially so for this song, from Chatham County Line, taped at Threadgill’s in March of 2009, around one mic. Their ballet is impeccable, the song’s message belies the instrumentation. We are not talking Marshall stacks here, but mando, banjo, guitar and upright bass. “Let it Rock,” indeed! Here are Dave Wilson, John Teer, Chandler Holt, and Greg Reading. Catch them this week in Virginia, before they head to the UK.
-- Jessie Scott