Waco Brothers "Walking on Hell's Roof Looking At The Flowers"

I have been cruising the halls of MusicFest at Steamboat Springs, and hitting venues around town, from The Old Town Pub and The Slopeside to the Steamboat Grand to the MusicFest Tent to the Tugboat, and I can tell you that the music is alive and well at this amazing event. I talked to someone at the bar at the Slopeside who said he had come for the last three years, and wouldn't miss it ever again. This music nourishes you, you have to have it, we are like moths to this flame of honest to goodness stuff that touches your soul.

Today the MusicFest stream from the really big tent is:

2:30 to 3:35 Sons of Bill.

6:15 to 7:40 Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights.

8:10 to 9:30 Stoney LaRue & The Arsenals.

9:30 to 10:30 The MusicFest Jam. It’s all good. 

There is a feeling of warmth that comes from the bonding that occurs here.  It keeps you wrapped in the arms of each other.  It feels safe. It feels like home. Savor the sweet times, for they are often too short. The Waco Brothers express some positives amongst the chaos, “Walking On Hell’s Roof Looking At The Flowers.” Why not, I say. We had the pleasure of catching up with them at the 2011 Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s during SXSW this past March. Their next release will be this spring, The Great Chicago Fire, done in conjunction with Paul Burch. We can hardly wait!

- Jessie Scott

Foster & Lloyd "It's Already Tomorrow"

Today’s the day I head up the hill to MusicFest at Steamboat Springs. Only this year, the weather seems a tad weird. I always relish the twinkling Christmas lights set amidst the majestic pines and the blanket of snow. Talking to Steamboat resident and dear friend Brian Smith at the beginning of the week, he said he was just wearing a sweatshirt, as the temperature was an unusual mid 40s! He also said that there were more people breaking bones this year, as opposed to just bruising when skiing, as the deep snow acts as a buffer. The snow this year is not yet that deep. Here is the 10 day forecast, with plenty of daytime melting going on. That said, this is your friendly yearly reminder that if you are attending MusicFest, you’ll need to pack more than a thermal shirt or a sweatshirt. It is a whole lot colder than it is in Texas, and it will be dropping into the teens at night.

Thinking back a year, it was after a session we did with Radney Foster at MusicFest 2011, that he told us he was in the process of doing a new Foster and Lloyd album, the first in 20 years. He ran back to his room and grabbed a home burned CD and played us some tracks. Wow! I was stoked that we could extend an offer to Foster & Lloyd two months later to play for the Music Fog cameras at Threadgill’s during SXSW. Coming up this year in early March, Radney is getting ready to do a new acoustic recording of his breakthrough solo album, Del Rio Texas 1959. Check out the details here. But let us back track to last March at Threadgill’s, “It’s Already Tomorrow," the title track from the most recent Foster & Lloyd CD.

- Jessie Scott

Jack Grace Band "It Was a Really Bad Year"

Not to be negative, but it was a very challenging year. I, for one, will be glad when it is over. I am ready for the times to get better. May your life become more stable if things are up in the air. May you find a job, money, and security. May your house continue to be your house. May your dreams come true, or at least, begin to root and grow strong. May you see a future in what you do. May the economy continue to recover. May it rain where it hasn't, and may it not rain where it has flooded. May we have peace in the world, in our homes, in our lives.

For the last song of the year, Jack Grace sums it up from our 2010 Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill's in Austin, during SXSW® music week. BTW, Jack is readying a cool new album for the new year, but in the meantime, here is "It Was A Really Bad Year." Jack is joined by an all-star band; with Earl Poole Ball on piano, Tom Lewis on drums, playing bass is Daria Grace, and the Mariachi Horns are J Walter Hawkes on trombone, along with Steve Butts on trumpet. You can find the original version of this tune on the Drinking Songs For Lovers CD, out in 2010.

Let's count it down tonight, then onward to 2012...and upward!

- Jessie Scott