Midnight River Choir "Jim Beam"

Happy Birthday America...Happy 4th Weekend! Hopefully you're enjoying some Q and bourbon and beer and maybe even some music. I gotta say, for us ex-XM folks, it was a little weird NOT being at Willie’s Picnic, which was broadcast on XM12 X Country for many happy years. It still airs on SiriusXM, so here's a shout out to the folks at Outlaw Country and Willie’s Roadhouse for keeping the dream alive. Many of the artists that played Willie’s 4th of July Picnic at the Austin 360 Amphitheater are staying in town for another very cool event on Monday, to benefit the victims of the Central Texas Memorial Day flooding.

I want to make sure that is on your radar, OUTLAW: Celebrating the Music of Waylon Jennings at ACL Live at The Moody Theater this Monday. There are just a few tickets left for this once in a lifetime show with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Kacey Musgraves, Ryan Bingham, Sturgill Simpson, Jamey Johnson, Lee Ann Womack, Chris Stapleton, Shooter Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Billy Joe Shaver. And they just added Alison Krauss and Robert Earl Keen to the line-up too!.

If you are a ticket holder, you can purchase admission to the OUTLAW AFTER-PARTY FOR TEXAS FLOOD RELIEF. 100% of your ticket purchase to the Outlaw After-Party will go to the United Way for Greater Austin and be earmarked for Memorial Day Central Texas flood victims.

Unfortunately, this time some of our friends, The Midnight River Choir, were impacted by the rising water. All their vehicles were damaged along with most everything they owned. Give if you can. I know you will join me in wishing to have order again and peace of mind for all the folks impacted by the devastation from the flood waters.

The MRC carry on. They were just out west on tour and are back in Texas now. That is one way to take one’s mind off it. And of course there is always bourbon. “Jim Beam,” can be found on 2008’s Freedom Wine CD. We caught up with The Midnight River Choir during SXSW© in 2012 during our Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill's.

- Jessie Scott

K Phillips & The Concho Pearls "Kat's Song (What I Can't Have)"

The crossroads are tricky. There is always the path not travelled, the opportunity not taken. The eternal question hangs in your head, “What if?” Here is an admission; I wished I had worked with K Phillips. I first met K a few years back while I was living in Austin. He was about to deliver the album American Girls, and I had heard about him, and that album, long before I laid eyes on him. The first time I saw K perform was at Sam’s Burger Joint in San Antonio. One performance was all it took to know that K was indeed working on something uniquely his own.

It turns out I wasn't the only one paying attention, so was Kyla Fairchild at No Depression, who gave K a kick ass review. And so was Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. Which goes to show that you never know how or where your music will resonate, you just have to get it out there. A few months back, in October, the Counting Crows posted this delicious version of "Kat's Song" from The Outlaw Roadshow: Counting Crows live at Bowery Electric, NYC. K takes a guest verse, towards the end, on this song that he wrote.

Photo Credit: SteveShootsToday we bring you the Music Fog filming of the same song, from Threadgill’s in Austin, back in 2012 during our SXSW© music marathon. Here is "Kat's Song (What I Can't Have)."

K is working on a new album, and is heading up north with his band, the Concho Pearls, to play Midtown Live in NYC on April 22nd. I just can't wait!

- Jessie Scott

Jack Grace Band "Umbrella"

Our Music Fog visit today is with a compadre of mine. I mean, I am blessed to consider a pretty extensive group of musicians as friends, but there has always been a special bond between me and Jack Grace. When we met, we realized we were both from Westchester County, New York, and we each started listing other Westchester folks we knew who are active in the industry. For a suburban NYC county to have become something of a petri dish of media and Americana activity is a just bit mind-bending.

It was Jack who booked the NYC’s legendary Rodeo Bar which closed earlier this year, and it was Jack who recommended me for my new job where I work alongside of him, as talent buyers for the roots rock and roll club, Midtown Live. This new initiative is being done under the parent company Webster Hall Presents, the legendary New York venue Webster Hall, which has been in operation as a social meeting place since 1886.

Midtown Live is housed at an interesting site too, the Recording & Rehearsal Arts Building, at 251 West 30th Street. This location has played home to musician friendly spaces for decades. There are still guitar shops on the block too, and in this ever changing New York landscape, that’s saying something. We have announced some way cool shows: Danny B. Harvey with Jyrki 69 Eyes, Annie Marie Lewis and The Bowery Boys on January 2, and on January 10, an official APAP showcase produced by Export NOLA, with Cedric Burnside Project, Luke Winslow-King, and an opening set from New York’s own African American string band, The Ebony Hillbillies.

Back to the video tape…Music Fog filmed the Jack Grace Band during the 2011 Music Fog Marathon in Austin at Threadgill’s WHQ.

- Jessie Scott