We were immersed in the moment at Cherokee Creek Music Festival. It was Saturday afternoon. A 50% chance of rain had been predicted off and on for the weekend and during Delbert McClinton's set the night before, it had poured. It rained some that morning, too, but then the skies cleared and a beautiful day was born. We recorded one song on the bus with Kevin Welch, having asked him to do some older songs from his catalog this time, as we had already recorded some new tunes from the forthcoming CD back in February at Folk Alliance in Memphis. We were planning to mix it up, some old, some new, and we had hoped we were about to record a fairly long session. Well, that was our plan! But it was not to be. Or it was not to be as long as we'd hoped!
Kevin's son Dustin burst onto the bus in mid-session, right after Kevin laid down the first song. He shared reports of the possibility of tornadic activity, severe thunderstorms, hail. Yikes. We are on a ranch in the Hill Country of Texas. Not a lot of cover...what to do? We were told it was approaching in 40 minutes. Kevin thought for a second, and then announced that he had decided to play another song and then get some more of that "wonderful brisket" instead of running for cover! As it turned out, we were not in the path of the storm after all, and continued to enjoy a sultry Texas afternoon in Cherokee.
Kevin's new CD, A Patch of Blue Sky, will be out June 15th on Music Road Records, though you can purchase it digitally, right now, on the album's page at Kevin's website. It's his first solo record since 2001's Millionaire, and the album features 10 new songs, all written or co-written by Kevin. We will bring you Music Fog versions of some new songs in the not too distant future, but here is one from the album Millionaire, "Killing Myself" written by Handsome Harry Stinson (as Marty Stuart refers to him) and Kevin Welch, quite the heartthrob himself!
- Jessie Scott
