We are far from standing real still, as we're enroute to WoodyFest, the 13th annual event honoring Woody Guthrie. Denise and I are heading north from Austin, the guys are westbound from Maryland, and we'll meet in the middle. Come to think of it, their drive is a little longer than ours, and I guess the actual geographic middle of the country is Lebanon, KS. Well, we are gonna be close enough anyway! More celebration of this great land of ours. It feels especially amazing when you string a bunch of these trips together like Music Fog is about to do.
I just can't get on the open road without marveling at the depth and breadth of America. And then there is the depth and breadth of the music created in America. We bring you one of the purest forms today. The blues, with the masterful Ray Bonneville. Born in Canada, and relocating to the Boston area in his early teens, he calls himself a North American. With dual citizenship, he toggles between Montreal and Austin. Perfect. You can hear the New Orleans influence all over his stuff, too, as if the heat of those streets got absorbed into his veins in the 80's when he moved between that city, and Seattle and Paris, France. Ray is working on CD number six, due out this fall. "Stand Real Still" is from the CD Roll It Down from 2004. Here is Ray with Mike Meadows on the Black Swan, and other percussive stuff, from Folk Alliance this past February.
Incidentally, Mike Meadows and Rad Lorkovic are vying (they don't know it, though) for our MVP acknowlegement...Most Video Performances as a side-man in front of the Music Fog lights! I estimate they've each had at least seven appearances!
- Jessie Scott