The bus pulled back into Austin from MusicFest at Steamboat Springs on Tuesday afternoon. We had driven all night out of Colorado. For me, the rest of the day was a flurry of laundry, errands, writing, packing, and getting ready for the next journey. Thank goodness there was food in the house, so I didn't have to go to the supermarket. I jumped a plane to Nashville Wednesday morning, and I have to say that life is a little weird when you do back to back trips like this. I am juiced by it, though! This is a test...! The guys had even further to drive, so it was 48 hours on the road, straight through, for them to get back to the DC area. Troopers!

We started off the new year with lots of laughs and loads of cool music. Oh, and some of us have acquired new nicknames. Aaron is now "Duke," having bought a truck stop topper, a black Stetson like chapeau. Denise is "Sassy," and Sheila, well, I can't actually tell you what her nickname is. Just imagine you are 22 and you have to be the grown-up to a bunch of overgrown adolescents. Yes, I am talking about the rest of the Music Fog crew! Sheila is becoming a mighty fine videographer, too. Suffice it to say, we know how blessed we are to be able to capture music in spectacular places.

We are talking about an embarrassment of riches...what we filmed at The MusicFest this year is simply too good, too cool, too happening. Too hard to even pick! I find myself scanning the list of what we captured in awe and wonder! I can't wait until we bring this latest round of sessions - all 27 artists - your way! "Collect them all," is what I say. Keep another thing in mind, we haven't even filmed everyone we want to yet!!! How totally amazing, that the genre of Americana is so rich and deep and multicolored and varied, that Music Fog has been at it for two years, and there is still WAY more to document. It is a living breathing entity, real music, delivered by people who love it, who continue to walk the path. And there is just something so primal when the music wraps its arms around you and takes you for the ride!

It is such a pleasure to get to work with artists that are new to us, as well as spend time with those that we have watched grow. Take the band Uncle Lucius, for instance. We recorded them the first time almost two years ago at SXSW. They played five songs for our cameras at Threadgill's South one evening. They segued one song into the next rapid-fire style, and we were totally taken with them. And they were being born, forming their DNA at the same time we were. It feels sort of like we have taken the ride with them, as we have documented their growth in the different stages. And make no mistake, they are full blown now. They rocked the house at the Steamboat Grand Ballroom. We overheard people talking about them all over the festival, and it was just their first year at MusicFest. We had them visit us the evening of Saturday night, January 8th. It reached a fever pitch in our studio with Sons of Bill, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, and then Uncle Lucius. Three bands in a row, Aaron laying cable, and somehow pulling the big configurations together in record time. There ought to be cameras on him, too! The band recorded a couple of new tunes with us, even naming one on the spot, but the energy was so amazing in this version of "Something They Ain't" that we just HAD to share this one first! Get ready for some Zen...Uncle Lucius!

- Jessie Scott