I've been thinking about the slogan we had for the workforce at XM Satellite Radio, it was AFDI...an acronym for "actually F***ing doing it." It is so easy to dream, to ponder and scheme, and then to do absolutely nothing about it at all. I suspect that is a very common occurrence. We all have aspirations, though most of us don’t follow through and then the dream dies. I am struck by how musician friends travel the globe, knowing they can’t stay home to make a living, and that they must leave what they love to keep their careers alive. How that act of packing the vehicle and the bags and setting back out on the road becomes the norm, the forward motion.

Photo Credit: Anne Stavely

All I can tell you is that you have to put the 10,000 hours in, and have the fire burn deep within you to make it a reality. You never get done paying your dues; but the mere fact of continuing to walk the path is its own reward. If we had bailed on our dreams, we wouldn’t have encountered Elephant Revival in Nashville during the Americana Music Festival. Wow. Pure and simple, with a Celtic tinge. The five are Bonnie Paine (vocals, washboard, djembe and musical saw), Sage Cook (electric banjo/guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, viola and vocals), Dango Rose (double-bass, mandolin, banjo and vocals), Daniel Rodriguez (acoustic guitar, electric banjo/guitar and vocals) and Bridget Law (fiddle and vocals). Their second album Break In The Clouds, came out in June. The song we're presenting to you today, “Remembering A Beginning,” is an unreleased entrée into their articulate, intricate, and earthy world.

- Jessie Scott