Wednesday night was one of those celestial constellations of people, one of those nights that you know can happen, but that you can’t conjure by yourself. Some nights are touched by the divine. I thought it would be fun for "the girls" to go see the Paul Thorn Band at the Long Center in Austin, as he was opening for Huey Lewis and The News. So we trooped en mass to hang and dance and sing along, for what turned out to be a joyous night of music. And afterwards we were up for a nightcap at the Saxon Pub, where there was an astounding array of world class artists in the house. Paula Nelson, Walt Wilkins, Corby Schaub, George Devore, Cody Braun from Reckless Kelly, Hal Vorpahl from Uncle Lucius, Halleyanna and Ashley Monical, David Beck and Paul Cauthen, and The Damn Quails, to name just some of the folks congregated. It was a magical night. It drove home again why we do what we do. This is about the other music, the underside. These are people who make real music because they have to. It is the path with heart.
We are going to be rolling out videos from our latest adventure in Nashville, during Americana Fest, for a month or more. It is so hard to prioritize, so there is somewhat of a random nature to it. We captured so many gems that we will be basking in the afterglow of it all for quite some time. There were some legends that came before the Music Fog cameras, there were some longtime friends, and there was an array of brand new bands. Today we bring you Lake Street Dive. That is DIVE, not Drive, by the way, though your eyes may trick you. Their new live concert album Live at The Lizard Lounge came out a few months ago. It's available exclusively on their website, and includes video of the performance, too. They marry bop and swing and blues and gypsy jazz. Drummer Mike Calabrese, bassist Bridget Kearney, vocalist Rachael Price, and trumpeter/guitarist Mike “McDuck” Olson first met at Boston’s New England Conservancy. Attention: there is joy ahead, as we dig into “You Go Down Smooth,” from the studios at Marathon Recorders in Nashville.
- Jessie Scott