It has been a pretty good week in Americana. First the GRAMMYs®, which featured performances from The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons with Bob Dylan doing a rousing version of "Maggie's Farm." There were awards picked up by the late Stephen Bruton and T Bone Burnett for the Crazy Heart soundtrack, and T Bone and Ryan Bingham for "The Weary Kind," Mavis Staples, Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Patty Loveless, Patty Griffin, Marty Stuart, and Neil Young. Heady stuff indeed.
Then the Bonnaroo lineup was announced, with plenty of Americana participation; Robert Plant & Band of Joy, Mumford & Sons, The Decemberists, Ray LaMontagne, Alison Krauss & Union Station with Jerry Douglas, Gregg Allman, Old Crow Medicine Show, Mavis Staples, Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson, Justin Townes Earle, Abigail Washburn, Ryan Bingham, Deer Tick, Amos Lee, Hayes Carll, and Railroad Earth. This year is the tenth anniversary of Bonnaroo, and it sounds like a must!
We have our sights set on SXSW®, though, as that comes up first, about a month from now in March down here in Austin. Music Fog will be doing our four day unofficial showcase at Threadgill's South. We have been doing it there, through the magic of chicken fried steak, for the last four years. Our lineup is being finalized as we speak, and so I suspect we will be announcing it VERY soon. Lots of cool stuff is coming, we promise you that. Shall we savor something from last year's set? I think Warren Hood and The Hoodlums fit the bill. Though they aren't on the B'roo list, Lord knows they SHOULD be! You can catch them at Old Settler's Music Fsetival this April in Austin. There are plenty of other dates, too. It doesn't matter where you see Warren, just that one of these days, make sure that you do. As a case in point, here is "The More I See You."
- Jessie Scott