Can I say...that I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you been. This is starting off like the Memphis Slim blues tune “Mother Earth,” which is required listening, by the way. I like Eric Burdon and War’s version of it too. The truth of it is for as long as you live, there are checks and balances. There is always something new to learn, and there are always reasons to be humble. And if you forget this, or somehow think you can rise above it, trust me, something will make you remember you are no better than the next. Or as Bob Dylan wisely wrote, “To live outside the law you must be honest.” We are all in this together, this life, and you never get done paying your dues, for as long as we all shall live.

Today’s tune is from Jason Eady. He has neo-classic pipes, All-American good looks, and an amazing facility for songwriting. He has just come off a West Coast run opening for Cody Canada & The Departed. Boy oh boy, I’ll bet that they had a great time. Jason came to visit us during our sessions at The MusicFest in Steamboat Springs, from our makeshift studio in The Steamboat Grand. He played us some brand new tunes, this being one of them. “Paying My Dues,” is a co-write with Micky Braun, and you can expect it to be on Jason’s forthcoming CD AM Country Heaven, which we hear now has a release date of January, 2012. Meanwhile, Music Fog brings you our version of it. Always paying our dues.

- Jessie Scott