The Americana Festival takes place next week, and I am busy making plans to get out of town. I am sad the rest of the Foggers won’t be attending to capture the magic, but I did want to tell you about a couple of things I will be doing. Ann Powers from NPR and I will be in the booth for the Folk Alley webcast of the Americana Honors and Awards Show on Wednesday evening, September 12. I am so excited to be doing it again, segueing out of my XM years, when we broadcast it live on XCountry, I have not missed one yet. Check it out on folkalley.com or npr.org.

Another cool thing I will be doing is hosting a panel called Charting New Waters, with Paul Thorn, John Fullbright, Lera Lynn, Robert Ellis, Charlie Faye, and Anthony da Costa. They will all be talking about the path they took to get where they are. I am happy that Music Fog has captured video with each participant. You have to have a badge to attend that one . BTW, wristbands are still available for the nighttime music in the clubs of Nashville.

Elliott, Rose, and da Costa came before the Music Fog cameras in March during SXSW at Threadgill’s WHQ. It was a guitar pull session with each doing one of their songs. John Elliott is in the spotlight today with the song, “Disneyland.” He has a slew of music available on his website, and just last month released a new bootleg album Live At The Applegate River Lodge. Here are the rest. He is an articulate writer, and believes in the old fashioned value of impacting one fan at a time. His tour schedule takes him from Austin this week, to the Northwest next, skirting the Americana Fest this year.  Maybe we’ll see him there next year, but to whet your appetite, here is a taste.

- Jessie Scott