Picture this: a drive through the countryside at spring’s first blush; greenery exploding, flowering shrubs and trees bathed in flowers of yellow, lavender, and lilac. A left turn into a parking lot and a quick walk down the path, to the timeless cool space of Cumberland Cavern. Lights illuminated the way. Music echoing in the distance, getting closer with every step. This is Bluegrass Underground, and this past weekend, they taped their new season for year six on PBS. Saturday’s lineup was Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Mac McAnally, Hooray for the Riff Raff, and Dave Rawlings Machine. That was just one of three days of filming, and I encourage you to check it out when the season airs. I gotta say 333 feet underground is a spectacularly beautiful and unique place to see a show, and even better, the sound was amazing.
Well, truth be told, if you know anything about the Foggers, we sure do appreciate good sound. And you know we like to mix up the flavors, for us it is all about music discovery. When I book artists, I always ask some people for tips, and todays was a recommendation from Steve Popovich Jr. “Have you heard of Ward Davis?” He sent me music. Great mellifluous voice, simply constructed songwriting. This feels effortless, though I am sure it is quite hard to make it feel this easy. His album, 15 Years in a 10 Year Town, came out in September. He is on tour this month in Texas and beyond! Today’s tune is “Unfair Weather Friend,” one of the songs you will find on the new album. For this Music Fog recording, Ward is accompanied by Jay Gorman and Gregg Lohman.
-- Jessie Scott