Jimmy LaFave & Friends "I Ain't Got No Home"

It was a year ago today that Jimmy LaFave left.

Of late, I think we all feel we've been saying goodbye to too many folks we love, honor, and respect. Certain people, though, are so full of life that their loss seems staggering and impossible to believe, even though a year has gone by. Hanging recently with other friends that loved Jimmy as we at Music Fog did, we paid homage to his indelible spirit, his enormous talent, and his impressive body of work.

Photo Credit: Jimmy LaFaveDid you know that he took photographs during his travels? There was an Austin gallery show in March that featured his work, and sometime this year there is music coming from him. Peace Town will include four songs featuring Woody Guthrie lyrics that Jimmy set to music, plus interpretations of tunes from Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Pete Townshend, Robbie Robertson, Butch Hancock, Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, as well as original Jimmy LaFave compositions.

We are sharing a tune with you today, filmed in Okemah, Oklahoma, during WoodyFest in 2010. Here's Jimmy LaFave doing Woody Guthrie’s "I Ain’t Got No Home In this World Anymore,” with Joel Rafael, John Inmon, Andrew Hardin, David Amran, Radoslav Lorkovic, and Glenn Schuetz. Peace be with you and yours, Jimmy. We miss you.

- Jessie Scott

Butch Hancock "Danglin' Diamond"

WoodyFest, the tribute weekend to Woody Guthrie starts tonight in the town of Woody’s birth Okemah, Oklahoma, to celebrate his birthday. There is a twist though, with a sold out show presented by the festival tonight at Cain’s Ballroom, up the road apiece in Tulsa, with David Crosby and Graham Nash.

So many of the folks we have brought you on the pages of Music Fog are on this year’s WoodyFest roster. I can tell you we will all be missing the vibe and the music this year. Since this is a birthday tribute, it needs to stay put, but dang, it sure is hot in Oklahoma this time of year! 

Butch Hancock is on the line up again this year, as well he should be. He is a consummate songwriter, a wordsmith, a poet, a troubadour. He is doing some touring this summer, both with The Flatlanders and solo. Maybe it’s all the things he does that makes his writing so expansive; he is a student of architecture, a photographer, river-rafter, philosopher, and studies Buddhism. All we know is that he gave us chills when he came to visit us during last year’s WoodyFest, while we were holed up in the Thompson’s Loft. Long live the spirit of Woody, and long live Butch Hancock. This is a song he wrote a couple of years ago that we don’t think has made its way to an album just yet...or at least, we know you haven't heard this version yet! Here's the Music Fog recording of “Dangling Diamond.”

- Jessie Scott

BettySoo with Randy Weeks "Still Small Voice"

I stopped for a giant breakfast at a restaurant in Oroville, California. Eggs, bacon, home fries, toast and orange marmalade. It was awesome, but yes, I know this stuff is not good for me. In fact, looking at the people all over this country, and then looking around at the amount of people with walkers, canes and wheelchairs in this restaurant alone, I would have to say that the writing is on the wall. We are a country of spreading middles. Which begs the question, what will it take for me to reclaim a slender body? Do you feel the same way?

BettySoo is our featured artist today. She has a new album just out with Doug Cox called Lie To Me. She is one amazing performer, with a bell like voice and a never wavering commitment to delivering the truth. What with WoodyFest around the corner, we bring you back to the Thompson's loft in Okemah, OK which was our studio location from last year's festival. BettySoo was joined by Randy Weeks. "Still Small Voice" is a song that would have pleased Woody Guthrie. It is exactly how movements start, with one tiny step. May that step lead to a campaign for us all to get fit.

-Jessie Scott