The Johnny Cash Project

It's a big idea, but a simple one at the same time.  An online music video tribute to the Man in Black, built collectively by fans from all over the world.  The song is "Ain't No Grave," the title track from the posthumously released Cash album "American VI: Ain't No Grave".   

Visit the site, and you can play the current video, or make your own contribution (not financial, purely artistic). There's nothing to download, and no formal training or skill is needed.  The site randomly selects three frames for you to interpret. You trace, draw, and modify them right on the site.  Save the frames, and they are added to the playback queue.  You can also explore other details and versions, see how individual frames were drawn, or read a full list of contributors.

Usually with these projects, the buzzwords overwhelm the buzz, and while the JCP is certainly both "crowd-sourced" and "user-generated," it feels more like a barnraising or pot-luck dinner.  This is the way the web is supposed to work, a single point for fans to rally around, celebrate, and remember.  Check out the site, and contribute a piece of yourself to the project.

-- Chris

Alejandro Escovedo "Put You Down"

Even with all the folks we were able to run through our events so far this year, there were some people we would have loved to bring to you, but couldn't for one reason or another. Might just have been that we plumb ran out of time and energy...but one of these years, we are going to hook up with Alejandro Escovedo. He is an Austin mainstay, and American treasure. He does a famous SXSW wrap party the Sunday after. This year, there was a line around the block to get in. And it is always great to report that a new CD is in the works, though we won't see it until June. Street Songs Of Love is its name, and Bruce Springsteen and Ian Hunter guest.

While we are waiting for June to come around, let's think about what else happens in June, the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Al was there last year, and this video is from his MySpace page and YouTube; here is "Put You Down," a song that resonates with Velvet Underground energy.

-Jessie Scott

Danny Barnes "TSA"

Hallelujah! Danny Barnes is another just begun to be sung hero. His inventive take on songs and stylings is pure Renaissance Man stuff. He has marched to his own drummer walking a most creative path. He was a Bad Liver, a band which grew out of the Austin acoustic scene, drawing from all kinds of musical genres, whether they seemed simpatico or not: from blues to punk, to country, rock, fusion and jazz. And all this on the banjo, which is his weapon of choice.

Danny is lauded by a long list of luminaries like Robert Earl Keen and most recently Dave Matthews. Danny's most recent CD Pizza Box is out on ATO Records, the label of which Dave Matthews is co-founder. From Danny's website, Matthews says, "Danny Barnes’ Pizza Box is my favorite new music, my favorite rock record, and my favorite country record. From the first time he sat down and played me "Road," I knew his next record was going to be great, but I didn't expect this. The music is smart and soulful, and the lyrics are profound. It is heaven and earth. It is Americana, from the back porch to the pulpit, shattered dreams on angels wings. I can't stop listening. In the haze of over produced, "perfect" recordings, Danny Barnes spent less than two weeks banging out an album that may well save your soul."

The song TSA comes from that album, as Barnes brought an understated elegance to the stage at Threadgill's for the Music Fog cameras. No banger jokes are necessary.

-Jessie Scott