Americana Music

Doug & Telisha Williams "Learning to Drink Whiskey"

Denise and I road tripped out of Austin yesterday, and the highways were draped in Texas Wildflowers as we headed west out of town. Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrushes, Coreopsis, Daisy, Verbena. There were blankets of colors, and the palpable renewal of the season. As some music is, in touch with the ghosts of the past, the birds, the bees, the heartbreak or the happily ever after. Eternal.

Doug and Telisha brought it old school style when they came to the bus in Memphis during Folk Alliance. There was a gift of berries, delivered as a neighbor next door might, when they boarded the bus. Watching them, you get the echo of generations. They come from Martinsville, Virginia, and though they have a hipster sensibility, they have the classic looks of Americans of many eras gone by. Their latest CD, Ghost of the Knoxville Girl, tells the stories that populate the news today first hand, as if across the dinette table. The themes are as old as the hills, and yet have an au currant feel. Doug says, “We hope in some small way our songs not only document these times, but honor the people who are just doing the best they can to get by these days.” We render them here for you in black and white, as an homage to where they are coming from.

-Jessie Scott

Doug & Telisha Williams - Ghost of the Knoxville Girl - Learning to Drink Whiskey

Guy Forsyth "Mary Mae"

I love Guy Forsyth! I love his spirit, I love his music. He is a total treasure, an erudite song and dance man with a biting political wit. An accomplished instrumentalist, an articulate writer, a man who sees the vision and delivers. I will digress a bit here, having seen a most brilliant Christmas show at the One World Theater this past December with Guy and Carolyn Wonderland sharing the stage. It was an inventive and magical night, and THAT is saying something, especially when you are talking about Christmas songs that we have heard all of our lives. Here's hoping they will take that on the road in 2010 to a town near you! We can report that Guy and Carolyn are doing some touring starting May 10 until the end of May.

What else is new? A whole lot of as yet unreleased tunes on a brand new CD, Guy Forsyth Live At Gruene Hall comes out on May 4th, with a CD release show on May 2nd at, where else, Gruene Hall! You need to jump on it quick if you want a physical CD, as they will sell out what with only 1000 of them being made. Then there is the magical performance set for May 8th with the Sweet Home Baptist Choir at Scholz Beer Garten as a benefit for the Austin History Center.

I love Guy's website, too. Spend some time with it, and you'll get an idea of the range and the command of this man. Get to know Guy Forsyth. Here is another brand new tune, and this one won't be released until the next studio album. Enjoy the scoop! Oh, and happy birthday to Mary Mae!

-Jessie Scott

Guy Forsyth

John Fullbright with Jimmy LaFave "Moving"

We were so blessed in Memphis this past February. In my mind, there is always a hit list...not in a bad way, but a list of people I want to bring to you. Since I got to Austin, I kept hearing these words, with everyone running around saying, "John Fullbright...how does he write beyond his years, how does he sing so artfully and easily?" He is on so many people's lips. And it is all true. He is light years ahead of himself. He played in Mike McClure's band for a year in his home state Oklahoma. He has the ringing endorsement of many great musicians including fellow Oklahomans Jimmy Webb, Tom Skinner, Jimmy Lafave and Kevin Welch, who takes him into the studio this summer to produce his first studio album.

John plays guitar, harmonica, piano and accordion, sings in a cool, calm, seductively simple manner. He does have one CD out already, Live At The Blue Door, recorded just prior to the 2009 Folk Alliance conference in Memphis, produced by Oklahoma singer/songwriter and producer Travis Linville. It features Fullbright's handiwork, having written all the songs but one, a stellar version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah." He came up on the bus with Jimmy Lafave, and he left too soon, as he had a gig to go to, so I think a rematch might be in order soon! In the meantime, see what I mean...

-Jessie Scott

John Fullbright - Live At the Blue Door - Moving