Dustin Welch "St. Lucy's Eyes"

Dustin Welch is cooking, conjuring and conceptualizing again. In addition to always moving the ball down the field, too. You just can't pin him down. His music is meant to be configured differently all the time, he is always changing it up in mercurial fashion, interested by different flavors, taking his cue from what the particular song is telling him. There is new music on the horizon from him, packaged imaginatively, beautifully, simply, in a brown paper bag. He is also involved in a new project playing around Austin, the group SAMHILL that you will be hearing about and from. And on June 10th, Dustin is heading up to the Steel Bridge Song Fest in Sturgeon Bay, WI. Ack! I just remembered I promised to be his wheelman for that! ROAD TRIP!

We Music Foggers got to hang out with Dustin again at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival, as he was accompanying his dad, Kevin Welch, on stage. We grabbed him for a solo session on the bus and he ended with this song, written with Micky Braun, about Saint Lucy, the patron saint of those who are blind. "St. Lucy's Eyes."

- Jessie Scott

Wyatt Easterling "Anymore"

I am trying to remember the exact moment that I met Wyatt Easterling. Hazy details: it was Nashville in the late 90's. There was a studio involved, and there was Paul Thorn music playing, as Wyatt produced his first A&M CD Hammer and Nail. Wyatt has had an incredible ride, as head of A&R for Atlantic Records, and then as Miles Copeland's partner for the Nashville division of Bugle Music Publishing and Firstars Management. As Director of Operations there he spear headed the Printemps de Troubadours songwriter's retreat held twice a year at the Chateau de Mourette in France, a lauded trip which is still going on today. Wyatt remains on the cutting edge as CEO of High Horse Records, stepping out to embrace the new model for record labels in these ever shifting times for the music biz.

In my mind, I am revisiting Folk Alliance in Memphis this past February. Watching the procession of artists come to our bus, seeming to gather more friends along the way, to bring them aboard for accompaniment as they walked through the lobby of the Memphis Marriott Hotel. The deal is, when we plan our shoots, we try to get as much info from the artists as possible so we are prepared. But some things have a life of their own, and this was one of those sessions. We were transfixed by the beauty of the harmonies and artistry when the Rhythm Angels and Wyatt Easterling came aboard. The Angels were up first, and then sat in on Wyatt's set. From his second album Where This River Goes, released in 2009, here is "Anymore."

- Jessie Scott

Rykarda Parasol "A Drinking Song"

Photo Credit: Pat Johnson StudiosI first got turned on to San Franciscan (by way of LA and Texas) Rykarda Parasol when a friend of mine, Dianna Arnspiger, who has become her manager, posted a video on Facebook and wanted to know what I thought of the song "Hannah Leah." I don't think I have ever seen a video when the singer is ice skating in and out of the stark light. Later, I watched a boho interview conducted with her wearing a sheet in bed, and then I got the Hold Back The Night CD and dug into a dark Texas tale, "Night on Red River." Tom Waits with a whiff of estrogen on the corner of Americana Road and Drama Street, Rykarda calls her music Rock Noir. She is elegant, intellectual, but with the hint of bad girl lurking behind the impeccable image. It is Andy Warhol wild-girl style, yet so restrained, so refined.

Rykarda is also known for establishing The Hive. The secret location art salon is home to lots of underground activity. Most events are by invitation, but some are open to the public. The Hive has featured literary readings, visual arts, music, and fashion. We got a taste back in March during SXSW, when she brought with her Jacob Lehrbaum for backup vocals and violin (he is Senior Product Line Manager for JavaFX at Sun Microsystems!) and they were spare and theatrical. Her latest CD is called For Blood And Wine, and from it is "A Drinking Song" recorded at Threadgill's WHQ in Austin, Texas.

- Jessie Scott