Eastside Bulldogs "Come On Up and See Me Sometime"

Man, oh man, what is with this weather? This week there were flash floods in western Arkansas and there was flooding in New Braunfels, TX. Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives and to their families. And our wishes for a speedy recovery go to those that lost property. I am still unable to process all the damage that was done by the flooding in Nashville, as our brothers and sisters there look to rebuild. When these events happen, it is the first blush of reportage that generates awareness, but not long thereafter, we move on to other things occupying our attention. Let us not forget it takes time and money to create a new normal. It doesn't happen all at once, and the money to help still needs to be generated long after the spotlight has moved on. We remind you to give if you can, and that you can click on our Red Cross banner to do so, or by clicking here.

Todd Snider recently put a band together with other stellar musicians from the east side of Music City. The Eastside Bulldogs features Todd, Elizabeth Cook, Bobby Bare Jr., Tim Carroll, Jenn Gunderman, Mark Horn, Eric McConnell, and Dennis Taylor. They have been recording with legendary producer Don Was, and have delivered the brilliant first track from the upcoming album, sales of which benefit Hands on Nashville. They are offering the MP3 and video of "Come On Up and See Me Sometime" together via digital download for $2.99, and all of the proceeds go to help Nashvillians in need.

- Jessie Scott

Patterson Barrett "Come Back to Me"

Patterson Barrett is a man about town, that town now being Austin, TX, but past that, he is a man about the country. He has made friends in lots of quarters, and can be spotted on stages all over the place. There is Threadgill's North, for the ongoing Sittin' Singin' and Supper series where he has been jamming with Stonehoney, or just this past week, where he had Gurf Morlix and Slaid Cleaves sit in with him, as he is taking over the stewardship of these shows while Stonehoney is on the road. Then there was the spectacular evening I attended a while back, Patterson had put together a tribute to Gram Parsons outdoors at Threadgill's South. It was a lyrical, 'wrap the music around you' kind of night. Patterson seems to specialize in community building and collaborative effort. It is the thing that makes musicians so attractive to me, that there is a need for union, and a willingness to communicate with one another on that wonderful exploratory level. It has brought him to work with a list that includes Jerry Jeff Walker, Nanci Griffith, Al Kooper and Lou Ann Barton, to name just a few luminaries.

He released his first solo CD in 2007, I Must Be Dreaming: "If you haven't heard of Patterson Barrett you'll wonder why. He's great at everything and he's got a lot of heart. That's what comes through." - Buddy Miller. Or "Hooray! The ever talented Patterson Barrett (longtime friend and mentor) has, at last, got these beautiful songs down for us to hear this "art & heart." - Julie Miller. By the way, Buddy and Julie are each to be found playing on the CD as well!

We invited Patterson on the Music Fog bus in Memphis this past February, and he brought some friends with him, Doc Simons and Julieann Banks. Of course he did!

- Jessie Scott

Jack Grace Band "True Tonight"

They are at the Bar SS in Laporte, Colorado tonight, June 11th. Today wraps a 27 city in 32 day, 7500 mile tour for the Jack Grace Band, who have been intrepid, on the road with Luther Wright and The Wrongs for the "Drinking Songs for the Man of Your Dreams Tour - Spring 2010." By all accounts, it has been a rousing success, not to mention that there has been no bloodshed, no silent treatments, no detours down a rabbit hole here or there. They still like each other. And they still like to play music. We're glad! So you know what, it must be time for another ROADTRIP! They head back home to New York for a date on June 18th at the Rodeo Bar in Manhattan, and then it’s "...on the road again..." upstate New York, back to Canada, and then a New England adventure (lobsta rolls, anyone?) before heading to Ireland! Whew.

The new CD is Drinking Songs for Lovers, which came out just in time for Cinco De Mayo. Jack compiled his best-loved new tunes as he readied himself for the studio, and realized that nearly all of them seemed to revolve around a common theme: alcohol. I can't imagine why. When you play as hard as the Jack Grace Band does, at least you work off the calories! So here are Jack, Daria Grace, Tom Lewis, with J. Walter Hawkes and Steve Butts - aka the Broken Mariachi Horns, and the ever dapper Earl Poole Ball from our showcase at Threadgill's during SXSW 2010.

- Jessie Scott

(Editor's note: Did you know that New York City has the second largest group of Music Fog followers, trailing only Texas? A big thanks to New Yorkers for joining us on this ride, and a toast to Jack Grace for helping keep Americana music alive in Manhattan!)