The Northstar Session "You Come Up Like a Rose"

I spent the entire morning yesterday in serious investigation for something to put before you today. I get ten or twenty press release type emails a day from various publicists, artists, managers and labels. Some of them are easily discarded as they are pop, electronica, rap, and other styles that don't exactly meet the Music Fog mission. In digging down through the music that would fit, I am astonished to find so many artists I would LOVE to bring you, because I think they are worthy, but what they have posted on the web suffers from bad audio on their videos, poor production value, or at times, I can't even find available music to post, either audio or video. And promotion is the name of this game. Sad really. Y'all have the keys to the car in your own hands. Use the web...it can mean EVERYTHING! Or at least the start of everything!

Photo Credit: Rebecca Wilson Studio

So it is a delight when you find an entry that has it all. Good band, good tune, good video, good audio. YAY! Today, it's a band out of Los Angeles, The Northstar Session. Guitarist and producer Matthew Szlachetka reached out to me himself, as they recently released the new EP, Winter Collection (the first of three EPs they are putting out this year). You can see them at Los Angeles venues like the Hotel Cafe and The Mint, and other West Coast clubs, as they continue their touring march which initially supported their critically acclaimed debut record, New Prehistoric Times. Catch up with them this summer.

Check out this video for "You Come Up Like A Rose" which is the first off the EP Winter Collection.

- Jessie Scott

Matt the Electrician "Animal Boy"

Bohemian, iconoclastic, ironic and witty! Matt the Electrician used to be...an electrician, for real. Glad he's gotten to give up his day job. He needs to be making music full time, which he does get to do now, thank you very much. Though, for our session with him on the bus, he was chomping at the bit to help us with an electrical problem we were having. Good to still hold the knowledge, right?

I love the sparseness of Matt's website, which is a kind of 'just the facts, ma'am', affair! His bio lives here. And I love a man who is so in touch with his feminine side that he can write his posts as a "Diary." His latest entry tells of his visit to Amsterdam, and watching a man named Boudewyn Zwart play the bells in the bell tower. With some mighty disquieting video, to be sure. Matt Sever has six CDs out, the most recent being Animal Boy. We have the title song for you here, recorded in February on the Music Fog bus at Folk Alliance, in Memphis. And WHAT the heck is he playing?

- Jessie Scott

[Editor's Note: Matt is playing a "banjolele," which is just what it sounds like; a banjo ukulele. His uke is autographed, "Hey Matt, Keep Pickin' - Danny Barnes." And if you're wondering, that's an authentic Steve Poltz jackass t-shirt!]

Margo Valiante "Lay Me Down"

A few weeks back, I caught up with Jack Barton from FMQB on the phone. It had been several years since we talked, but it was one of those calls when you pick the conversation and camaraderie right back up where you left off. He told me he was excited about booking the talent for the upcoming Boulder Triple A Conference, and we talked about the artists he was excited about. One of them was Margo Valiante. I would so love to be able to attend that gathering. But then, I think you know that I just want to be everywhere that cool music aggregates! Not that you need to feel sorry for me, as my dance card is pretty full these days. Music Fog is SO looking forward to hitting the road for WoodyFest in Okemah, OK next week, and then we turn around the week after that, when Beans and I head to the Telluride Americana Weekend in Colorado. Then, coming up in August, I am feeling like there just might be an East Coast visit to DC, Baltimore, and New York. After that, we head to Nashville in September. Makes me excited just to think about it! See the vistas, eat the food, immerse in the music! But you know, we don't get around as much as artists do. They somehow stay busy, as they keep writing, keep recording, keep gigging, hell, keep moving. Maybe it's not for everybody, but I sure do love it.

Margo Valiante next surfaces in Wyoming and then on to Boulder, Colorado for the above mentioned industry conference. The song we bring you is not from her latest EP I Can't Pray, rather, from her album back in 2008 New Blue. No matter, it's all good! Here is "Lay Me Down."

- Jessie Scott