Will Kimbrough "Three Angels"

This past Saturday night, I was hanging out at the world famous beach bar, The Back Porch in Port Aransas, Texas. It was so refreshing listening to Larry Joe Taylor doing a tropical infused set, which wafts across us and into the gentle breeze to be carried out to the Gulf of Mexico on an end of summer day. Larry Joe has become quite the entrepreneur with his festivals, the next one being Rhymes and Vines in Stephenville, TX coming up the weekend of September 16th. He has really captured the beach spirit and offers the perfect music for this night in Port A, where we are surrounded by yachts that are docked next to signs for Parasailing and Jet Skis...ooooohh can we go? I am thanking the sun and the stars for this weekend away before Music Fog heads to Nashville for the Americana Music Festival and Conference for what is sure to be a busy week. Right now, it is time to smell the roses, or the sand and surf, in this case. This doesn't suck.

I will share with you that we have a whole bunch of people set to play for us this week in Nashville. I am a bit superstitious about telling you who they ALL are, as there is always the possibility that someone will cancel, and we don't want to disappoint...but we are expecting Cindy Bullens, Jon Langford, Darrell Scott, Ray Wylie Hubbard (you might recall that he references looking like a Port Aransas dope dealer in the song "Screw You, Were From Texas." We need to get him to play that for us!) and Will Kimbrough is coming back, this time with his band! We saw Will most recently in Memphis at Folk Alliance, and he recorded this beautiful, count your blessings tune, "Three Angels," from his album Wings, on the Music Fog bus. You have to have your angels, you know...those friends and family that welcome you in. Treasure them. Treasure the moments.

- Jessie Scott

Americana Honors & Awards

The Americana Music Festival and Conference is just a few days away, and boy am I excited! The Americana Honors and Awards Show, at The Ryman Auditorium this coming Thursday, September 9th, has to be one of its crown jewels, as it was just announced that Jack White and Lucinda Williams will be on hand as presenters. Also stepping up to the podium on that historic stage will be: 2010 Spirit of Americana recipient Mary Chapin Carpenter, Grace Potter, Martie Maguire & Emily Robison (of The Courtyard Hounds & Dixie Chicks), and John Oates (of Hall & Oates).

2010 Lifetime Achievement honoree, for Songwriting, John Mellencamp will kick off the show with a live performance, and expect that to be followed by music from Emmylou Harris, The Avett Brothers, Rodney Crowell, Wanda Jackson, Rosanne Cash, Patty Griffin, Sam Bush, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Corb Lund, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Joe Pug, Sarah Jarosz, Will Kimbrough, and Ryan Bingham.

We have some great news for you! You will be able to hear this show LIVE on Thursday, September 9th on Folk Alley and NPR. The 2010 Americana Music Association Honors & Award Show from the Ryman Auditorium - 7:30pm ET / 6:30pm CT, and I will be anchoring the webcast!

If you want to attend, the Sheraton Nashville Downtown is the host hotel for the Americana Music Festival and Conference. We can't wait to get there and immerse ourselves in good friends, good times and good music! For conference registrations, Honors & Awards Show tickets, and venue wristbands, click here to purchase, but the Americana Music Association's online store closes today at 5pm CT. So, after that you can buy Honors & Awards Show tickets online via the Ryman and in person at their box office, or at Ticketmaster. You can buy venue wristbands, to see ALL the showcase performances (4 nights for $50), at Grimey's New and Preloved Music, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Store and the Nashville Visitors Center (inside Bridgestone Arena), or get them directly at each of the five venues starting September 9th; The Basement, Mercy Lounge, Cannery Ballroom, The Station Inn and The Rutledge. C'mon along!

Now, since I mentioned Ryan Bingham above, I thought we would remind you that his new CD Junky Star came out this past week. Riding on the heels of an amazing year comes this collaborative effort with T Bone Burnett. The folks at Lost Highway Records posted a peek behind the curtain, in a video called "The Making of Junky Star." YUM!!!

- Jessie Scott

Bill Small "This Old House"

He is a modern day song and dance man. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever actually seen him dance, but I'll bet he can! Bill Small is from New Jersey where, as in The Odyssey, the sirens (of New York) beckoned him at an early age, and like Odysseus he escaped to continue his journey. Music is his muse, from Sinatra to show tunes, to every other style he has heard and played over the years, since he was a teen. Before his arrival, his family had lived in Austin. Both of his older sisters were born in Texas. He just missed it by a few years. Moving here twenty years ago was like coming home, in any case, to this mythical and abundant land.

The Mystiqueros, of which Bill is a member, traveled up the east coast a couple of weeks ago: a Yankee, two Texans, and an Okie; a very simpatico grouping of folks. They allowed me, another Yankee, to be the Pied Piper of their road trip, DC to Baltimore to New York. We stopped at The Mansion On O for a Sunday night show, part of their SRO Concert Series. I love bringing people to the Mansion, it is magical space. From the art on the walls, to the music played, and the sumptuous food. Brunch is served on overflowing platters in rooms and nooks and crannies...too much is never enough! When one walks in, it is always with the feeling of coming home. Music Fog filmed in The Billiards Room, with vintage Beatles posters resplendent on the walls, a Yellow Submarine Jukebox, and a couple of empty but ornate barber chairs bearing silent witness. Bill pulled one of the songs out from his new CD The Next Time. The pain and yearning stood the hair up on my arms. Especially as it was delivered in an old house that has stories the walls could tell, too. "This Old House," from Bill Small with John Greenberg lending a hand.

- Jessie Scott

PS No matter where you are on the Eastern Seaboard, we are hoping you were shielded from the rain, tides and winds that Hurricane Earl brought, scooting up the coast.