Raul Malo "Lucky One"

Day One, yesterday, of the Americana Music Association Festival in Nashville and there is just no way to see everybody and do it all, but we are having a blast! We are camped out at convention headquarters, the newly renovated Sheraton Nashville Downtown. They had the ribbon cutting and grand re-opening ceremony just before the festival offically got underway. The rooms are beautiful! Simple, elegant. The pillows, oh yeah, are a thing to behold. Ensconcing and utterly luxurious. What better preparation for the busy days ahead, than laying your head in clouds of down at the end of the day. We kicked it off early, starting with an able assist from Eric Brace, who helped us on our round of errands. This included a stop at the Gibson Showroom, to pick up beautiful guitars and solid amps. We thank the Gibson folks for providing them to us!

Couple of things: there is a special guest for the Honors and Awards Show at the Ryman Auditorium. We can't tell you who it is exactly, but he is a rock icon, and his latest project makes a "joyful" noise! Tickets are still available at the box office, and all I can say is if you are in Nashville, or close, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS SHOW. Really! If you can't get here, listen to the live stream on Folk Alley starting at 6:30pm CT today, but the special guest won't be broadcast...you have to be at the Ryman for that part! The second thing I wanted to mention is that another roots luminary is here, as there is a book signing with Rosanne Cash to celebrate the release of her memoir, Composed, in the second floor atrium at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown on Friday, September 10th, from Noon to 1pm.

Yesterday in our studio, which is set up in a sweet suite at the Sheraton, we had visits from Myk Gordon, Frontier Ruckus, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Shawn Camp, Marshall Chapman, Hans Rotenberry, John Brannen and Raul Malo. Just a half day for us! Only kidding. We started at 7am and wrapped at 7:30pm, grabbed a bite to eat, then sequestered ourselves to the production suite for video editing, mastering, uploading and writing. We thought it fitting to bring you a tune from Raul, actually one that he also did for us at last year's Americana Festival. This year we have a different rendering, as he brought Michael Guerra on accordion. "Lucky One," from the album of the same name. Not to worry, this is just the first of the videos from the 2010 Americana Music Festival. We have just begun to rock.

- Jessie Scott

Annie & The Beekeepers "Come On"

Mercury is retrograde. Whatever that means. The Cliff Notes version is that travel plans and communications can go awry. (Are Cliff Notes even necessary in a web enabled world?) The best laid plans, ya know? So you see, there was this tropical storm, which got to be a named hurricane at the eleventh hour, Hermine, pronounced her-Meen'. Ever heard that name before? Well me either! All I know is "Houston, we have a problem." Denise and I were on our way to Nashville, but no...now we are connecting through Denver. It was either that or Orlando. Oh well. Hanging in the gate, we ran into Cody and Willy Braun, who are going to sing the national anthem at the Rockies' ballgame on Thursday! Nice. I have fond recollections of last year's Americana Fest, going shopping at Manuel's with Cody. Fun.

Nashville is where we are headed, if Hermine cooperates. Last year's trip was full of spectacular moments, among them meeting Annie and The Beekeepers. They came aboard the Music Fog bus late one night and made magic. We had no idea that we would be capturing lightning in a bottle. They're not making the trip to Nashville this year, because they're on their way to the UK to play the End of the Road Festival. In their absence, enjoy this video, "Come On," an unreleased, exclusive track from our Threadgill's video extravaganza in March. We wish them a great time at the festival, and a safe trip, with no hurricane-related delays.

- Jessie Scott

John Fullbright "Satan & St. Paul"

I have just come off a puttering around day, getting ready for a road trip to the Americana Music Festival and Conference. Doing laundry, cleaning out the fridge, packing, and cooking a batch of green chile stew with chicken, using the last of the Hatch Chiles from Central Market in Austin. I was SO happy to find them; they are a rare treat, and this is the first time I have ever bought them fresh! Here is a handy dandy green chile recipe to try yourself.

While that cooks, I noticed that one of our YouTube videos is closing in on 100,000 views. Sometime this week, James McMurtry's "Choctaw Bingo," will hit 100K plays! It doesn't surprise me, since it was the most requested song during my tenure at X Country on XM. James won't be with us this week in Nashville, but we'll record performances by more than 30 artists, so stay tuned for updates, and make sure to tell your friends about Music Fog!

Take your pick of ways to follow the Fog:  friend us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow us on Twitter, or sign-up for the RSS feed or weekly newsletter (all the links are also up on the right hand side of our home page). We love watching the tribe grow, and finding an audience for this most worthy troop of musicians. We hope you like both the marquee artists we bring you, as well as the newcomers.

John Fullbright has the chops to take him far in the Americana world. Jimmy LaFave told the the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, "I really like his songwriting. He’s only 22, and I can see that kind of Dylan genius in him. He is definitely way beyond his years and in the quality. You can see that this guy is going to be like Townes or Guy Clark. He has an uncanny feel for words and soulful lyrics, things he can’t even lift yet and is obviously channeling some pretty heavy stuff." You can read the rest of the interview here.

Enjoy this performance from the Music Fog bus at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival this past May. "Satan and St. Paul," from John's 2009 CD, "Live from the Blue Door." John Fullbright and green chile stew. What could be better?

 - Jessie Scott