Uncle Lucius "Something They Ain't"

The bus pulled back into Austin from MusicFest at Steamboat Springs on Tuesday afternoon. We had driven all night out of Colorado. For me, the rest of the day was a flurry of laundry, errands, writing, packing, and getting ready for the next journey. Thank goodness there was food in the house, so I didn't have to go to the supermarket. I jumped a plane to Nashville Wednesday morning, and I have to say that life is a little weird when you do back to back trips like this. I am juiced by it, though! This is a test...! The guys had even further to drive, so it was 48 hours on the road, straight through, for them to get back to the DC area. Troopers!

We started off the new year with lots of laughs and loads of cool music. Oh, and some of us have acquired new nicknames. Aaron is now "Duke," having bought a truck stop topper, a black Stetson like chapeau. Denise is "Sassy," and Sheila, well, I can't actually tell you what her nickname is. Just imagine you are 22 and you have to be the grown-up to a bunch of overgrown adolescents. Yes, I am talking about the rest of the Music Fog crew! Sheila is becoming a mighty fine videographer, too. Suffice it to say, we know how blessed we are to be able to capture music in spectacular places.

We are talking about an embarrassment of riches...what we filmed at The MusicFest this year is simply too good, too cool, too happening. Too hard to even pick! I find myself scanning the list of what we captured in awe and wonder! I can't wait until we bring this latest round of sessions - all 27 artists - your way! "Collect them all," is what I say. Keep another thing in mind, we haven't even filmed everyone we want to yet!!! How totally amazing, that the genre of Americana is so rich and deep and multicolored and varied, that Music Fog has been at it for two years, and there is still WAY more to document. It is a living breathing entity, real music, delivered by people who love it, who continue to walk the path. And there is just something so primal when the music wraps its arms around you and takes you for the ride!

It is such a pleasure to get to work with artists that are new to us, as well as spend time with those that we have watched grow. Take the band Uncle Lucius, for instance. We recorded them the first time almost two years ago at SXSW. They played five songs for our cameras at Threadgill's South one evening. They segued one song into the next rapid-fire style, and we were totally taken with them. And they were being born, forming their DNA at the same time we were. It feels sort of like we have taken the ride with them, as we have documented their growth in the different stages. And make no mistake, they are full blown now. They rocked the house at the Steamboat Grand Ballroom. We overheard people talking about them all over the festival, and it was just their first year at MusicFest. We had them visit us the evening of Saturday night, January 8th. It reached a fever pitch in our studio with Sons of Bill, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, and then Uncle Lucius. Three bands in a row, Aaron laying cable, and somehow pulling the big configurations together in record time. There ought to be cameras on him, too! The band recorded a couple of new tunes with us, even naming one on the spot, but the energy was so amazing in this version of "Something They Ain't" that we just HAD to share this one first! Get ready for some Zen...Uncle Lucius!

- Jessie Scott

Update on 2011-11-05 02:43 by Music Fog

The Music Fog version of this song is now available to download at either of the stores below:

Dave Rawlings Machine "To Be Young"

With the advent of Dave Rawlings Machine, Dave Rawlings stepped out on his own in a big way, not that he was ever really 'obscured' as Gillian Welch's longtime collaborator. A Friend of a Friend, his first record, came out in 2009 and showcased him wearing the hats of guitarist, producer, singer, and songwriter. The idea of recording as Dave Rawlings Machine was planted in 2007. Says Dave, “I had a few older songs that I had written with other artists that I wanted to record myself. Then the last year or so Gillian and I spent a good deal of time in Los Angeles, hanging out with a new group of musicians and songwriters. This inspired a number of songs that seemed to complete the picture. So we started recording. It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to anybody.” What's different from the titles they record under Gillian Welch's name is the density in the arrangements. They are more rocking, more spirited; but of course, they continue to honor the same influences and roots.

We are so playing catch up here, literally and figuratively. At home after the road trip, I went to make dinner, and wound up with spaghetti all over the floor. A clumsy solo game of Pick Up Sticks ensued. Maybe I should stay out of the kitchen for a while! Does anybody deliver? Well hell yes, that would be a positive. I can make a long list. Actually which is what I have been doing as the miles flew by on the return from Steamboat. There are so many Americana luminaries we have not had the pleasure of recording yet. Collect 'em all, is what I say. Dave Rawlings surely is one of them. Gillian Welch of course being another! One of these days! But on a web hunt, I found a marvelous video of them from that fine radio station KEXP, Seattle. Dave Rawlings Machine, with a version of the tune he wrote with Ryan Adams, "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)."

- Jessie Scott

David Beck & The Well Dressed Thieves "Room for Me"

When I am on the road, there is always one day that totally gets away from me. A day that is so frenetic, even my copious amounts of tech cannot connect me to the outside world. A day when I don't actually communicate with people, just dimly acknowledge their having reached out to me through the haze. It is so thick, that sometimes, when I look at their email afterwards, I don't remember having seen them before. It is like having a brain wipe (is that even possible?). And when you come up for air, it's like a brave new world, a new landscape, unfamiliar terrain. It's hard work that does that, and commitment to it. I might add that it is fine with me! Especially when our work is also such a pleasure.

Just having wrapped MusicFest at Steamboat, we are all in recovery mode. But savoring the good times mode, too. We need a nap, and we promise, we will be rolling more MusicFest videos here on the Music Fog pages. But in the meantime, as I start thinking about booking artists for our SXSW coverage, let's revisit last year. I had just made the acquaintance of one David Beck, as he was playing bass for Matt King. He gave me some tunes to listen to, and we talked the next day. Since then, David has recorded two more projects on his own, produced some CDs for others and is extending his wings in collaboration. Did I mention he is just 23? He says, "The last few months have found me in the studio producing records, like Carmel by the Sea for Marshall Anderson and Gone by Miss Cate James. Be on the lookout for those two. I've started a new group with my good friend Paul Cauthen. We've been busy writing, getting ready for our debut album in April."

Here is something from last March to tide you over, shot on the Threadgill's stage during SXSW 2010. Music Fog captured the first ever live performance of this particular tune, "Room for Me," which you can find on his release Grand Island.

- Jessie Scott