Del McCoury Band & Preservation Hall Jazz Band - American Legacies

As this is the day we report to the IRS, in today’s article I was going to rail about taxes and the government. I was going to get political. I am a news junkie, and think nothing of having that on TV all day and all of the night. I actually get pissed off when there is no news on the tube. It strikes me as weird that news isn’t being made at all times; overnights, the weekend. But it isn’t about news, it’s about attracting an audience. I know I am an odd duck, but that’s what makes us a great country, you know? Our amalgamation of ideas, cultures, and points of view. And rather than slugging it out; left and right, progressive and conservative, Democrat and Republican, I decided to bring it to the middle.

The Del McCoury Band meets the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in their new album American Legacies which came out Tuesday. This music is such an odd meeting of the minds it seems almost impossible to ponder, as the sound each makes is seemingly so different. Before I clicked, honestly, I didn’t know WHAT to expect. But it is eerie how well it meshes, and then comes the ‘ahh yes, of course’ moment. This marriage has been heralded for its remarkable blend of traditions. The legacies of bluegrass and jazz are combined in ways that preserve their flavors, as horns blend with string band instruments to produce something at once refreshingly new and yet profoundly familiar. So in the interest of Union, check this out! You can stream the CD on the McCoury Music website. And here is a video on the making of the album.

- Jessie Scott

Sarah Jarosz "Song Up In Her Head"

Bob Lefsetz writes a topical blog that is widely read by movers and shakers in the entertainment industry. He writes from the heart. He writes from the point of view that the old system is broken, and the new day, though it is undefined as yet, is upon us. One of his ongoing mantras is directed at musicians, and reminds them about making music for the love of it, and not for the money. And that if you do it out of love, that might lead you to make money.

Enter Sarah Jarosz. We are in awe of her talent, her poise, and her scope. As we get ready for her new album, Follow Me Down, to come out on May 17th, we are struck by her ease and her eloquence, and note with utter amazement that her twentieth birthday is approaching within a week of release date. She has made quite an impact in these last two years, what with GRAMMY® and Americana Music Award nominations, a trio of Austin Music Awards, invitations to perform on “Austin City Limits” and “A Prairie Home Companion” and appearances at Bonnaroo, Newport and Telluride.

Photo Credit: Ryan Mastro

Sarah is still growing, still exploring, having headed to Boston’s New England Conservatory to study contemporary improvisation on an elite scholarship. For the forthcoming album, she and producer Gary Paczosa had to work around her college course schedule, as well as her high profile gigs. They did a session with Punch Brothers in New York, another in Boston with her trio mates Alex Hargreaves and Nathaniel Smith, and there were several sessions in Nashville with some of the finest pickers and singers in the world, including Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Viktor Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Shawn Colvin and Darrell Scott. Today, we bring you Sarah solo, from our sessions in Nashville this past September, as we caught up with her during the Americana Music Festival. It is a quick look backward, as we await the future, which is just ahead. Here is the Music Fog recording of “Song Up In Her Head,” the title track from her 2009 debut.

- Jessie Scott

Stone River Boys "Lovers Prison"

We were cruising in the Hill Country this past weekend, out to Luckenbach under the live oaks for a Paul Thorn concert. We drove back under a canopy of stars with the moon roof open, even seeing the Milky Way, with no ambient light from the city to compete with it. There were lots of towers, mostly for cell phones with lights flashing atop. I was reminded of growing up, how I quickened looking at the radio towers, blinking magically, beacons of mass communication. I loved radio. I loved sitting behind the mic in the evening hours, with the ability to play music and touch lives, talk to callers. To just be so centered in what you are doing that all else falls away. I remember many times having some persnickety cold or headache when I walked in, that would magically vanish when I got into the work flow.

There was an engineer I worked with for years, who came in for the overnight shift when I was working at WHN in New York. Every time he worked the same hours as me, he would slide the control room door open just a sliver, and smile seductively with his eyes half closed. He would announce that he was "The Buzzard." He would go on to tell me, "Now you understand that The Buzzard don't kill nothing...but if he should find something on the ground, he would make sure to pick the bones clean." Tantalizing! The same performance every night, like a mantra! And then he would close the door and hang out in the shop the rest of the night.

I think he would have loved the Stone River Boys. A bit of theater, a bit of rock and roll, and some stone country from Bakersfield in the mix. We recorded this tune a month ago during the Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill's. "Lovers Prison" comes from their Love On The Dial CD. Oh, I might just have to go see them tonight or next Wednesday at the Continental Club in Austin. And then lookout Europe, here they come!

- Jessie Scott