Amanda Shires "Shake The Walls"

Music Fog welcomes Amanda Shires today, on the occasion of her third solo CD, Carrying Lightning, hitting the streets. It is an album that brings it to the next level, which is an awesome thing to ponder. As you know, Amanda is a consummate singer, songwriter, and fiddler, whose timing and tonality makes us ask once again, ‘what is it about Lubbock, TX,’  as that is where she is from.

She has been at it seemingly forever, having started playing fiddle at  the age of ten. By fifteen, she was fiddling for the legendary Texas Playboys. By her late teens, she had founded the Thrift Store Cowboys, and then set out solo. If you saw the Gwyneth Paltrow film Country Strong, that was Amanda as the fiddle player in her band. She is part of the creative community in Nashville that functions as a counterpoint to the mainstream. It seems to suit her well, as she so obviously is continuing to grow.

Always great to have new music from her, as well as new video, “Shake The Walls.” Enjoy!

-Jessie Scott

Amy Speace "Hurricane"

Amy Speace wrote the songs for her latest project with her life in a state of transition. Having lived an urban Northeastern existence for years, she up and relocated to the South. Her March release Land Like A Bird was a goodbye to those people and places, as she settled in her new East Nashville home. The CD was produced by Neilson Hubbard, whom she first met seven years ago while performing on an Arizona TV show. They realized a shared vision of musical direction, so when they were reintroduced last year it led to this collaboration.

Also forthcoming is the Big Star documentary Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story which includes Amy’s performance of “Try Again” with the surviving Big Star members, the Posies and Evan Dando at the Alex Chilton tribute at SXSW in March of 2010. She had met Big Star member Jody Stephens a few years before that in Memphis, and that was cause for a mutual admiration society too.

I think we take it for granted that Amy makes fans wherever she goes. Her craft is epic. When she came to play for us during Americana Fest in Nashville in September, she brought us a song that is not on the new CD, “Hurricane.”

We again draw your attention the Red Cross for aid to the tornado victims.

-Jessie Scott

Brandon Jenkins "No More"

Oh, the damage. It is impossible to comprehend the 300 mile swath the tornadoes cut through Alabama, Mississippi, actually in seven Southern States this week. Our hearts go out to all who have lost loved ones, friends, and neighbors; as well as their homes and work places. Shocking video. We want to take this moment to remind you to donate to the Red Cross if you can. Rebuilding entire towns is going to take some doing and some time. There are needs that are much more immediate.

Some chaos is imposed upon us, sometimes it is of our own making. Either way it happens, it provides wrack and ruin, and one must summon the strength to get through. Brandon Jenkins is dealing with the latter in this song, “No More.” Brandon is a bard, a Red Dirt troubadour, and he has just delivered his new CD Under The Sun. His words ring with the pain of the truth. He plays tonight at Hill’s Café in Austin with Johnny Cooper, and Cody Canada & The Departed. Here he is with the Music Fog performance of "No More," as we recorded him during MusicFest at Steamboat this past January.

- Jessie Scott