John Fullbright "Me Wanting You"

I had a friend in town on Wednesday, someone who has been to Texas many times, but had never been here in Austin before. It was a blast to show him around town and to eat our way through. We started with Juan In A Million for breakfast, County Line Bar-b-q for late lunch with a tantalizing view of the beginning of Hill Country, and then Maudie’s for a Tex-Mex dinner. Then there are the food carts for after the show. He was impressed by the sophistication of Austin, by how much bigger the city was than he expected, by the food and the music and the amount of clubs. And if he were to stay longer than just a day, he would find amazing depth in the musicians that populate the universe here. Whether they live here, or orbit, there are so many TALENTED artists. It is a pleasure to live in a bubbling cauldron of creativity.

Today we bring you a tune from one of those artists who orbits Austin. John Fullbright has lots of friends here, and we welcome him back to town whenever he comes. He is one of the Red Dirt boys, hailing from Okemah, Oklahoma. I am still wondering when he will release another record, and open the door to the rest of the world that is unaware of him right now. The day will come, mark my words. We had a visitation from him during the Cherokee Creek Music Festival last month near Llano, Texas. He summoned Radoslav Lorkovic up the hill to the ranch house to join him on accordion. “Me Wanting You.” Beautiful.

- Jessie Scott

The Civil Wars "Forget Me Not"

I was up in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, listening to Lightning 100, a radio station that does a damn good job of mining local music and bringing it to the fore. Not to mention they have a wonderful live music footprint, as they broadcast weekly shows Music City Roots from the Loveless Barn, and Nashville Sunday Nights from 3rd & Lindsley. I was heading to Bonnaroo the next day, and I was listening to the evening deejay talk about the ascendance of this band, The Civil Wars, who are local to Nashville. He then they played what they call in the biz, the latest “focus track,” the title track from the new CD, Barton Hollow. We posted the video for it a while back, but it is certainly worth a revisit. That evening I experienced “one of those moments,” you know, when you can’t get out of the car until the song is done. Yes that still happens to me.

Joy Williams and John Paul White have been on a tear, red hot and like lightning. They graciously played for us during our Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s WHQ in Austin this March, and I just couldn’t wait to bring you another song from their set. It is hard to believe that anyone can be that captivating, with just the basics: a couple of vocals and a guitar. But, Glory Hallelujah, magic happens when they perform! This is the Music Fog version of “Forget Me Not.” You will find the studio version on the Barton Hollow CD, and you will find their fame continuing to grow.

- Jessie Scott

Hadden Sayers "Sweet Texas Girls"

The test of a true guitar slinger is if they can slow down and still deliver the tasty. Today we bring you Hadden Sayers, who has been hiding in the spotlight for years. He combines his love for the blues and Americana on his new album, Hard Dollar, which came out yesterday. He has played guitar in B.B. King’s rhythm section, The Silent Partners, and for the Blues Foundation’s Female Blues Artist of the Year, GRAMMY© Award-nominated force of nature Ruthie Foster. He has performed at some of the most prestigious blues and jazz festivals in the world, including Monterey and Telluride, and has shared the stage with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Derek Trucks, Bruce Hornsby, Delbert McClinton, and Darius Rucker.

We had two videos to pick from, and both of them are gentle rather than screaming, though there are some scorching tunes on the new record. One is a duet with Ruthie Foster. The other we bring you below. What is remarkable, is that this video could have been an excuse to parade stereotypically young women; to Hadden’s credit, it is every kind of woman instead, old, young and in between. Here is Texas-bred Hadden Sayers with “Sweet Texas Girls.”

- Jessie Scott