John Hiatt "Damn This Town"

Back in 1984, I had a year of hanging with Keith Richards off and on. I scoured my then 15,000 vinyl album library for tasty cuts, historical oddities, and obscure goodies, and made tapes that he, Bobby Keys, and I would listen to together. We drank the music down along with the Jack. When something particularly caught Keith’s ear, he would declare it “Snaky,” and that was the highest of compliments. I conjecture that if he were to hear the new John Hiatt album, Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns, I expect he would pronounce it snaky, that is if he still uses that term.

Today, the new John Hiatt album comes out, and that is always cause for celebration. He has penned some mighty ubiquitous tunes that have become part of our musical legacy over his career; “Thing Called Love,” “Have A Little Faith In Me,” “Perfectly Good Guitar,” and “Cry Love” among them. I am happy that he has returned to a grittier, more rockin’ place on this new release. Take a listen to “Damn This Town,” which has equal parts dashed hopes, broken people, and co-dependent relations. There's also a video on YouTube for the tune, which puts an exclamation point on it all by showing the boarded up buildings and abandoned dreams of dysfunctional America. For a limited time, via John's website, you can order the deluxe signed vinyl and album bundle and get a handwritten lyric print.

John Hiatt -Damn This Town

- Jessie Scott

The Infamous Stringdusters "All the Same"

About a month ago, I got a phone call from Felton Pruitt at Fat Music asking me to come out to the High Sierra Music Festival to co-anchor his radio webcast. He had set up the remote studio facility in a tent on the rise-up from the side of the main stage. This was a broad scope festival featuring a wide swath of the best and the brightest, like Warren Haynes, Neko Case, and Dawes. And there were some huge surprises, like Los Amigos Invisibles who do this really high energy Latin dance synth pop, and Ernest Ranglin, who is credited with being the Father of Ska. And then there were the new grass guys. While Felton and I were watching the Infamous Stringdusters and Yonder Mountain String Band, he commented that we are seeing the next generation of jam grass taking its place alongside established heroes like Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas.

That is high praise indeed from Felton, who was the first program director of the XM channel, Bluegrass Junction. As for me, I am intrigued with the repeated merging through the years of black and white music. The confluence over the last several centuries in this hemisphere has made for a very rich tapestry, a cross pollination that is still yielding potent results. The hallmarks of the blues are alive and well in this song from The Infamous Stringdusters, who came to our makeshift studio during last September's Americana Fest in Nashville. This week, they are touring out west, and will be playing the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival, which Felton is also webcasting next week.

With a tune from their album Things That Fly, here are Travis Book, Jeremy Garrett, Andy Hall, Andy Falco, Jesse Cobb, and Chris Pandolfi in all their glory, “All The Same.”

- Jessie Scott

Chip Dolan "Nobody Knows"

One trip to Austin, TX long ago and far away, I went to KHYI’s Texas Music Revolution on the Sunday after SXSW was over. It was amazing driving to the event, which takes place on the historic Southfork Ranch with its famous façade that you might recall was used as the home of J.R and the rest of The Ewings in the TV show Dallas.
Evidently there is a new season coming-news to me, for sure! But I digress. I had driven with friends from Austin, and they weren’t going back that night. Somehow, Chip Dolan, who was playing at the time with Jack Ingram, got pressed into service to ferry me back to Austin in the middle of the night. I wound up taking a spin with Mark David Manders on his retro tour bus, and had disappeared from the back stage area. A lesser friend would have just left my tardy butt there, but not Chip. He waited for me, and then we drove all night. Might have been 4 am by the time we got back to Austin. Hell, it might have been even later. All I know is I got back in time to make my plane, and I am eternally grateful to Chip for his gentlemanly grace.

We were up at Cherokee Creek Music Festival in May, and Chip was there. He brought us his keyboard and left it for our use all day. I am telling you, he is one of the good ones. Though he records on his own, he is also a much sought after session guy and band member. Some of the people he has gigged with include Bruce Robison, Charlie Robison, Kelly Willis, The Mavericks, Tish Hinojosa, Greg Trooper, Eliza Gilkyson, Jimmy LaFave, Sara Hickman, Slaid Cleaves, Shelley King, and the list goes on and on. I was so happy we were able to have him come play for the Music Fog cameras. Check out the song “Nobody Knows,” from Chip Dolan back in May.

-Jessie Scott