Kevin Welch "The Great Emancipation"

Happy New Year to you. We hope you got through the weekend with a minimum of travails, and especially, no hangover. I always find the awareness of the passage of time to be great for reflection and planning. There are so many things I want to do this year, I just don’t know what to do first. Well that is not entirely true, because my January is booked pretty crazy. This week I head to my tenth MusicFest at Steamboat, as I'll be coordinating the live video streaming from the MusicFest tent on January 6, 7, 8, and 9. Here is the link to watch live, though it won’t be active until Friday from 3:45pm MT as Ragweed former members Cody, Jeremy and Randy take the stage. Sorry, Music Fog isn't making the trip this time, but I will report back for the pages of the Fog!

Actually, I checked the lineup and it looks like Kevin Welch isn’t going to be there this year either. You just can’t be everywhere all the time! Kevin is doing a series of supercool songwriting workshops in the beautiful Hill Country. If you attend one, maybe some of his magic will rub off! We have a tune today from him, a preeminent Americana songwriter. It is as much a statement about the hardships of life, as well as it offers the glimmer of release. Let the light shine in this year. This is “The Great Emancipation,” the original of which is on his 2010 album, A Patch Of Blue Sky. We filmed this aboard the Music Fog bus, at Folk Alliance in Memphis, February 2010.

- Jessie Scott

Jack Grace Band "It Was a Really Bad Year"

Not to be negative, but it was a very challenging year. I, for one, will be glad when it is over. I am ready for the times to get better. May your life become more stable if things are up in the air. May you find a job, money, and security. May your house continue to be your house. May your dreams come true, or at least, begin to root and grow strong. May you see a future in what you do. May the economy continue to recover. May it rain where it hasn't, and may it not rain where it has flooded. May we have peace in the world, in our homes, in our lives.

For the last song of the year, Jack Grace sums it up from our 2010 Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill's in Austin, during SXSW® music week. BTW, Jack is readying a cool new album for the new year, but in the meantime, here is "It Was A Really Bad Year." Jack is joined by an all-star band; with Earl Poole Ball on piano, Tom Lewis on drums, playing bass is Daria Grace, and the Mariachi Horns are J Walter Hawkes on trombone, along with Steve Butts on trumpet. You can find the original version of this tune on the Drinking Songs For Lovers CD, out in 2010.

Let's count it down tonight, then onward to 2012...and upward!

- Jessie Scott

Midnight River Choir "Mile Marker"

After eleven years, Momo’s in Austin closed its doors suddenly on Tuesday night, yet another club loss in the Live Music Capital of the World. One has to wonder about the mission of all the downtown development. People move into the new high rise buildings for the eclectic quality of the town, then they complain about the noise and the ‘riff raff.’ Downtown parking is becoming too pricey for a night of musical exploration, especially as the clusters of clubs get thinned out. One wonders what will happen to all the shows Momo’s was to play host to during SXSW, as they were an official showcase venue as well as being a favorite destination for media darling day parties. Over the eleven years, I have seen many a remarkable artists there. Not only is this a huge loss for the people that worked there, losing their jobs just after Christmas, it is a loss for the city of Austin. A friend of mine used to say setbacks are made for comebacks. They're currently looking for a new location to house the Mo. Here’s hoping.

Beginnings, ends, mile markers, indeed. We bring you the marvelous Midnight River Choir, as we are getting dang close to chalking another year up to history. They are playing at The Gig tonight in Beaumont, TX. New Year’s Day, they are at legendary Gruene Hall. Have a Bloody Mary to clear the cobwebs, and head over for their set at noon. Eric Middleton, Justin Nelson, Mitchell Pyeatt, and Jeremy Yager head ”up the mountain” after that, to MusicFest at Steamboat, where Music Fog filmed them last year. Here is “Mile Marker,” which we got to record in advance of the release of this year’s Welcome To Delirium? album.

- Jessie Scott