Bonnie Bishop "Lucky Ones"

Valentine’s Day requires advanced notice, if you are to do it justice. This is a head’s up that you have a week to get it done, whatever ‘it’ is. I am just doing my civic duty. I am not in love, bah humbug. What’s on the list? Candy, liquor, flowers, diamonds, dinner out, champagne...have at it. His and her spa days for treatments, ooh, and massages, or a weekend getaway at a lux hotel. The main thing, though, is that you have to plan ahead for this stuff. You have been forewarned. Of course, for my money, things always go better with music. The fine folks at Thirty Tigers have the right idea, releasing a love song album today called Hearts Across Texas a week before Cupid shoots his arrow. It features the likes of the Josh Abbott Band, Kevin Fowler, Casey Donahew Band, Aaron Watson, a previously unreleased cover of “Leather and Lace” by Elizabeth Cook and Aaron Watson, plus a brand new song from Jack Ingram called "Miss You."

It also contains a Bonnie Bishop tune called “Lucky Ones,” and since we recorded a session with her doing that song, at the MusicFest 2010 in Steamboat Springs, we just couldn’t help but bring that to you again. Bonnie will be hitting the road at the end of the month, and coming down to Texas for a while. She is going to play my School Night Sessions concert series at Threadgill’s WHQ on March 5th, and here are the rest of her dates.

From the Fog Bank (archives), this is a beauty; Bonnie Bishop with keyboard wizard Michael Webb.

- Jessie Scott

Cindy Bullens "Good At Being Gone"

I was bayside in Corpus Christi on Saturday, and there was a storm looming on the horizon. Low hanging clouds sat just atop the swaying palm trees, the smell of beach and humidity was heavy in the air. Beach towns hold a special fascination for me. I guess I am just wired that way, having been a surfer as a teenager at Gilgo Beach in New York. The nubby plants, the houses with their pastel colors; things just feel different when there is water near. It doesn't much matter where, whether here or out of the country, or north or south, the beach prevails with its particular light. It is its own province.

Since it was a gray and foreboding kind of day, it spoke of winter walks on the sand on the New England shore. That’s where Cindy Bullens is from, Maine, actually. I am certain she has spent hours combing the beach for inspiration and the soothing effect it has on one’s soul. Cindy is part of the group The Refugees, along with Wendy Waldman and Deborah Holland, and they have just released the album Three. We previously filmed them way back in 2009, at Folk Alliance, aboard the Music Fog bus.

As we are doing our Kickstarter fundraising to get the Foggers to Austin in March, for the Spring Marathon at Threadgill’s, we take you back to Nashville for a tune that Cindy recorded for us during a different marathon, the Americana Fest in 2010. “Good At Being Gone,” came out on her album of the same year, Howling Trains and Barking Dogs.

- Jessie Scott

PS: Music Fog is only at about 30% of our Kickstarter goal, with just 9 days left to raise the money for our excursion, production and streaming costs. If you're not familiar with Kickstarter projects, the funds are only collected if the entire goal has been met. Fall short and the entire project is dead in the water; it's all-or-nothing funding. So, please help if you can, share with everyone you know that loves roots music!

The Pear Ratz "Ozona"

I can’t stress how important it is to give back. After a life in the workaday world, the things that seem to recur with frequency these days are benefits and non-commercial enterprises. I am a proud member of two of them, The Americana Music Association and Leadership Music. Of late, there have been plenty of things to raise money for, with the natural calamities especially rife of late. Also, there are so many worthy things to donate your time to; boys and girls clubs, sports teams, houses of worship, doing cleanup in your community. It is all about helping those less fortunate with your time, your money, or your concern. Giving back feels good.

Tonight I am involved in a benefit to raise money for the Wounded Warriors. I see so many military folks in my travels these days, and always hope that a good life awaits them when they are done with their service to our country. Tonight, The Pear Ratz, a band I used to play on X Country back in my XM days, are doing a benefit to raise money for them. I am going to be facilitating a video stream, as it is being filmed for DVD release by Jeff Horny and his crew, and the audio is being captured by Adam Odor. Check it out tonight on the Pear Ratz site.

Here is a video that Jeff did for them in 2010, “Ozona,” which I especially love for the desert vistas.

-Jessie Scott