Reckless Kelly "I Stayed Up All Night Again"

There is a fine art to staying up all night long. Whether it is pulling third shift, partying til dawn, going fishing in the morning, or working late on a book or a project, the quiet hours belong to you. There is a delicious solitude about it, and a special bond amongst those who share it. Sometimes up all night is about suffering, mourning losses.

It is a bit surprising to find the song “I Stayed Up All Night Again,” on the new Reckless Kelly Good Luck & True Love album, for it is revealing, sensitive, sad. And the story is all too true, as we consider how the life of a troubadour doesn’t often lend itself to relationship stability. The interesting thing about art, though, is that one can take the angst of the moment and channel it into the creative. And come up with this amazingly sorrowful tune. Reckless Kelly’s repertoire runs the table on emotions from jubilant to blue, with pit stops at the shades in between. I recommend a RK concert for a night out in the not too distant future. It will prove a cathartic experience. And the guys are road dogs, so check this schedule out and see if they will be close to where you are. Willy Braun, Cody Braun and Jay Nazz came by the Music Fog Marathon last month at Threadgill’s WHQ in Austin, and played “I Stayed Up All Night Again “for us.

PS: The Reckless Kelly Celebrity Softball Jam a week ago at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX was a great day once again, and a huge success raising money and goodwill for its charities.

-Jessie Scott

Rose's Pawn Shop "Arsonist"

Writing about the LA cowpunk scene earlier this week when we posted the Marvin Etzioni video sent me down a rabbit hole of my own, thinking about all the amazing roots music that has bubbled out of California. I lived in the LA area for a few years in the 80s, and recalling the blue skies, the quality of the light, and the incredible vistas is enough to make me jump in my car to visit. That is made even more intense by the call of the fine music that is being made there.

I am trying to remember when I first got turned onto Rose’s Pawn Shop. In my reptilian brain, think it might have had something to do with Cindy Wasserman and Dead Rock West coming up on my tour bus at SXSW in the mid 2000’s while I was still at X Country. Then again, maybe not. There was always such a flood of CDs coming my way, it might just have been the cool art on the cover that drew me to listen to the CD back then. In any case, play them I did, and I have been watching them ever since. I love the marriage of bluegrass elements with country rock. The band recently shot and recorded a series of live videos for 5 of their songs at a loft in downtown Los Angeles, and here is one of them, “Arsonist.”

-Jessie Scott

Sugar & The Hi-Lows "Skip The Line"

What a lovely week in Austin, actually any week is before it gets to the 100’s and stays there for the summer. Music has been spilling out of windows and doorways, and the beat, it never stops here. Just a few highlights, K. Phillips and Kevin McKinney did a Stephen Wright-ish evening of absurdist humor and intimate songs at Threadgill’s. The White Ghost Shivers were on fire on Saturday night at the Saxon Pub. Slaid Cleaves and Paul Orta were awesome in the Oak Garden at Gueros, and Dustin Perkins played an impromptu front porch picking set at the Waring General Store. And then, I am loving a bunch of new CDs: JD McPherson, Honeyhoney, The Damn Quails, Sons Of Fathers, and Sugar & The Hi-Lows.

When I first played Sugar & The Hi–Lows a couple of months ago at KNBT FM in New Braunfels, TX, I got an immediate phone call from Terri Hendrix, asking “Who WAS that?” She even tried to buy the song on line there and then, but it wasn’t out yet. Infectious stuff, indeed. Pop, infused with a sense of songwriting craft from the 50’s and  60’s. So, when I got the email to book them for the Spring Music Fog Marathon, I jumped at the chance. Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup came to us as a duo. They brought the sweet, for sure. Here is the song that Terri Hendrix loved, “Skip The Line,” Music Fog style, from March 2012 at Threadgill’s WHQ in Austin, Texas.

-Jessie Scott