Otis Gibbs "Detroit Steel"

Yay, driving season is here. It is great to jump into the car and follow your heart to friends and family, or just to explore. I am glad gas prices are coming down a bit. In doing some research, on this day in 1942, gas rationing was put in place, with non-essential vehicles only getting 3 gallons a week. Can you imagine? What does that translate to, around 60 miles a week? Just goes to show how different our living and working pattern is these days. Ah, to be able to walk to work, or take public transportation…but that is another story.

Otis Gibbs has today’s tune from his album Harder Than Hammered Hell, which came out back in February. The import version is available as of today on Amazon. It is Otis’ sixth album, and it’s the fourth release to come out on his own indie label, Wanamaker Recording Company, the East Nashville endeavor he started in 2008 with long-time partner Amy Lashley. The album title comes from a comment about digging in frozen ground, by a seventy-year-old friend and co-worker with whom Otis worked as a tree-planter in Indiana. Otis feels that is also an apt description for the creative process today. In the meantime, it’s time to take a drive! Here is “Detroit Steel,” let’s go!

-Jessie Scott

Lydia Loveless "Can't Change Me"

A good cup of coffee is imperative first thing in the morning. And woe, the grinder on my coffee maker was making this whirring, whimpering noise. Avanti - to the internets for information! The consensus was to unplug it, turn it upside down, and clear it all out with a chop stick, so as not to damage the wheel of the burr grinder. And voila, success! This morning I am a happy camper for two reasons, I don’t have to buy a new machine, and there is a place to do research which actually provides meaningful information. So while I sip my brew this Monday morning, let’s dig in. What can I say, I am a woman of simple pleasures.

I recall being deliriously happy when I took the shrink wrap off the Lydia Loveless album almost a year ago. I love when you hear new music, and ‘get’ it instantly, when that connection is clean and pure and total. Lydia Loveless simply rocks. She was raised on a farm in Coshocton, Ohio, her dad owned a country music bar, which meant there was often a house full of touring musicians. She struck out on her own to Columbus, OH where she immersed herself in the punk scene. I love when the worlds of country and punk collide! We have been trying to get Lydia Loveless in front of the Music Fog cameras since the Indestructible Machine album came out. When we found out she was coming to Austin to play SXSW, we knew we were going to do a session with her at last! She and her band, Ben Lamb - upright bass, Parker Chandler – drums, and Todd May – guitar, brought us a whip smart set. Here is the Music Fog recording off “Can’t Change Me” from the Spring Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s in Austin.

-Jessie Scott

Hurray for the Riff Raff "Look Out Mama"

Happy Mother’s Day! I was in New Orleans visiting the kids a few weeks back, when the subject came up of Mother’s Debris. For the uninitiated, Mother’s Restaurant is a NOLA institution. You go through the line to order your food, and let me tell you, you spend the whole time as you shuffle down trying to decide what you are going to order. It is really hard! One of my favorites there, though, is the roast beef po’ boy sandwich. The “debris” moniker comes from the pieces that fall into the pan gravy during the roasting process, making for well-seasoned crispy bits and a huge mess dripping down your face while you are eating it. So I was talking about this feast, and the kids heard me wrong, and thought I was saying Mother’s Day Brie, speaking of gooey messes dripping down your face, and that is what I got this Mother’s Day. I do love that, and I hope if you are a mom, that there is a modicum of comfort and joy for you and a hot mess, in the best possible way.

In our continuing campaign to discover cool music, we present the band Hurray for the Riff Raff. Their new album Look Out Mama just came out a couple of weeks ago. It was recorded in Nashville and produced by Andrija Tokic, who worked with the Alabama Shakes. The song we bring you today is the title track, “Look Out Mama,” led by the band's writer, lead singer and primary creative force, Alynda Lee Segarra. She is a Puerto Rican runaway who grew up in the Bronx until she was 17, then she bounced around for years riding the rails before landing in New Orleans. I think that is a really good fit.

- Jessie Scott