David Jacobs-Strain "Dirt and Wildflowers"

From his Facebook page: "I'm a vegetarian blues singer from Oregon. I play slide guitar, write roots indie outlaw ganstagrass country blues songs and tour nationally." Gangstagrass, huh? I like that! We might have to steal that for a T-Shirt! David Jacobs-Strain has been the opening act on tour with Boz Scaggs, as well as hitting it hard with his band. Tonight they are in Frederick, Maryland, and that is in the relative backyard of the McBean Mansion. I wonder if Beans will take the Rolls out and head over to this evening's show? Nah, Beans works way too hard; that's why we have to take him on the road to have his fun. Otherwise, he is sequestered in a bunker below ground, making his Music Fog magic hour after hour!

Well, it's two days in a row for love songs here at the Fog. Yikes! I don't know what to make of that, either. My earliest music recollections were accompanied by their own 'sort' function. I knew Tennessee Ernie Ford's "16 Tons" was dead serious life stuff. I knew there was something going on below the belt with Jerry Lee Lewis, but I didn't know what it was. And I knew that romance was...well, it was different. To be honest, I didn't have much respect for it as an 8 year old, I just assessed it as silly grown up stuff. A bah humbug, why bother kind of thing. But today, it is a whole different story, isn't it? We yearn to be romanced, for that sweetness, that caring, and that devotion. Rare and wonderful to find. And I think, if I am honest, that so many of those songs back then had a smarmy, inauthentic quality, that in some way they just didn't ring true. But then when delivered by David Jacobs-Strain, there is no suspension of belief necessary. There is for real swooning, but in the best possible way. Here he is, from a month ago at the Americana Fest, in our Sweet Suite at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown, with "Dirt and Wildflowers." This one is both easy and earthy. You can find it on his CD Terraplane Angel, released this past spring, and produced by the legendary Ray Kennedy.

- Jessie Scott

James McMurtry "Melinda"

We have been remiss in our duties. The Americana Music Association put together a free compilation album for download on Amazon and we haven't told you about it...yet! It's got tracks from John Hiatt, Elizabeth Cook, and Steve Earle, among the 12 songs by artists who we also think should be heard. It's called the Americana Music Awards Sampler. It contains tracks from some of the folks that were nominated for this year's Americana Honors & Awards, held last month, of which Marty Fitzpatrick and I anchored the webcast for Folk Alley. It was a magical night at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The very last of the 12 tracks for FREE download is from James McMurtry, a song from his most recent studio CD, Just Us Kids, "Bayou Tortous." A sweet couple...kinda sorta a love song. In other James McMurtry news, one of my very favorite magazines, Garden & Gun, has an insightful article about James that captures him faithfully; as he turkey hunts on his grandfather's land with the author, Rick Bass. It also connects to a recommended playlist James put together on iTunes. A very cool list indeed.

Over the years, James has refined his sound, becoming an impressive, and expressive, guitar player. And he has walked down some mighty dark and lonely roads in his music. He's peered into the nooks and crannies of forgotten America, with faithful portraiture to how those lives are being lived. He has made it all come alive with the articulation of his characters in their sometimes impossible situations. That said, I am always surprised by James' romantic side. Through the years and the albums, I get the sense that he is driven to get the words down and put them to music, scanning their cadence for the perfect fit. Whatever they are, and wherever they take him...and us. He seems to live inside his own head restlessly, always pondering. And so the pureness of this love song is all the more sweet for its lack of dark corners, though who knows, there could been some lurking in there anyway. The album it's from is Where'd You Hide the Body from back in 1995. We bring you this version from our Threadgill's session during SXSW 2010.

- Jessie Scott

Mike Farris "Oh, Mary Don't You Weep"

Mike Farris is a force of nature. With 2007's Salvation In Lights, his second solo album, he emerged full blown in his new incarnation, delivering Americana Evangelism, having shed the skin of an earlier, much unhealthier center stage role for the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies. He is a lesson for us all. He lived the binges; drugs and drinking and excess; 'too much ain't enough' lifestyle that so often accompanies success. Then he literally got religion, and left the bad habits behind in 2002. It has been a solid last three years, as Mike channels his energy into his music. And what energy it is. Pure white light. Seeing his show is an instant 'click' moment. Infectious, powerful, a tour de force. He takes the stage with the intensity of a tsunami, and you feel washed clean by the sheer joy of it. I don't care which of his albums you buy, but trust me on this one, buy one and you will buy them all. He is a secret weapon of Gospel - good tidings, GLAD tidings.

Photo Credit: Ed RodeHis latest, The Night The Cumberland Came Alive, features Sam Bush, Kenny Vaughan, Byron House, Ketch Secor, and The McCrary Sisters. It is a 6-song EP to commemorate and celebrate the rebirth of Nashville, after the "1,000 year" flood that took place on May 1, 2010. The project was recorded just weeks afterwards, set forth to help rebuild and repair the flood damage. There's a cool article about the project in this month's special Americana issue of the Direct Buzz.

When I saw him on the schedule for the Americana Fest, I was SO excited, we just HAD to have him come by. We booked him at 9am! Then I was kicking myself, because I wasn't there, having been called away to a meeting, knowing what I was missing. As I have said before, I don't often tell the guys what kind of musical experience is coming their way. But I texted Beans & Aaron and said, "Mike is on his way over to blow your mind." He even does that solo! Check him out live for a jolt of love. He is wrapping up some dates in Spain, and then will be returning to the US. I'll tell you, too; be prepared to be blown away, VERY blown away.

- Jessie Scott