The Decemberists "Annan Water"

I am trying to bide my time until the end of the year. People are busy with the wrap up of 2010, the social outings, and then the holidays, which serve to put a stop to the flurry of phone calls and events that are the everyday cadence of my life. I hum "If We Make It Through December," the classic Merle Haggard song, as the accompaniment to my musings.

Deep into the heartbeat of December, we bring you the band seemingly named for the month, The Decemberists. Their name actually references an uprising in Imperial Russia during December, 1825, and is also the name of an unfinished Tolstoy novel. It is with particular pride that I post something from them, as they might just be my son's favorite band. Before I moved to Texas, he would play DJ in the car with their new tunes. "Mom, do you like this song? What about this?" And I did. The Portland, OR, based outfit has had a prolific decade, starting with their initial EP, self released in 2001.

When I heard the lead track they are promoting from the forthcoming album The King Is Dead, due out on January 18th, I tried to scoop my son, calling Trev up to say, "Wait until you hear their new stuff, it is Americana!" Of course he coolly replied he had already heard it. Such is the reach of the web today. "Down By The Water" is that first track, and Gillian Welch sings harmony on it with Peter Buck adding 12 string. Hear it on their website once you click the 'launch audio' tab. It's also available as a single on iTunes and Amazon right now. Great tune, indeed. There is also a cool preview video of the forthcoming album on their YouTube channel. While we await the new album, here's one from their 2009 CD Hazards Of Love. This is the haunting "Annan Water," recorded at Stubb's in Austin, Texas.

- Jessie Scott

Doug Moreland "Windmill"

I am starting to get excited, because MusicFest at Steamboat Springs starts three weeks from today! Music Fog will be heading out to start 2011 in style, to which we have become accustomed. Friends, music, fun. We are making a list, checking it twice, and I don't think we care too much about the naughty or nice part. Life is equal measure. We can't wait to see the winter wonderland of the 'Champagne Powder' that is the Colorado snow at Steamboat. We can't wait to be back in the big MusicFest tent, and the other venues, The Steamboat Grand, The Bear River, Thunderhead up the Gondola, and promoter John Dickson added some new venues; The Dung Beetle Saloon, and the Ghost Ranch Saloon in downtown Steamboat Springs. More to come.

We recorded Doug Moreland last year at Steamboat in our condo/studio. He brought the spirit that is the hallmark of the event, such a joyous celebration of music and being together. For the uninitiated, Doug is a musician and a humorist, also a mighty fine chainsaw artist and party thrower extraordinaire. Music Fogger Sheila Francis attended his Cattlelacs Calfry, and had a blast. Doug is a recipient of the Will Rogers Cowboy Award for Western Music Male Performer of the Year from the Academy of Western Artists. He was also honored with an Entertainer of the Year award from the Texas Music Awards. Here he is doing "Windmill," with Randy Roberts, from MusicFest 2010 at Steamboat. Music Fog is counting the days!

- Jessie Scott

Walt Wilkins & the Mystiqueros "Would Not Make it Through"

Wake, work, shop, cook, clean, relax, sleep. Repeat. There is so much routine to our lives, it's easy to forget that it can be touched by the divine. For the last few days, the Music Fog crew has been tearing through the Texas Hill Country doing location shoots. We have been exploring the history, and seeing how creativity grows out of the rolling hills and the craggy outcroppings. It has given me a greater appreciation of how important music and entertainment has always been to the hard working people who settled this area. There are living, breathing reminders of this in the buildings, the towns, and yes, of course, in the souls of the people. Music abounds year round in Central Texas, but this season it resounds with jingle bells, and mistletoe and even brighter lights. There is magic in the air. It's a time to take stock, to take a deep breath, to remind us to drink in the wonder of it.

Denise and I went to a most remarkable show this past Wednesday night at the One World Theater in Austin. It is a glittering location, with fellowship provided by Carolyn Wonderland and Guy Forsyth, backed by their collective bands. They simply reinvent the holiday songs we have been singing all our lives, and add some new ones to the Christmas repertoire. It is a tour de force, a must see, with inventive instrumentation that twists familiar tunes with a splash of Technicolor brilliance. It is a joy to behold. As each song comes along, it awakens your mind's eye, and you can time travel back to the carefree days of growing up, to the different eras of your life. You can savor the honey, can quiet the "to-do" list, and be thankful for the blessings bestowed.

That is the concept Music Fog is named for. That is also the place Walt Wilkins writes from. We heard Walt and the band while on a pit stop at Luckenbach on Saturday night. His voice, his lyrics, ring clear and true. We take you back to a performance we filmed with him this summer at The Mansion on O in Washington, DC with Ramon Rodriguez, John Greenberg and Bill Small. Listen to the love in, "Would Not Make It Through," which you can find on Agave from The Mystiqueros.

- Jessie Scott