Dave Rawlings Machine "To Be Young"

With the advent of Dave Rawlings Machine, Dave Rawlings stepped out on his own in a big way, not that he was ever really 'obscured' as Gillian Welch's longtime collaborator. A Friend of a Friend, his first record, came out in 2009 and showcased him wearing the hats of guitarist, producer, singer, and songwriter. The idea of recording as Dave Rawlings Machine was planted in 2007. Says Dave, “I had a few older songs that I had written with other artists that I wanted to record myself. Then the last year or so Gillian and I spent a good deal of time in Los Angeles, hanging out with a new group of musicians and songwriters. This inspired a number of songs that seemed to complete the picture. So we started recording. It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to anybody.” What's different from the titles they record under Gillian Welch's name is the density in the arrangements. They are more rocking, more spirited; but of course, they continue to honor the same influences and roots.

We are so playing catch up here, literally and figuratively. At home after the road trip, I went to make dinner, and wound up with spaghetti all over the floor. A clumsy solo game of Pick Up Sticks ensued. Maybe I should stay out of the kitchen for a while! Does anybody deliver? Well hell yes, that would be a positive. I can make a long list. Actually which is what I have been doing as the miles flew by on the return from Steamboat. There are so many Americana luminaries we have not had the pleasure of recording yet. Collect 'em all, is what I say. Dave Rawlings surely is one of them. Gillian Welch of course being another! One of these days! But on a web hunt, I found a marvelous video of them from that fine radio station KEXP, Seattle. Dave Rawlings Machine, with a version of the tune he wrote with Ryan Adams, "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)."

- Jessie Scott

David Beck & The Well Dressed Thieves "Room for Me"

When I am on the road, there is always one day that totally gets away from me. A day that is so frenetic, even my copious amounts of tech cannot connect me to the outside world. A day when I don't actually communicate with people, just dimly acknowledge their having reached out to me through the haze. It is so thick, that sometimes, when I look at their email afterwards, I don't remember having seen them before. It is like having a brain wipe (is that even possible?). And when you come up for air, it's like a brave new world, a new landscape, unfamiliar terrain. It's hard work that does that, and commitment to it. I might add that it is fine with me! Especially when our work is also such a pleasure.

Just having wrapped MusicFest at Steamboat, we are all in recovery mode. But savoring the good times mode, too. We need a nap, and we promise, we will be rolling more MusicFest videos here on the Music Fog pages. But in the meantime, as I start thinking about booking artists for our SXSW coverage, let's revisit last year. I had just made the acquaintance of one David Beck, as he was playing bass for Matt King. He gave me some tunes to listen to, and we talked the next day. Since then, David has recorded two more projects on his own, produced some CDs for others and is extending his wings in collaboration. Did I mention he is just 23? He says, "The last few months have found me in the studio producing records, like Carmel by the Sea for Marshall Anderson and Gone by Miss Cate James. Be on the lookout for those two. I've started a new group with my good friend Paul Cauthen. We've been busy writing, getting ready for our debut album in April."

Here is something from last March to tide you over, shot on the Threadgill's stage during SXSW 2010. Music Fog captured the first ever live performance of this particular tune, "Room for Me," which you can find on his release Grand Island.

- Jessie Scott

Rosanne Cash "I'm Movin' On"

Glory be, we are in return mode from Steamboat Springs, snow-blind from the fun of it all. Whew! We always feel like we are coming home when we get there each year, and leaving is always bittersweet. In the next days, weeks, and months, we will be rolling out more MusicFest at Steamboat videos. We can't wait to share them all with you, but first we need to trek across the country again to our respective homes. So this is the champagne sorbet course in between realities, that of event and home.

"I'm Movin' On." The title works, though we don't mean to imply any of the inherent negative message of the song. Rosanne Cash takes the Hank Snow tune and makes it her own with a sultry and restrained delivery. Her album The List, the important songs her father, Johnny Cash, wanted to educate her to, wound up at #2 on the Americana Music Association's Top 100 of 2010. It's also been nominated for a 2011 GRAMMY® award in the Best Americana Album category. And The List already won Album of the Year this past September at The Americana Honors & Awards show, held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville during AmericanaFest. By the way, dates have been announced for this year's event from October 12 through 15 in Nashville. But I am getting ahead of myself. We have miles to go before we sleep. "I'm Movin' On."

- Jessie Scott