Marshall Chapman "Call the Lamas!"

She’s lean and tall and multi-talented. It begs again a closer look at the people we bring you here at Music Fog, for many of them are accomplished in more than one artistic pursuit. Take Marshall Chapman, for instance. She has a way with words. It doesn’t matter whether they are ensconced in song, or in books and newsletters. I subscribe to The Tall Girl Skinny to keep up with her travels. She reported a bit of trouble recently---heart flutters, and is now wearing a heart monitor. We wish her a speedy return to full health; and of course wealth, and wisdom. (Well, the wisdom comes easy.) It has been busy for Marshall lately, with visits to Sirius XM, and then she had a close encounter with another of our heroes, Billy Joe Shaver. Read all about it here.

I am so glad we got to sit down with Marshall in the Music Fog suite at the Americana Fest in Nashville this past September. She is classy, effortless, bewitching. This song captures a portrait of a perfect moment, a polaroid snapshot of a face in the supermarket. I have seen this kid too, haven’t you? It’s Marshall Chapman with a solo acoustic version of “Call The Lamas!” from her Mellowicious! album back in 2006.

- Jessie Scott

Paul Thorn "Ray Ann's Shoes"

Paul Thorn continues his relentless march across the United States. I can't believe there are so many dates on his dance card. He aims to have a busy spring and then a busy summer, that is for sure. Take a look for yourself. I was talking to a friend about Paul a couple of days ago. We were agreeing if people would just go to see him, they would become fans for life. This is where the juice is, where the music is real. Just one taste of the fruit is all you need to 'get' him. Music Fog was honored to be with him in Muscle Shoals this past January for a DVD shoot and webcast, and once again, I have to stress the ease of working with the whole team. It is just amazing how nice, how welcoming the Paul Thorn crew is. And that is how they greet the day with everyone; family, friends, fans. You know Paul and the band love it, love being on the road, love performing, want to grow it and build it and never stop.

Then there are the lyrics he writes. They can get inside your head, you can feel like Paul is simply reading your mind. They are that relatable. Even if you haven't experienced the exact thing the song is about, there is still that glimmer of acknowledgement, the silent nod of understanding. You know this woman, she might have lived next door, and she up and left, inexplicably. This is one of those songs that you can't believe is new, as it feels like you have known it forever. "Ray Ann's Shoes," comes from Paul's most recent album Pimps & Preachers. We filmed this version over a year ago in Memphis during Folk Alliance, captured on the magical Music Fog bus. And if you are around Dayton, Ohio tonight, I encourage you to go to see Paul solo acoustic live at the Canal Street Tavern.

- Jessie Scott

Peter Case "Thirty Days in the Workhouse"

Hitchhiking sounds so quaint when you think about it now, but back in the middle of the last century it was a bohemian, somewhat acceptable, but inherently dangerous mode of transportation. I took the gamble back in those days. There was a freedom to it, it was a dance between hiker and hikee. First thing, you assessed the driver and the situation before you even got in the car. Sometimes it was very companionable, sometimes you prayed the whole way to your destination and couldn’t wait to get out of the car. As a tomboy hippie chick, I stuck my thumb out a lot in the late 60s. I crisscrossed the state of Ohio, which is where I went to college, and then I hitchhiked up and down the California coast. You took your life in your hands each time. But there was the sense of being alive that was woven into the fabric of it, too. And the discovery; of new places, of people, of music. We joke about the vortex at Music Fog---this could have been the start of it, “I’ve come to look for America,” as Simon & Garfunkel sang.

Peter Case was a hitchhiker, too. His latest blog post is an in-depth reading about a hitchhiking journey he took, culminating by seeing Lightnin’ Hopkins at a gig in Boston. It is compelling, and actually more like reading a journal than a blog. It has such delicious detail and so captures the feel of those days. I love reading Peter’s stuff. I think it makes his music all the more relatable for where he’s been, where he’s coming from. That era, kids grew up with a cocoon around us that felt like an unreality. We needed to find substance somewhere. Day to day was boring and predictable. There was no magic to it, yet we knew that there was something out there, and we chased it. It is not unlike hitching a ride today on the internets, which can be just as dangerous, and winding up “somewhere else.” Read Peter Case here. And watch him here, where you're at, as we recorded him in September at Americana Fest in Nashville.

- Jessie Scott