Foster & Lloyd "If It Hadn't Been For You"

One night not too long ago, I was on a road trip in the middle of the night in Tennessee. I am a radio scan button addict, especially on the AM side of the band in the wee small hours. It is usually really interesting pulling in snippets of stations, some from faraway places, banging off the ionosphere as it provides a shield for amplitude modulation when the sun goes down. But on this particular night, I left the scan button alone, in favor of listening to WSM out of Nashville. There is a great book about the history of this most incredible radio station, and the contribution it made to the city and the music business, Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City, written by Craig Havighurst. But on this particular night, a song I haven’t heard in a couple of decades came on, and I found myself singing along to Mel Tillis’ “Southern Rain.”

Then the DJ played some Foster & Lloyd. Everything was right in the world, if only for the duration of those two songs. Now mind you, I used to do Country radio, back when it sounded like this; great harmonies, tunefulness, hooks and meaningful lyrics.

During our visit to MusicFest at Steamboat this past January, we connected with Radney Foster. After his session, he went down the hall to bring us the as yet unmastered songs for the forthcoming Foster & Lloyd project. It was as if two decades hadn’t passed between releases. And today is the day for the digital debut of It’s Already Tomorrow. You can find it in their website's store, and other online retailers. The physical CD will be coming out on May 17th, and WSM has invited Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd on the air that morning with Bill Cody. You will be able to listen to that live online, just click here.

From our Music Fog Marathon last month at Threadgill’s here is "If It Hadn't Been For You."

- Jessie Scott

Reckless Kelly "Out of Left Field"

Muscle Shoals, Alabama keeps calling our names. It is where Dan Penn became part of Rick Hall’s Fame Studio family. His songs include “The Letter,” "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman." He wrote the last two with Chips Moman. Spooner Oldham from Center Star, Alabama, made his way to Muscle Shoals, too. They wrote these classics together; “I’m Your Puppet,” "Cry Like A Baby," and "Out of Left Field." Chasing down these two seminal rock and roll and R&B songwriting icons is your assignment today, if you so choose.

Today’s song is one of their compositions. We last met up with Willy and Cody Braun from Reckless Kelly in January at The MusicFest in Steamboat Springs. We thought this song from our recording session would be a good one to shine a light on the upcoming 3rd Annual Reckless Kelly's Celebrity Softball Jam, happening this Sunday, May 1st at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX. Artists performing this year in addition to Reckless Kelly, include Ray Benson, Heidi Newfield, Bo Bice, Micky & the Motorcars, Hayes Carll, Dale Watson, Muzzie Braun, Charlie Robison, Wade Bowen, Bruce Robison, George Devore, Mary Cutrafello, and Django Walker.

If you are coming to the event, you can join in the “Reckless Recycling Program” by bringing new, outgrown and gently used baseball gloves, bats, shoes, catcher’s equipment and other baseball-related items, which will be donated to youth players and leagues in need. Reckless Kelly has already donated more than $65,000 from the first two Celebrity Softball Jams, with proceeds going to benefit area youth baseball groups. So here is today’s song, which was made famous by Percy Sledge. It’s “Out of Left Field” featuring Willy and Cody Braun.

-Jessie Scott

Meatyard "Hard Times"

It has been quite a week of events, with Palm Sunday, taxes, 420, Passover, Earth Day, Good Friday, and then Easter tomorrow. Hope you have had the opportunity to be spiritual,  social, a good citizen, a steward of the earth, and “had a good time” this week (Wink). Today is historically quiet. The On This Day website declares that in 1900 the term Hillbilly was used for the first time in print in The New York Journal. It is also the day the first video was uploaded to YouTube in 2005.

I think a lot about going off the grid these days, of becoming a newfangled hillbilly; to make my own electricity, clothes, food, and life. I am uncomfortable with the disparity in society. I am bothered by how addicted we are to the superficial - our electronics, entertainment, and oil. And I am especially troubled by the politics of the day. Have you ever read the marvelous Studs Terkel book Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. That so many people are going through these stages - losing jobs and houses, having their dreams dashed, wondering how the future will take root, I offer a song called “Hard Times.” It comes from the band Meatyard, whose line-up changes from project to project, though the songwriting is handled mainly by the brother team of Josh and Philip Welsh. Josh plays rhythm guitar and sings with Molly Hansen, who also plays cello on their second record Sweet Old Green Life, which came out last year. The video for “Hard Times” was produced by Abigail Severance.

-Jessie Scott