Justin Townes Earle "Slippin' and Slidin'"

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Earle brought his band the Dukes and Duchesses, to the Paramount Theater in Austin for a magical almost three hour long show.  I have to say I am really excited for Steve with this configuration, presenting an amazing array of material.  After all, he has been at it for decades now, starting out as a songwriter, and then finding the spotlight on his own with Guitar Town in 1986.  I love that in his career, he segues from folk to bluegrass, to rock, to edgy; and in this new show, he brings it all.  There is a warmth and an ease in the collaborative effort. Though Steve has mellowed some, you still feel the fire, and the politics are as matter of fact as ever.  I think this might have been the best Steve Earle show I have ever seen, made so by his wife Allison, and the Mastersons, Chris and his wife Eleanor Whitmore.  BTW, they were featured in Music Fog’s Bonnie Whitmore video.

During the set, Steve shares stories. That night he told one about teaching his then teenaged son Justin Townes Earle a lesson.  I am so impressed with Justin Townes Earle, who is developing into a tour de force on his own.  Yeah, sure, there are always the genetics, but Justin stands on his own merits, with his own sound and his own sensibility, actually very different from his dad.

 In 2009, Justin picked up the Americana Honors New and Emerging Artist Award. He is up for two Americana Honors this year,  for Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year for the “Harlem River Blues,” the title track from his latest album. There is a tasty new video for "Slippin' and Slidin', from the new album and  produced by Joshua Black Wilkins.  This is crooner stuff, soulful and sexy.  Justin is touring England now, and is back in the States at the end of the month for the Newport Folk Festival. Catch up with him here. 

- Jessie Scott

Amy LaVere "Damn Love Song"

A plea for honesty. Watching Real Time with Bill Maher this week made me laugh out loud for the ACTUAL things that were expressed, not even being clothed in the usual euphemisms. And because it is HBO, there is that healthy sprinkling of obscenity that serves to further drive the emphasis. It’s actually very refreshing, delivered in this no holds barred way. I wish politicians could be so overt, and put it out there for all to see. But that ain’t gonna ever happen.

There can, however, be honesty in songs thank goodness. Amy LaVere’s new album comes out today, and you can count on her to lay the emotions bare. Through the years she has explored the underside, and I know there were lots of life changes in the ramp up to this album. Jim Dickinson was scheduled to return to the producer’s chair, but his passing in 2009 set Amy to finding another to fill his shoes. That he was mentor and a huge supporter, made the grieving especially tough. And the breakup of her 6 year relationship to drummer Paul Taylor left another hole. She missed his collaboration, and wound up asking for him to play drums to complete the record. Amy’s third CD is called Stranger Me, and here is our live version of one of the tunes, “Damn Love Song,” filmed at the Music Fog Marathon in March at Threadgill’s.

- Jessie Scott

Rodney Crowell "Moving Work of Art"

Monday morning.  Carmageddon fizzled like the Y2K scare.  Over the weekend on Facebook, my friend Peter Rodman posted a rewrite sung to the tune of “Carmelita,” with apologies to the late, great Warren Zevon.

"I hear demolition noises on the radio/and my cell phone glows, in the dark, This GPS says "Encinada"/but I haven't gone around the block! Carmageddon! (didn't happen)/I think it fizzled out...'cause everybody listened to the cable news/Now, nobody's goin' out..." 

I LOVE that.  It is actually amazing what we can do when we are paying attention.  And since our attention is focused out west, and we were holding on to this tune, here goes.  We taped Rodney Crowell, the multi-talented and eminently thoughtful and thought provoking singwriter (you heard me) at the Americana Fest in September of 2010.

By the way, this year’s Americana event has been pushed back a month, to October 12 through 15 in Nashville. They've started announcing who will be iplaying: The Civil Wars, Robert Plant & Band Of Joy, Foster & Lloyd, Gregg Allman, Justin Townes Earle, The Jayhawks and the North Mississippi All Stars, just to name a few.  Ticket prices are going up soon, so if you want to be there, here is the skinny for registration and wristbands.

But I digress....today Music Fog brings you a sweet, solo version of one of Rodney’s songs from the Sex & Gasoline album. “Moving Work Of Art.”  Catch him on The Chinaberry Sidewalks Tour named after his recently released memoir.

- Jessie Scott