Foster & Lloyd "Hiding Out"

We are a week away from Americana Fest...yippee, Music Fog is returning to Nashville! Now don’t scowl, Nashville is much more than the big bad city of Mainstream Country Music. There are so many talented people that live there. They play clubs like The Basement, The Rutledge, Music City Roots at the Loveless Barn, The Ryman, and the newly expanded 3rd and Lindsley. There are any number of world class nights that could only happen in places like Nashville, or Austin, for that matter; with renowned locals and exceptional national tours coming through. Not to mention that Nashville has long been a migration destination for songwriters, guitar pickers, singers, and producers, relocating from parts unknown to pursue a life of art.

The Americana Music Association is headquartered in Nashville, too, and every year in the fall we do our annual Festival & Conference, which includes the Americana Honors & Awards Show. I am proud to report that I will be anchoring the webcast from the booth at the Ryman Auditorium once again, as Folk Alley has asked me to co-host this year with NPR’s Ann Powers. If you are not planning to attend, you can listen online at NPR.org the evening of Thursday, October 13th.

We filmed Foster and Lloyd at the Music Fog Marathon in March at Threadgill’s World Headquarters in Austin. They are one of the many artists that will be playing the Americana Fest schedule this year. I am so glad they are gracing the world with their close harmonies again. Foster and Lloyd treated us to this Everly-esque tune, here is “Hidin’ Out.”

- Jessie Scott

Mary Gauthier "I Drink"

We are just two weeks out from Americana Fest in Nashville. Music Fog will be setting up shop at Marathon Recorders on October 12, 13 and 14th, and we are going to live stream the mini sets. We have booked some very cool sessions; Guy Clark, The Black Lillies, Ian McLagan, The Bottle Rockets, Sammy Llanos, and The Blind Boys of Alabama, with more to be announced soon. Taking a kind of cliff’s notes version of what Music Fog has attained over our almost 3 years of existence: We generate over 20,000 impressions a day, not counting our 15,000 Twitter followers. We have over 5.5 million views of our  700 videos on YouTube. We are averaging around 100,000 views of those videos each and every week. We add 10 to 15 subscribers everyday on YouTube. We generate between 5,000 and 10,000 impressions on everything we post on Facebook within 24 hours. And maybe the most amazing thing about this campaign we have been waging to bring real music to you, is that it has been viral. We haven’t done any advertising. It has all been word of mouth - that’s yours, and the artists we film who share Music Fog’s videos with their fans, and so on. Thank you for being part of our tribe.

The one thing I know, is that this is music that deserves to be heard whether it is played on the radio or not. I wish Americana Radio could be in every city in this country, all over the world, really. Today’s era reminds me of the early progressive rock period in the 60s. Before the music was widely played on the radio, it was shared by friends, by tips from folks at the record store, and ultimately it found its own level and acceptance. I wish the same for these artists. We filmed Mary Gauthier at last year’s Americana Fest. She is an American original, an exquisite poet and performer with an eye for heartbreaking detail. The song “I Drink,” is a modern classic, having originally appeared on Mary’s landmark album Mercy Now. If you are not familiar with her work, that is a very good place to start. She performed it for our cameras with Tania Elizabeth.

-Jessie Scott

Bob Livingston "Original Spirit"

It is getting so that weather events are accompanied by an uneasy feeling. There was a dust storm on Tuesday afternoon here in Austin, TX. It kicked up grit, and hung in the air with a weird sandy coloration. Eerie eddies of swirling papers and leaves were chasing around parking lots and lawns. I hear there was rain in some spots, but couldn’t attest to it myself. The last time we felt an ill wind blowing here in Texas, it was the outer bands of Tropical Storm Lee on Labor Day weekend. That was what brought the fire storms to central Texas. So many homes were lost, so many lives were changed forever. And so many people need our help. Fire Relief Benefit concerts are springing up everywhere. Willie and friends are doing one on October 17. Others are being planned, as so many folks lost everything. And you can always count on musicians when there is a need. That’s how they are wired.

Bob Livingston is one of them, caring, giving, sharing, innovating. His is an illustrious history, as a member of the Lost Gonzo Band, he was in on the beginning of the Austin Music ethos. BTW, they are this year’s tribute artists at MusicFest at Steamboat Springs. And congrats are in order, as Bob has just won the 2011 Texas Music Album of the Year Award for his latest album, Gypsy Alibi. Bob came to visit us on the Music Fog bus in Memphis, February 2010 during Folk Alliance. He brought Bradley Kopp, and he brought this song, the title track from “Original Spirit,” which came out in 2008. It is a reminder to obey the ancient, to honor the holiness, to live in harmony.

-Jessie Scott