Kenny Vaughan "Shimmy"

The GRAMMY® nominations were announced on Wednesday, and we salute all the folks that got one. Confused as they can be in terms of where to put what album, our sincere congrats go out anyway to:
Best Americana Album: Emotional Jukebox — Linda Chorney, Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down — Ry Cooder, Hard Bargain — Emmylou Harris, Ramble At The Ryman — Levon Helm, Blessed — Lucinda Williams.
Best Blues Album: Low Country Blues — Gregg Allman, Roadside Attractions — Marcia Ball, Man In Motion — Warren Haynes, The Reflection — Keb’ Mo’, Revelator — Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Best Folk Album: Barton Hollow — The Civil Wars,  I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive — Steve Earle, Helplessness Blues — Fleet Foxes, Ukulele Songs — Eddie Vedder,  The Harrow & The Harvest — Gillian Welch.
Best Recording Package: Reckless Kelly — Good Luck & True Love
Best Engineered Album (non-classical): Sarah Jarosz — Follow Me Down
Best Engineered Album (non-classical): Gillian Welch — The Harrow & The Harvest
While we are at it, nods also go out to Brian Setzer, The Decemberists, Mumford and Sons, Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, Jeff Beck, and Jim Lauderdale. The complete list is here. Can’t wait for the GRAMMYs, happening on February 12th in LA. We wish everyone good luck.

I know that one of these years, Kenny Vaughan will bag one of those awards. Yes he will. He started kicking around Nashville in 1987, where he played with The Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Patty Loveless, Rodney Crowell, Marshall Chapman, Kim Richey, and Greg Garing, with whom he joined in the reclaiming of Nashville’s historic Lower Broadway district. They played in the back room of Tootsie’s, planting the seeds for the future in what was once thought of as Skid Row, that has now grown into the bustling downtown mecca. Along the way, Kenny hooked up with Marty Stuart, and is a revered member of his Fabulous Superlatives. It was about time that Kenny put a record out of his own. V is it, and we were delighted to invite Kenny Vaughan to Marathon Recorders while we were in Nashville. He brought the boys; Rich Brinsfield on bass, and John Radford on drums. And they did rock. Behold, the Music Fog version of “Shimmy.”

-Jessie Scott

The V-Roys "Goodnight Loser"

From 1994 to 1999 The V-Roys, the seminal roots rock band from Knoxville barnstormed the south, ahead of the Americana movement that was shortly to follow. The V-Roys started life as the Viceroys, but had to shorten the name after threat of a lawsuit from a Jamaican band with that name. Their first album, Just Add Ice is a reference to the letters removed. They subsequently put out other somewhat tersely titled offerings. At the millennium’s end, the band broke up, and we have followed Scott Miller & The Commonwealth, and Mic Harrison & the High Score on their journeys for the last decade or so. When word came about release of the first-ever compilation from The V-Roys, I was stoked. You’ll find 18 tracks on Sooner or Later, with thirteen previously released and five unreleased, including covers of Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got To Memphis,” Neil Young’s “Burned,” and Leiber and Stoller’s “Smokey Joe’s Café.”

The V-Roys played their last show on New Year’s Eve 1999 at the historic Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville. It was time for Mic Harrison, Scott Miller, Jeff Bills and Paxton Sellers to do a reunion at the end of this year. After selling out the Bijou Theatre, the concert was moved to the glorious Tennessee Theatre, coming full circle. The title, is again somewhat terse, “One Show; Goodbye” The V-Roys New Year’s Eve blowout will find the band doing crowd pleasers and generally ripping it up. That will be a not-to-miss occasion if you are anywhere near the Knoxville area.

We jumped at the chance to film Scott Miller, and Mic Harrison at Marathon Recorders in Nashville during Americana Fest. We bring you the Music Fog version of “Goodnight Loser.”

-Jessie Scott

Gary Nicholson "Fallin' & Flyin'"

Every year, as Music Fog heads into the great white north for MusicFest at Steamboat, Delbert McClinton takes a merry band of swashbucklers south for the Sandy Beaches Cruise. This year, they'll be sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday, January 8, 2012, with two stops to visit three ports: St. Barts, St. Kitts and Nevis. And the roster? Well hell, that would be Al Anderson, Marcia Ball, Bruce Channel, Nick Connolly, Bob DiPiero, Fred Eaglesmith, Joe Ely, Jimmy Hall, Tom Hambridge, Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps, J.T. Lauritsen & the Buckshot Hunters, Colin Linden, Big Joe Maher, Raul Malo, Clay McClinton, The McCrary Sisters, Mingo Fishtrap, Jonell Mosser, Lee Roy Parnell, Jill Sobule, Paul Thorn, Wayne Toups & Zydecajun, Seth Walker, Kevin Welch, Mike Zito, Miles Zuniga, Chuck Cannon, Matraca Berg, Eric Lindell, Danny Myrick, Gretchen Peters, Lari White, and Delbert’s longtime friend and songwriting partner Gary Nicholson. For ticket information, check here.

Gary Nicholson came before the Music Fog cameras at Americana Fest last month in Nashville. We were honored to have him, and the added bonus was that he brought Colin Linden and David Roe along with him. His life is a chronicle of the American Music scene dating back decades.  It is an impressive array of sights and sounds, as Gary has explored the roles of performer, songwriter and producer in his illustrious career. The song we bring you today is a classic, and if you remember, was in the movie Crazy Heart, performed by Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell. It was co-written by Gary and the late Stephen Bruton. You can find Gary’s version on the album Texas Songbook, which came out back in June. Here is the Music Fog recording.

- Jessie Scott