New Country Rehab "Back In Time"

A long time ago, I wanted to do a documentary on a road that runs from Delaware up to the Canadian border, US-9. I was taken with how the landscape changed along the way, from the interior farmland of Delaware, on a ferry across Delaware Bay from Lewes, DE to Cape May, NJ. Up through the New Jersey beaches into the full blown urban experience of New York. Suburban, then the exurbs and into deep and beautiful countryside, paralleling the Hudson River for a good portion of its 315 mile stretch, but US-9 keeps going. It’s path reaches past the Catskill Mountains, into the Adirondacks, to where the Hudson River officially begins at Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York. But 9 keeps going, ultimately ending in a cul-de-sac near the Canadian border. The story is of the architecture, of the commonality which is pushed at a different pace by the amount of people congregated along its points: New York City, Albany, Lake Placid, Saratoga Springs, to the hamlet of Champlain. In essence, you can take a road like that back in time, to how the land looked, and to how our communities started when we sparsely populated this land.

I think there are a lot of people lately who yearn to go back to more carefree days, to an easier time. I like my music harkening back to then, as the band New Country Rehab presents it. They are taking a trip down from Canada, heading to Old Settlers Music Festival making pit stops for gigs along the way. They start tonight at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, and make their way down to Texas and then head back up north. NCR have been gathering rave reviews wherever they go. We had the pleasure of filming them at the Music Fog Fall Marathon last October in Nashville, during Americana Fest. Here are John Showman, James Robertson, Ben Whiteley, and Roman Tome' with the Music Fog recording of an unreleased tune, “Back In Time.”

- Jessie Scott

Wheeler Brothers "Sleep When I'm Dead"

Old Settler’s Music Festival is almost upon us, April 19--22, and this week, Music Fog is featuring some of the fine folks on the line up. It takes place just 11 miles south of Austin at the Salt Lick Pavilion on the outskirts of Austin. Yes, it is the same Salt Lick that has been featured on so many of those cable food and travel shows. By the way, Salt Lick has a hint of Hawaiian influence with pineapple in the barbeque sauce. That last link is a rabbit hole of its own, if you are of a mind to go chasing down the secret recipe. Old Settlers Music Fest has camping at Camp Ben McCulloch, so if you have some vacation time coming, or just get a wild hair, or is that wild hare (sorry, another rabbit hole for you!), c’mon down to Texas for a while.

There are several artists that we have had the pleasure of filming on this year’s OSMF roster: Ha Ha Tonka, James McMurtry, New Country Rehab, Sarah Jarosz, The Bottle Rockets, Bob Schneider, Eilen Jewell, and Sam Baker. Sounds like a party, right? Austin natives, The Wheeler Brothers, will be there too. They are one of the crop of new buzz bands showing up on must-see and must-listen-to lists. In fact, they just made their national TV debut with Carson Daly on March 22nd. Brothers Nolan, Tyler and Patrick Wheeler met Danny Matthews at LSU. Once back in Austin, the group added guitarist A.J. Molyneaux, and the combustion began. Portraits, their debut album, came out in June, and they played us a song from it when they stopped by Threadgill’s for the Spring Music Fog Marathon last month. It was the day the Austin Music Awards were announced, and the Wheeler Brothers picked up Best New Band, Best Acoustic Guitar – Nolan Wheeler, Best Bass – Tyler Wheeler, Best Misc. Instrument - A.J. Molyneaux, and Best Roots Rock. Here is “Sleep When I’m Dead.”

- Jessie Scott

Alabama Shakes "Hold On"

Have you heard about Alabama Shakes yet? They are a breakout band fronted by former postal worker Brittany Howard, that is poised to kick some serious ass this year. They got together a few years back, while in high school in Athens, Alabama. Brittany, who had taken up the guitar, reached out to Zac Cockrell ‘cause he played bass. Then they found drummer Steve Johnson, and lead guitarist Heath Fogg joined after that. So cool that the flavors of soul, funk and Southern Rock continue to the bubbling up. There is still so much righteous music emerging from the Mojo Triangle.

Alabama Shakes set out to write original songs while they jammed on others from James Brown, Otis Redding, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC, as they were looking for common comfort. And that informs what they do now, but their fusion is unmistakably their own. The plan was to start capturing their music at Brittany’s house, but she lived right next to some railroad tracks making it hard to record there, what with the random rumble of trains. In early 2011 they made their way to a Nashville studio, where they recorded “You Ain’t Alone” and “I Found You.” The band played its first Nashville gig on Record Store Day 2011 at The Groove New & Used Vinyl & CDs in East Nashville to something of a Big Bang. It is just a year later, and their debut album Boys & Girls comes out today. The band is picking up some East Coast dates, and then they head to Europe later this month. Needless to say, ya gotta go see them. Oh yeah, and be prepared to dance!

- Jessie Scott