Phantom Blues Band "Boogah Man"

Ack! There is a new syndrome that I just heard about a couple of days ago - phantom buzzing, feeling cellphone vibrations that aren’t there. I know you have felt your pocket, only to realize that your phone isn’t even there, or it is, but it’s not ringing! Now in my unofficial and quite random survey over the last few days, every single person I have talked to said they have experienced this feeling. And everyone was surprised that it was an actual “thing.” You can read all about it here.

All this put me in mind of the Phantom Blues Band, who I saw some five years back in the XM Performance Theater with Taj Mahal. It became an amazing exchange, as the band was playing one of my favorite R&B tunes, The Olympics’ “Big Boy Pete.” I commented to Taj in the green room that I had never heard anyone cover that song, and he started singing it to me and I started doing the “Yeah –Yeah” back, as part of the call and response. It was a moment, for sure. I couldn’t find a PBB video for that tune, but I did find something from them that is quite tasty. This is the first music video from 2012’s Inside Out, the most recent album from the Phantom Blues Band; Tony Braunagel, Mike Finnegan, Larry Fulcher, Darrell Leonard, Johnny Lee Schell, and Joe Sublett with “Boogah Man.”

-Jessie Scott

Grace Askew "Jupe"

A week ago I was in the delta. The flatness stretches for miles, incomprehensibly large. You know I have talked about the book The Mojo Triangle before, but part of the premise for the music coming out of this region, it posits, was because of the unpredictability of the land, the weather, and the trials they faced. That cruelty, whether man’s inhumanity to man, or weather akin to what Isaac brought this week. The music was spurred on by the unpredictability of life. While touring up Highway 61, of course we had music with us, the trusty iPod delivering surprisingly fitting choices: Tim Buckley “Hallucinations,” Robbie Robertson “Somewhere Down The Crazy River,” A3 “Woke Up This Morning, just to name a few.”

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Che Johnston, owner of the High Country Rest and Saloon in Chama, NM, (the land of enchantment) suggesting we take a listen to Grace Askew from Memphis, TN. Her family has been there for six generations, but Grace has lots of cross currents running through her music, absorbing vibe from stints in New York and New Orleans. The song "Jupe" is a track off her self-titled Grace Askew & The Black Market Goods album, which was released in May 2011. This video was filmed by LaDonna Marie, shot in, where else...Mississippi.

-Jessie Scott

Lucero "Women & Work"

The Larry Joe Taylor Songwriters Contest preliminary rounds wrapped up on Monday night at Poodie’s Roadhouse. The finals are September 10th and are being judged by Larry Joe himself, as the grand prize is passage for two on his January cruise, with a performance slot on a guitar in the round session. I have been at 7 of 8 of these weeks, and so many times, it has been hard to just pick one winner to be a finalist. It has been great getting to know a whole crop of new artists too. I have to say that it takes a lotta guts to stand up and play your songs to be judged, especially. But everyone that hears the muse has to start somewhere.

The band Lucero has been around for 14 years, and you know it had to start way back with the vision of a life of music; the idea of crafting songs, the endless hours to get good and then to get out there and ply their craft. I got to play their music a decade ago at XM, and have avidly watched them progress into the force they are today. Women & Work is the 8th album for the band from Memphis, on this offering you will find horns, pedal steel guitar, all manner of keyboards, and a gospel chorus. Music Fog has the honor of debuting the video for the title cut, which by the way is the first one the band has made in their 14 year history. It was directed by Jonathan Pekar from Memphis’ legendary Ardent Studios, at beautiful Massey Farm in the North Mississippi Hill Country of Senatobia. It’s time to kick up your heels and party.

-Jessie Scott