A Message From Sheila (Music Fog "Gopher")

SheFran After such a wonderful showcase at Threadgill’s (check out the vids!), Idaho has been uneventful music-wise. No, I did not go see Jessica Simpson open for Rascal Flatts even though it was the only noteworthy **Cough** music event (Yeah… right…). The withdrawal symptoms have been trying. Obsessively looking at concert schedules, comparing airline tickets and debating whether or not the credit card can handle another adventure are some of the notable side-effects.  But, when someone does schedule a show, the elusive Texas-Music fan of Idaho thrives.  Yes, there is a larger population than just myself (but I guess large is subject to interpretation).  Upon hearing of a concert opportunity the close-knit species immediately informs the rest to clear their schedules because it is going to be a great night.  This might seem over the top but hello, if you miss a show in Texas wait a week and you can see who ever you missed when they swing through town again.

Micky & the Motorcars recently played a show at what we affectionately refer to as the “Big Sleaze.”  The girls and I met up for some dinner at a local pub and some of the ‘rents joined.  And when I say ‘rents, I mean my friends parent’s who have been Muzzie Braun and the Boys fans for 15+ years. They even decide to venture out on a Wednesday night with the young crowd for a fantastic show.  “The Warden” is never a disappointment for a concert.

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Slaid Cleaves "Black T-Shirt"

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We were very lucky to capture this song by Slaid during our showcase at SXSW. You know who else really digs him? Stephen King. He talks about Slaid (and Jessie Scott's former XM channel) in the new album liner notes:

Stephen King “listening to a program called Rogue Calls on XM Cross Country, a radio station that played country music by men and women who did not, by and large, wear cowboy hats…by fabulous performers that mainstream country music radio had never heard of: James McMurtry, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Gurf Morlix. I listened to Rogue Calls without fail, and one day some trucker with a southern accent as thick as chickendirt called and asked if he could hear that ‘quittin’ drinkin’ song’. That song was of course was “Drinkin’ Days” by Slaid Cleaves and it went into me like a bolt of dry lightning….I thought it was the voice of a real American troubadour, and when I got home I made checking Slaid Cleaves out on the Internet my first priority.”

It's not every that your work gets noticed by someone like Stephen King. This song is from Slaid's new album "Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away."

-Ben Krech