, , ,

Ruby James "Angel Eyes"

, , ,
Snow in Texas It is supposed to snow today in Austin TX. This concerns me as I sit in the airport, wondering if there will be an interminable delay. Snow in Austin is a very unusual occurrence, and because it happened last year, all bets were off that it would happen again this year. I mean once every five years is about right. So I hope I make it, because I have an appointment tonight.

Ruby James Raul Malo, Latin Roots Crooner, is at Antone's, and opening for him is none other than Miss Ruby James! One sultry night, in the magical snow (?) and crystal frostiness of Austin! Ruby's new album Happy Now is being finalized, we should see it sometime soon. Here she is from our excursion to Nashville in September.

-Jessie

Ruby James

GRAMMY Fever

Grammy_logoThe 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place in LA on January 31st, 2010, and the nominees were announced last night. This year represents a paradigm shift in that a new field has been created to honor roots music, called American Roots. Under it, there are several categories: Bluegrass, Folk, Blues, Zydeco, Hawaiian, Native American, and the brand new Americana Album of the Year! The nod for that goes to Dylan for Together Through Life, Levon for Electric Dirt, Willie and The Wheel, Wilco, and Lucinda for Little Honey. But to be honest, that barely scratches the surface of the nominees we know and love.

  • For Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, we have "Sea of Heartbreak" from Rosanne Cash with Bruce Springsteen and "Baby It's Cold Outside" from Willie Nelson and Norah Jones. 
  • Bela Fleck is acknowledged for his Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song "Throw Down Your Heart."
  • Willie Nelson also gets the nod for American Classic in the Best Traditional Vocal Pop Album category. 
  • Best Solo Rock Performance is another Americana friendly offering with the exception of Prince. The nominees are Dylan, Fogerty, Springsteen and Neil Young.
  • We salute Alison Brown, The Greencards, and Sarah Jarosz for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
  • Ashley Cleveland gets tapped for God Don't Never Change in the Best Traditional Gospel Album category.
  • Congrats to Jim Lauderdale for Best Bluegrass Album consideration.
  • Kudos to Neko Case, Elvis Costello and Steve Earle for grabbing nominations in the Contemporary Folk Category. (Which should also be called Americana...but that's a long story of sonics and philosophy that NARAS is going to have to define more acutely in the future.)
  • T Bone Burnett is up for Producer of the Year Non Classical.
  • Johnny Cash's "America" is named as a contender for Best Long Form Video.
Whew! Can't wait to hear the winners! Congrats to all for doing such amazing work, and for constantly BRINGING IT! We love you all! For a complete list of GRAMMY nominees, click here.

-Jessie

,

Steamboat: The Best Damn Place on Earth

,
The Musicfest If you are a ski junkie like myself, the champagne powder at Steamboat Springs is a high like no other snow can give you. If you are a music junkie, consider yourself satisfied during MusicFest because there is so much music, your head will spin.  And if you are a decent human being, friends will always surround you, even if you don’t know them just yet. If you meet all three criteria...get ready!

Like many people, I made the road trip with a bunch of friends. We loaded down two SUVs and hit the road. Once there, we went big and didn’t stop until we went home. First morning we hit the slopes for some “Freshies” aka newly fallen snow. Oh man, like skiing in heaven. I do recommend the Bloody Mary’s in the bar at the top of the gondola. Delish!

My whole trip is set on two things: cause some trouble, and have too much fun.  By trouble, I don’t mean serious trouble, but fun things that aren’t necessarily kosher.  I almost got myself kicked out of the Grand one evening after the concerts and I would say the majority of body prints in the snow banks were a result of us rowdy kids from Idaho. If you saw a guy in a ridiculous blue one-piece ski suit and an American flag bandana, I’m sorry. He was with us. 

Boot Once you hit the concerts at the Grand Ballroom, the Big Tent etc, you find yourself making friends with the people around you; at least I did. My girls from Idaho have a goal: cultivate sincere friendships. We made tons of friends, even if it were for a brief time.  It’s pretty special to find people like fans of Americana Music. Our friends at Galleywinter just celebrated 10 years, MusicFest is in its 25th year and Music Fog enters its second year. Friends, here’s to you!

So, who wants to be one of my newest friends and get me from the Hayden airport to the mountain? Please? I’ll make Idaho grown, tater tots! Heck, I’ll even throw in fry sauce.

-Sheila