Randy Weeks "Sugar Lee"

The L.A. Times called him a "2009 Artist to Watch." He was already transitioning to Austin, and has been a welcome addition to the artist community for the last three years. Let me tell you about just one of the scenes that is alive and well here in ATX, there are many, you know...but this cadre of folks from SoCal includes Stonehoney, Ruby James, Danny B. Harvey, Shurman, Deadman, Jesse Dayton, The Mother Truckers, and the man we're featuring here today, Randy Weeks! There is a sharing of time on stage and off. This scene spins around my bosom buddy and fellow flaming redhead Shilah Morrow, and her Sin City Social Club. Mama Shi came here from L.A. three years ago, too. She is an inveterate scene builder, and there have been a host of other L.A. artists that have migrated to Austin in these last three years, also. Selfishly, I am happy to be able to watch Randy on stage in the multitude of clubs he visits around town.

We recorded Randy at Folk Alliance 2009, when he was besieged by laryngitis. We were delighted to have the opportunity for a second meeting on the bus, with a few of his friends, as we returned to Memphis for Folk Alliance 2010 this past February. "Sugar Lee" is an as yet unreleased tune. You can watch it here, and watch Randy in person as he cruises the Mid West this summer.

- Jessie Scott

Doug Moreland "Hunting Bear"

Doug Moreland is a funny boy. No, not like that, really! He has done standup comedy, and has acted as Master of Ceremonies for various illustrious occasions. But we especially love it when he marries humor and song. I think he embodies almost a childlike wonder in the antcipation of the hunt, in this song we bring you today. Now I ain't getting into the whole rap about guns, or sport hunting, or the food chain or even the sustainability of life, for that matter. Suffice it to say that Doug twists a phrase on this one, and recalls an earlier time in America, when this was just the way it was.

The other thing that Doug does really well is chainsaw art. Wood does not stand a chance around him. Then there are the funky costumes he snow skis in. Afro wigs, Elvis suits. A mighty TALL man! Hmmmmm, it just occurred to me, the world needs a series of DOUG MORELAND ACTION FIGURES! Dougie, let's go partners on this venture. I can see the line now, and we can come up with an endless list of situations and costuming to put you in. Collect them all! Heck, I can see them as characters in YouTube videos. Have your peeps call my peeps and let's go viral! While we are doing that, here is a Music Fog video from MusicFest at Steamboat Springs back in January. The tune is "Hunting Bear," Doug Moreland with Randy Roberts on upright, originally released on the 2009 CD Barnstormer.

- Jessie Scott

Kevin Welch "Answer Me That"

Kevin Welch's brand new CD A Patch of Blue Sky dropped yesterday. That's industry talk for it now being available to purchase. From his announcing press release, "Songwriter & Traveler Kevin Welch Releases First Solo CD In Eight Years." The main reason I copied and pasted is for the word 'traveler.' Recently I sat over beers with someone who articulately illustrated the difference between being a tourist and a traveler. It is a philosophy of life. We all know what the tourist piece is, I think, primarily an unwillingness to engage, at an arm's length 'just passing through' the circumstances. But when a person is a traveler, it imparts a full drinking in of the places one visits. An ability to be home anywhere in the world. A meeting of people on their own terms, and an appreciation of what's put in front of them. Kevin Welch is all that, moreover, because then he articulates it. Such beauty to his craft. The ability to dig down deep and bring you a mood, a portrait; to focus you on something special, something to hold dear.

This latest CD is a painful travel through love and loss. Ever questioning, ever fine tuning the words and music...and traveling too! Kevin is on the road in the US, popping over to Sardinia, Italy for the first weekend in July. He makes it all feel effortless. "Answer Me That." Indeed!

- Jessie Scott

[To see a wonderful video featuring the making of the record, visit the album's page on Kevin's website by clicking here.]