The Bowmans "On The Road"

I can't believe I have never mentioned Tony Lawson on Music Fog!  He is the steadfast and true general manager for one of the coolest stations in the country, WDVX, in Knoxville, TN.  Tony and company were broadcasting out of an RV in a trailer park for five long years, before the radio station moved into the brand new Knoxville Visitor's Center.  There is a stage in the corner, from which music emanates for lunch in the form of a live show called The Blue Plate Special.

Tony books amazing people, and they simulcast a live monthly evening show on the last Wednesday of every month.  Tennessee Shines Live At The Bijou, is housed in a grand gem of a theater and hosted by Jim Lauderdale. It is a glittering evening of virtuosity in a town that realizes that music is an important part of its past, and an integral part of its future. Ahhh, if all places could be so head's up.  The Bowman's, Sarah and Claire, played Tennessee Shines on May 26.  Of course they did. Tony knows!

On the road.  Those words just resonate with me.  And so many artists have incorporated them into the titles of their songs: Dylan, Tom Rush, Canned Heat, Dave Dudley, Willie Nelson, the list goes on and on. The Bowmans add to that glorious catalog with their song "On The Road," off their first album, Far From Home.  The girls have been putting some miles behind them this year, having toured Germany and Switzerland. You can find out the latest on them on their band tab at FaceBook. We caught up with them in Memphis where we were happy to have them come aboard the Music Fog bus!

-- Jessie Scott

Shinyribs "Bolshevik Sugarcane"

The first time I booked Kevin Russell to play for us at Threadgill's, it was three years ago for our SXSW coverage on X Country (XM). He came in just as the menu specials were being written on the blackboard and before we started taping his set, he sang down the list of what was being offered that day. It was a long, involved, mouthwatering ad-lib of a riff to be sure. But that's just the kind of guy he is.

Inventive, loose, living in the moment. From MySpace, here is an, um, explanation(?) - we think self penned, "The mysterious quantity lurking in the afterglow of yesterweek. A gamey diamond of a find for any fan of the utmost mystical wooden teapot of song known as American Song Bag. A modern day renegade born of the white rice and rain in the lonely, humid southeast of Texas. Raised by Karankawan Wizards. Awarded the congressional medal of the obtuse in 1967 by then President Lyndon Johnson. Inventor of Frequency Shifter used in the growing of medicinal eggs. Educated at Glory Abounds Academy For Isothermal Static. Professor of Economic Threat Access. Steaming with uncertain attributes only seen in the general population during the Scotch-Irish domination of Western Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Dangling participle of roots music." Well hell, THAT explains everything!

Though this is a band project, things get fuzzy when you know that Kevin is AKA Shinyribs Russell, and that he is the frontman from The Gourds. With him on stage is Keith Langford's pounding drums, Jeff Brown running on bass, and Winfield Cheek smoking the Yamaha. There is a brand new CD that came out two weeks ago called Well After Awhile, produced by George Reiff, with appearances by Ray Wylie, Mark Rubin, Bukka and Sally Allen, Scrappy Judd, Phoebe Hunt, and Michael Fracasso. And there is a video for you here of a song not on the CD. Ha-ha. If you click on the link for "Bolshevik Sugarcane," it takes you to an interesting place. What does it mean - Orwell anyone?

Kevin sends this out for all the hard work they are doing over at the capitol. Whatever capitol that might be. Remember to take you hands out of your pocket and roll like a rocket, while you groove at the end of the song to a musical lick from the Marvin Gaye tune "Hitchhike," coupled with a vocal piece of R-E-S-P-E-C-T, just a little bit!

-Jessie Scott

David Jacobs-Strain "Neon Star"

Whoo-hoo! We are bound for WoodyFest, the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival from July 14th through the 18th.

The Music Fog crew hits the road to Okemah, OK for immersion in the 13th Annual Tribute event dedicated to Woody in his hometown. From what we hear, it is a low key affair, free to the public, with lots of bonding happening around the music and that wonderful small town ethos which makes everyone feel welcome.

The line-up is awesome, what with Arlo Guthrie leading the charge, along with Jimmy Lafave (and Rad), Stonehoney, John Fullbright, Sam Baker, and David Jacobs-Strain, among lots of others.

When the festival was founded in 1998, the Woody Guthrie Coalition commissioned a local Creek Indian to sculpt a bronze statue of Guthrie and his guitar with the well-known inscription: "This machine kills fascists." It now proudly stands on Broadway, the main drag in Okemah. The Music Fog crew is always looking at the stickers and slogans on the gig bags, caps and road cases of the musicians that come to our environs to be videoed. Duly noted when we taped David Jacobs-Strain at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival in May. If I might say, Woody would have approved.

David grew up in a progressive community, Eugene, OR, where the twin thrusts of cultural change and environmental consciousness were seemingly part of his birthright. He sees a direct correlation between his upbringing and the democracy inherent in folk music. He comments, “I’m really into hand-made culture—and real people making real music. The voice. One guitar. Even at its simplest, folk music, like the blues, has always been a vehicle for expressing your own situation, whether as an individual or a community. There’s such power in that.” Again, Woody would approve.

David's third CD is Terraplane Angel, produced by the legendary Ray Kennedy. It lives in a potent booyah of blues, roots rock, fingerstyle guitar work and slide, which is nothing short of mesmerizing to watch. He has been touring again with Boz Scaggs, wow-ponder that! What a simpatico night's entertainment! Here is David, with Bob Beach on harp, and Chris Ayer with back up vox on the tune "Neon Star," from his latest album.

- Jessie Scott