Stonehoney "I Don't Wanna Go Home"

They are tearing it up out west. When last I talked to Shawn Davis of Stonehoney, he was telling me of the vista, up in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains, with limited phone service but maximum beauty. You still have time to catch a few west coast dates before the guys swing back through WoodyFest in Okemah, OK and then on to Texas. They alight for just a bit before they take back off for a Nashville, Kentucky and then east coast leg. Busy, busy, busy!

But it is about damn time for Stonehoney to strike, because today is release day for the Stonehoney CD The Cedar Creek Sessions. In April, they recorded 40 tunes in the studio the old-school way; with no overdubs, auto-tuning, or any other recording manipulation. It is an album of just the pure wholesome goodness of a band that can really bring it with each other. They are comfortable in their skin. They live for their music in an 'all for one' kind of way.

We filmed the Stonehoney guys doing the song "I Don't Wanna Go Home" in two places, each with different configurations. They stripped it down to a three piece on our bus at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival. They performed it full band on stage at Threadgill's for our artist showcase during SXSW. Either way, this is a song that stands up next to classics like The Eagles "Take It Easy," Sammy Johns' tune "Chevy Van," and "You Better Think Twice" from Poco. Tight, tuneful, sweet. We couldn't make up our minds which version to post, so here are both of them! Nick Randolph takes the mic for "I Don't Wanna Go Home," which he co-wrote with someone else you should get to know, unsung hero Bob Woodruff.

- Jessie Scott

Melissa McClelland with Luke Doucet "God Loves Me"

Time was when there were some grand opportunities for an artist to showcase in front of an appropriate audience. If you could bring it, if the booking was smart, it was like capturing lightning in a bottle. The business is so different now. What with album sales down, and the record labels in disarray, up until now, arguably the healthiest part of the business was touring. This summer, that came to a screeching halt, too. While we bemoan the loss of ticket sales, let us pause a moment to salute Lilith Fair. When it was founded in 1997, it heralded the coming of age of imaginative women artists. There was the feeling of collectiveness and celebration. This year's line-up has been inspired...only one problem, they have cancelled ten shows so far. Which is a damn shame.

Luke Doucet is Sarah McLachlan's (Lilith Fair co-founder) long time guitar player. Melissa McClelland sings back up for her, and has been taking the stage under her own moniker. We are talking herald angels here, as they performed for Music Fog in March. You know what? At the end of the day, the grass has to grow through the concrete. However! Witness this haunting version of Melissa's "God Loves Me."

- Jessie Scott

Robert Poe "I'd Rather Be Blue"

We hope you are enjoying a long holiday weekend to celebrate the birth of our nation. Declaring independence is an awesome thing to be able to do. I do it myself every so often! My most recent episode is moving to Austin ten months ago. I am a New Yorker by birth, raised with that strange ethos of accomplishment at the forefront. A hard veneer, relentless, not that New York has a lock on that; you can find it everywhere in America. There is a common thread that runs in us, though, that of yearning for a better life, focusing on the acquisition of the tools to make it so. We are a tough people, as immigrants, having left our families and countries behind in favor of throwing the dice to see if we can make a better life for ourselves and our children. To pursue happiness, to become everything we can be.

I always chuckle as I write about roots artists from New York, for to so many people it just seems incongruous that the most sophisticated of places still has room for the earthy. I know it does. If anything, there needs to be a time to slow down to drink deep, even in the city! For this 4th of July, we bring you Robert Poe. He hails from Long Island. His music is infused with the ghosts of the early rock and roll era of The Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison, with a tad of the bluesy thrown in for good measure. His self titled album is a sweet affair, and includes noted jazz guitarist Matt Marshak, who drives home the melancholy on Robert′s "I′d Rather Be Blue." Sometimes the pursuit of happiness takes you into the introspective corners. To everything there is a season, and we can celebrate all the flavors of living!

- Jessie Scott