8 Ball Aitken "Refugee"

Call me a commie pinko, if you want. I don't often get political here, but I just have to say something. In our travels the last couple of weeks, there have been way too many for rent and for sale signs. There have been storefronts and warehouses abandoned in too many towns, even in places you would not expect. Outsourcing and unemployment is taking its toll on America. One of the shopkeepers we talked to in Telluride categorized it by telling us, "The deeper the dreadlocks, the richer the trust fund," as he talked about how that town has changed in the past 30 years, from a hippie enclave to a wealthy playground. And no, it is not healthy for a democracy. It's even harder on the less fortunate in our society. There is a man I know who has received a continuance to stay in his house for another couple of months. My heart went out to him when he told me if he loses his house, he has no place to go. No work, no hope. Many of us are only a paycheck or two away from crisis. Many of us no longer have paychecks, and have been forced to scramble in the last couple of years to make ends meet, often without a safety net. I don't know what it will take to set the ship of America back on course. To get us back to work. To get America manufacturing again. To allow the American Dream to be revived from its doldrums. Or we will, once again, all be refugees in search of better lives.

8 Ball Aitken comes from Australia with a National Resonator guitar on his knee, and brought his Australian blues to us in Memphis, TN during Folk Alliance last February. "Refugee" comes from his 2004 CD Behind The 8 Ball. It rings true worldwide, no matter who you are or where you are.

- Jessie Scott

Red Dirt Rangers "Without My Baby"

Our own Music Fogger Chris Walsh asked me for a definition of Red Dirt Music last trip. We were deep in Oklahoma, and the heat was knocking us back a tad. I explained that it was a pure Oklahoma thing, although it gets lumped into becoming Texas-Red Dirt in lots of people's minds these days. And although both movements look in a similar direction for inspiration, and draw from a similar passion, they are really different entities. Red Dirt is epicentered in Stillwater, which is the home of Oklahoma State University. There was a two-story, five-bedroom, funky old place called The Farm that acted as its home. The Red Dirt Rangers started hanging out there as a band in the late 1980's. But years before that, Ben Han, John Cooper, and Brad Piccolo became an integral part of the Farm’s musical brotherhood; first trading songs and licks with folks like Jimmy LaFave, Tom Skinner, and Bob Childers. Later, with the next generation; Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland & the Stragglers and Stoney LaRue.

The Rangers represent all the musicians who honed their chops in that living room, front porch, garage (aka The Gypsy Café) and campfire-dotted acreage of the Farm, where the sheer joy of creating music with friends transcended everything else. As Rangers' mandolinist-vocalist John Cooper has noted, "The Farm was as much an attitude as a physical structure. It allowed a setting where freedom rang and all things were possible. Out of this setting came the music." The physical structure burned down in 2003. But the music, and the Red Dirt Rangers are still going strong.

We caught up with the trio at the main stage at WoodyFest, and asked them to come see us the next day. And so it was, as they brought us new songs and tales of enigmatic Red Dirt Godfather and guiding light of The Tractors, Steve Ripley. Look for him to produce their next CD, as he did the last album, Ranger Motel released in 2007. "Without My Baby" will likely be on the new one, which is set to be recorded soon! Meanwhile, enjoy the very first recording of this song, and witness the early stages of what should be a Red Dirt Rangers classic.

- Jessie Scott

Randy Weeks with Stonehoney "Little Bit of Sleep"

I read this awesome column in the New York Times back in the 90's, obviously it was awesome, or how could I be citing it some 13 years later. The premise was that people talk about sleep like they used to talk about sex. It's not uncommon to overhear conversations like, "Did you get any, man? Yeah, eight hours and it was great!" or "What'dja do this weekend? SLEPT - all weekend long!" We indeed, are a sleep deprived society, surviving on caffeine pills, energy drinks, our Starbucks fixes, Jolt Cola and Mountain Dew, and if we are lucky, the occasional nap, hallelujah!

When Music Fog hits the road, we average 4 hours a night. Don't cry for us, we have a blast, but sleep evades us. Ah, hell, who are we kidding? It evades us the rest of the time too. Okemah, OK was one of these trips. The crew raced out from DC, trading places behind the wheel to steer the BBC (MF truck named "Big Blue Crew") to its destination. We load, we unload, we build, we video, we film some more, we strike the set, we load out, and we hit the road again, only stopping for Waffle House, diesel, and coffee.

When we were talking to Jimmy LaFave about coming up for WoodyFest, he asked why there were so few collaborations in front of the Music Fog cameras. Although, there is the occasional marquee player joining in, but it is rare when we have two entities colliding. And so it was welcomed when the irresistible force met the immovable object, when the effervescent Stonehoney backed the unmistakable Randy Weeks. Though in no way am I suggesting that one is irresistible and the other isn't. It was huge. Randy was heard to say, "Why can't you guys come on the road with me?" A delightful question to ponder! And a tour we would sure love to see. Watch for yourself, as Randy pulls one out from his 2009 Going My Way CD.

- Jessie Scott