Paul Thorn "You Might Be Wrong"

What with another round of stories in the news about religious intolerance, it is with particular interest that I listened to this Paul Thorn song again. If you want to know my philosophy (and maybe you don't), it is simple. I choose to live with love, acceptance, inclusion. Life is too short to fritter your energy away on hatred. Don't be too self important, we all die the same. Treat others as you want to be treated yourself. Don't be malicious, you wind up hurting yourself more than the target of your anger. Help others. Turn the other cheek when necessary. And find time for joy in your life, for simple pleasures. For balance and harmony.

Even though I was raised completely different, I worship at the same altar as Paul, he the son of a Pentecostal preacher. He has been grappling with the concepts of good and evil all his life. Paul is such a dichotomy. Rural, yet worldly; reverent and irreverent at the same time. And the same can be said for his persona and its radiated power; homespun, yet making the most of all the new social networking technology. I get taken away to another space and time reading stuff every time I go to his proactive website. And his posts on Facebook are a hoot. We bring you a thought captured in an incredibly well worded song for your Monday. A solo version of "You Might Be Wrong," which is one of the tunes on the new CD Pimps And Preachers. We captured it on the Music Fog bus in May at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival. And it was captivating, indeed! You know what, I think Paul should have his own late night TV show! Let's start a campaign.

-Jessie Scott

Americana Music Festival & Conference Awaits

It's coming soon! We are just over two weeks away from the Americana Music Association's event of the year! The Americana Music Festival and Conference kicks off September 8th. Here is the current list of artists playing in five of Nashville's coolest venues over four nights.

18 South  •  Abigail Washburn  •  American Aquarium  •  Danny Barnes  •  Ryan Bingham  •  The Black Lillies  •  Paul Burch and the WPA Ball Club  •  Rayland Baxter  •  Cadillac Sky  •  Hayes Carll  •  Carolina Chocolate Drops  •  Rosanne Cash  •  Peter Case  •  Troy Cassar-Daley  •  Exene Cervenka  •  Chapmans  •  Cherryholmes  •  Elizabeth Cook  •  Susan Cowsill  •  The Defibulators  •  Tommy Emmanuel  •  Frazey Ford  •  Frontier Ruckus  •  Mary Gauthier  •  Kevin Gordon  •  Ray Wylie Hubbard  •  Wanda Jackson  •  Sarah Jarosz  •  Richard Julian  •  Peter Karp & Sue Foley  •  Will Kimbrough  •  Randy Kohrs Band  •  Jon Langford & Skull Orchard  •  Shelby Lynne  •  Charlie Louvin  •  Corb Lund  •  Raul Malo  •  Chuck Mead  •  Micky and the Motorcars  •  John Oates  •  Over the Rhine  •  Joe Pug  •  Dex Romweber Duo  •  Steeldrivers  •  Sara Storer  •  Stonehoney  •  Stone River Boys  •  Sweetback Sisters  •  Todd Snider's Rock and Roll Revue (featuring Jason D. Williams, Dan Baird and Friends)  •  Chip Taylor  •  Todd Thibaud  •  Paul Thorn  •  Tristen  •  Tony Joe White

Wow, that'll make ya' dizzy! Stay tuned, as more artists are announced. And if you just want to attend the evening's shows in the clubs, wristbands are a steal at just $50, and can be purchased by clicking here. Don't forget the Americana Honors and Awards Show that takes place in the venerable Ryman Auditorium on Thursday evening, September 9th. Lifetime Achievement will be honored, and a listing of the yearly award nominees are to be found by visiting here. What can I say...I CAN'T WAIT!!! It's gonna rock. Be there or be square, (ahem). Oh, by the way, the host hotel for the conference this year is the Sheraton Nashville Downtown, where there is a special $169/night room rate, just ask for the Americana Group rate when you make your reservations. See you there!

- Jessie Scott

Catherine MacLellan "Old Tin Can"

Sweet. I am in New Jersey, the Garden State, so named for its one-time ability to feed the city of New York, not to mention itself. No, it is not all highways and exits, as billed. There are little towns, and everything from the shire, to dense industrial areas, to farmland contained within. Whatever your expectations of the place, there are other defining vistas as well. And the state is a whole lot bigger than you think it is, too. Locally grown tomatoes, corn, and blueberries are found in road side stands, the bounty of summer. I can't believe I am talking food again today, but Jersey takes her cuisine seriously! There is this way cool restaurant called the Reservoir Tavern that we ate at - a "neighborhood" Italian roadhouse that has been serving up awesome food since the 1936 "Happy Motoring" days.

Catherine MacLellan has recently posted a blog about her garden, up north from here, in Canada. She's growing garlic, and songs of course. A quote from it, "This note is to say, there is food growing in the garden, songs getting ready for recording, ideas running about my head, and summer flying away as I write this." She and Chris Gauthier came to the Music Fog stage during our SXSW 2010 stay at Threadgill's in the back room. The song "Old Tin Can" is from that session, and is slated for her forthcoming album, which we think will be released in 2011. I am thinking the Old Tin Can reference might be about the clunky headphones we used to wear in the studio, as we called them "cans." The songwriter's story contained within chronicles their journey over the border from Canada to New York, and then on to Nashville, which happens to be the next stop for Music Fog, in early September, too.

- Jessie Scott