John Fullbright "Satan & St. Paul"

I have just come off a puttering around day, getting ready for a road trip to the Americana Music Festival and Conference. Doing laundry, cleaning out the fridge, packing, and cooking a batch of green chile stew with chicken, using the last of the Hatch Chiles from Central Market in Austin. I was SO happy to find them; they are a rare treat, and this is the first time I have ever bought them fresh! Here is a handy dandy green chile recipe to try yourself.

While that cooks, I noticed that one of our YouTube videos is closing in on 100,000 views. Sometime this week, James McMurtry's "Choctaw Bingo," will hit 100K plays! It doesn't surprise me, since it was the most requested song during my tenure at X Country on XM. James won't be with us this week in Nashville, but we'll record performances by more than 30 artists, so stay tuned for updates, and make sure to tell your friends about Music Fog!

Take your pick of ways to follow the Fog:  friend us on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow us on Twitter, or sign-up for the RSS feed or weekly newsletter (all the links are also up on the right hand side of our home page). We love watching the tribe grow, and finding an audience for this most worthy troop of musicians. We hope you like both the marquee artists we bring you, as well as the newcomers.

John Fullbright has the chops to take him far in the Americana world. Jimmy LaFave told the the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, "I really like his songwriting. He’s only 22, and I can see that kind of Dylan genius in him. He is definitely way beyond his years and in the quality. You can see that this guy is going to be like Townes or Guy Clark. He has an uncanny feel for words and soulful lyrics, things he can’t even lift yet and is obviously channeling some pretty heavy stuff." You can read the rest of the interview here.

Enjoy this performance from the Music Fog bus at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival this past May. "Satan and St. Paul," from John's 2009 CD, "Live from the Blue Door." John Fullbright and green chile stew. What could be better?

 - Jessie Scott

Will Kimbrough "Three Angels"

This past Saturday night, I was hanging out at the world famous beach bar, The Back Porch in Port Aransas, Texas. It was so refreshing listening to Larry Joe Taylor doing a tropical infused set, which wafts across us and into the gentle breeze to be carried out to the Gulf of Mexico on an end of summer day. Larry Joe has become quite the entrepreneur with his festivals, the next one being Rhymes and Vines in Stephenville, TX coming up the weekend of September 16th. He has really captured the beach spirit and offers the perfect music for this night in Port A, where we are surrounded by yachts that are docked next to signs for Parasailing and Jet Skis...ooooohh can we go? I am thanking the sun and the stars for this weekend away before Music Fog heads to Nashville for the Americana Music Festival and Conference for what is sure to be a busy week. Right now, it is time to smell the roses, or the sand and surf, in this case. This doesn't suck.

I will share with you that we have a whole bunch of people set to play for us this week in Nashville. I am a bit superstitious about telling you who they ALL are, as there is always the possibility that someone will cancel, and we don't want to disappoint...but we are expecting Cindy Bullens, Jon Langford, Darrell Scott, Ray Wylie Hubbard (you might recall that he references looking like a Port Aransas dope dealer in the song "Screw You, Were From Texas." We need to get him to play that for us!) and Will Kimbrough is coming back, this time with his band! We saw Will most recently in Memphis at Folk Alliance, and he recorded this beautiful, count your blessings tune, "Three Angels," from his album Wings, on the Music Fog bus. You have to have your angels, you know...those friends and family that welcome you in. Treasure them. Treasure the moments.

- Jessie Scott

Americana Honors & Awards

The Americana Music Festival and Conference is just a few days away, and boy am I excited! The Americana Honors and Awards Show, at The Ryman Auditorium this coming Thursday, September 9th, has to be one of its crown jewels, as it was just announced that Jack White and Lucinda Williams will be on hand as presenters. Also stepping up to the podium on that historic stage will be: 2010 Spirit of Americana recipient Mary Chapin Carpenter, Grace Potter, Martie Maguire & Emily Robison (of The Courtyard Hounds & Dixie Chicks), and John Oates (of Hall & Oates).

2010 Lifetime Achievement honoree, for Songwriting, John Mellencamp will kick off the show with a live performance, and expect that to be followed by music from Emmylou Harris, The Avett Brothers, Rodney Crowell, Wanda Jackson, Rosanne Cash, Patty Griffin, Sam Bush, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Corb Lund, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Joe Pug, Sarah Jarosz, Will Kimbrough, and Ryan Bingham.

We have some great news for you! You will be able to hear this show LIVE on Thursday, September 9th on Folk Alley and NPR. The 2010 Americana Music Association Honors & Award Show from the Ryman Auditorium - 7:30pm ET / 6:30pm CT, and I will be anchoring the webcast!

If you want to attend, the Sheraton Nashville Downtown is the host hotel for the Americana Music Festival and Conference. We can't wait to get there and immerse ourselves in good friends, good times and good music! For conference registrations, Honors & Awards Show tickets, and venue wristbands, click here to purchase, but the Americana Music Association's online store closes today at 5pm CT. So, after that you can buy Honors & Awards Show tickets online via the Ryman and in person at their box office, or at Ticketmaster. You can buy venue wristbands, to see ALL the showcase performances (4 nights for $50), at Grimey's New and Preloved Music, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Store and the Nashville Visitors Center (inside Bridgestone Arena), or get them directly at each of the five venues starting September 9th; The Basement, Mercy Lounge, Cannery Ballroom, The Station Inn and The Rutledge. C'mon along!

Now, since I mentioned Ryan Bingham above, I thought we would remind you that his new CD Junky Star came out this past week. Riding on the heels of an amazing year comes this collaborative effort with T Bone Burnett. The folks at Lost Highway Records posted a peek behind the curtain, in a video called "The Making of Junky Star." YUM!!!

- Jessie Scott