Danny Barnes "Pizza Box"

Back in the 60's, when I was growing up and the music business was flourishing, there were a couple of record label names that set the standard for excellence. Brand awareness being an operative principle, when you saw the names Elektra or Vanguard, you knew that there was art contained within. Those were days when you couldn't actually hear the music before you bought an LP. There were no listening stations, and there was no ability to surf the web to see if you like what the artist was putting down. So having faith in a label really was a sacred trust, and only a few imprints were known for their ability to consistently deliver. Cut to today, major labels are so much less important, as they chase the flavor of the minute, forsaking the art in the process. But there are a few folks out there that are doing it the old fashioned way, one great album at a time, though using the new world order to spread the word.

'According To Our Records,' that would be the full name of what is known as ATO Records to you and me. It is a fairly recent addition to the record company landscape having been founded in 2000 by Dave Matthews, Coran Capshaw, Michael McDonald, and Chris Tetzeli. It is a new breed company, which puts out a limited amount of releases, pledging to give each the resources and time that they need to maximize the awareness for their artists. Their initial success was with David Gray's CD White Ladder which yielded the hit "Babylon." ATO's current roster includes Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, Dawes, John Butler Trio, Mike Doughty, Patty Griffin, The Whigs, Brendan Benson, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, My Morning Jacket, Ben Kweller, Gomez; the list goes on, and is very impressive, I might add.

Also on that mighty list is musical savant Danny Barnes. Danny is the banjo (strings, really) maestro who Dave Matthews celebrates, saying, "...the music is smart and soulful, and the lyrics are profound. It is heaven and earth." He just laid down a magnificent performance with Robert Earl Keen on Austin City Limits, which debuted last weekend. He unveiled his new banjo/guitar hybrid, called a "Barnjo," this summer at the Northwest String Summit in North Plains, OR. And he plays in Oregon tonight, as he is bringing it, the zany and erudite, on the road out west for the month.

"Pizza Box" is from the album of the same name, and this version is from our Music Fog shoot in Nashville this past September. Here is a thumbnail about the song from Danny, which was featured in Glide Magazine's Track by Track. "This song is about all those weird artifacts that make up our lives and how, as you get older especially, they take on meanings of their own. Intertextuality. Like when you see an object and it reminds you of an experience. The character in this story let one get away from him. He sees something and it reminds him of her. The orchestration is very simple." And beautiful. Danny Barnes!

- Jessie Scott

Levon Helm & Ray LaMontagne Hit the Road

It blows my mind when I overhear people talking in public, saying there is no good music out there. To my mind, there is plenty! In fact I would say that music is exploding right now, and all you have to do is start looking. My YouTube searches take me down the rabbit hole. Hours can be spent on exploration, from one to the next. And that is true across the genres, though I am ever amazed at the level of talent that Americana is attracting. A good place to start that search is through the Americana Airplay Chart. This week the top three positions are held by Robert Plant & Band of Joy, Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses, and Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs, whose CD God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise is now at #3. This album represents the first time that Ray has produced, and has collaborated with other artists. The Pariah Dogs are Jennifer Condos, Jay Bellerose, Eric Heywood, Greg Leisz, and Patrick Warren. It is Ray's 4th studio CD, and it has been particularly well received. The Associated Press calls it, “one of the year’s best.” The New York Daily News says the album is, “one of the stand out releases of the year," and The Boston Herald said Ray “has an innate down-home grit and his music possesses a simmering roots-rock fire."

The big news is that Ray and the Dogs are on the road for a limited run with Levon Helm, of course who needs no introduction for his deep catalog of music with seminal Americana group, The Band. In 2007, Levon released Dirt Farmer, his first solo studio album in twenty-five years, which garnered him a 2008 GRAMMY for Best Traditional Folk Album. That same year Helm was also was given the “Artist of the Year” Award by the Americana Music Association. Then last year, Levon delivered Electric Dirt, which yielded his second consecutive GRAMMY, this time in the inaugural category of Best Americana Album in 2010. The Levon Helm Band features Levon Helm, Larry Campbell, Jim Weider, Amy Helm, Teresa Williams, Brian Mitchell, Erik Lawrence, Howard Johnson, Clark Gayton, Jay Collins, Byron Isaacs and Steven Bernstein.

The two acts are co-headlining an eight-city run which started yesterday in Jacksonville, FL and will be wrapping up in Austin, TX on November 12th. Hope you are in the path of this tour! And as an incentive, here is a bit of Levon video from the PBS special Ramble at The Ryman, and a bit of Ray LaMontagne from the BBC Sessions.

- Jessie Scott

Sarah Jarosz "My Muse"

I am a firm believer in destiny, karma, and in the idea that my Mom floated, that 'each child is born with a loaf of bread.' The concept is referenced in a Financial Times Press article and by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his remarkable book Living to Tell the Tale. He is a worthy read, by the way. Children, in essence, create their own wealth, and arrive in this world with their own path to walk. As a parent, if one provides the way for them, then nature will take its course. And so it is with Sarah Jarosz. She is yet another in the parade of incredible musicians that grow out of the fertile Texas soil. There is something in the water here, I tell ya! Sarah grew up in Wimberley; started singing at the tender age of two, and started jamming in a weekly bluegrass confab after she picked up the mandolin at age ten. She had already begun piano at six. Looking at her website is a trip as this past year Sarah was nominated for a GRAMMY, two Lone Star Music Awards, three Austin Music Awards, and an Americana Honor and Award. This of course is for her debut CD of 2009 Song Up In Her Head. We had the delight of recording her last year at Americana Fest on the Music Fog bus, and when she was added to perform at the Awards Show this year, well we couldn't help ourselves but to invite her back!

Today, Sarah Jarosz is releasing two brand new songs under the title The New 45, that were recorded this past summer. Her original composition "My Muse" will be one of the songs on her as yet unnamed full-length CD due in Spring of 2011, and the exclusive Bill Withers' classic "Grandma's Hands," which will not be on the forthcoming album, and is only available with today's digital release. Look for a limited vinyl pressing of The New 45 available later in the month, online and in select stores. The other cause for celebration is Sarah's Austin City Limits performance coming up this Saturday, November 6th. As they say, check your local listings. She will be performing "My Muse" in that show, and we also captured a version of it while in Nashville a few weeks ago for the Americana Festival.

- Jessie Scott