Chip Dolan "Nobody Knows"

One trip to Austin, TX long ago and far away, I went to KHYI’s Texas Music Revolution on the Sunday after SXSW was over. It was amazing driving to the event, which takes place on the historic Southfork Ranch with its famous façade that you might recall was used as the home of J.R and the rest of The Ewings in the TV show Dallas.
Evidently there is a new season coming-news to me, for sure! But I digress. I had driven with friends from Austin, and they weren’t going back that night. Somehow, Chip Dolan, who was playing at the time with Jack Ingram, got pressed into service to ferry me back to Austin in the middle of the night. I wound up taking a spin with Mark David Manders on his retro tour bus, and had disappeared from the back stage area. A lesser friend would have just left my tardy butt there, but not Chip. He waited for me, and then we drove all night. Might have been 4 am by the time we got back to Austin. Hell, it might have been even later. All I know is I got back in time to make my plane, and I am eternally grateful to Chip for his gentlemanly grace.

We were up at Cherokee Creek Music Festival in May, and Chip was there. He brought us his keyboard and left it for our use all day. I am telling you, he is one of the good ones. Though he records on his own, he is also a much sought after session guy and band member. Some of the people he has gigged with include Bruce Robison, Charlie Robison, Kelly Willis, The Mavericks, Tish Hinojosa, Greg Trooper, Eliza Gilkyson, Jimmy LaFave, Sara Hickman, Slaid Cleaves, Shelley King, and the list goes on and on. I was so happy we were able to have him come play for the Music Fog cameras. Check out the song “Nobody Knows,” from Chip Dolan back in May.

-Jessie Scott

Kasey Anderson "I Was A Photograph"

Walter Reed Army Medical Center retired its ceremonial flags on Wednesday, after 102 years. The services rendered there will be transferred to two other Washington DC area facilities. This is essential and noble work - the healing and mending of our warriors returning from oversees. The members of our armed forces have been sworn to uphold the Constitution, and they have sacrificed limb, sanity, and life, to keep America safe, strong and free. It is a travesty when we as citizens, don’t uphold our sacred pledge to take care of these brave souls when they come home.

Corporal Miller on Fallujah roof top - Photo by Luis Sinco, See original LA Times video here.

We had Kasey Anderson come to our Music Fog sessions over a year ago in March at Threadgill’s. He delivered a remarkable set. Since then, he has put out another record, Heart Of A Dog, which arrived in February. A year before that he released Nowhere Nights, which had a particularly haunting tune on it called “I Was A Photograph.” Kasey dedicated it to Marine Lance Corporal James Blake Miller whose image was made famous when a his photo was published in 150 newspapers around the country in 2004. Due to Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, his life has come apart at the seams. Where is the help for him, and where was the help for those returning from Vietnam? Who are we, that allow our tax dollars to be used for war, but don’t take care of our returning veterans. Here are Kasey Anderson, Dan Lowinger, Sean Cronin, and Julian Macdonough with “I Was A Photograph.”

-Jessie Scott

Update on 2011-11-05 03:11 by Music Fog

The Music Fog version of this song is now available to download at either of the stores below:

Corb Lund "R-E-G-R-E-T"

I have had a lovely week of music so far. OK, here is the skinny. You know that I am living in Austin, and that Threadgill’s has been a home to me for about a decade now. So I am doing a new series that is not a Music Fog thing, so no, you won’t see any videos of it. But Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights I am booking the talent, and hanging out for the School Night Sessions. It ends early enough to get you home in time for a good night’s sleep before work or school the next day. Sweet. And the first three days of this new series,  Beck & Cauthen, the Garrett LeBeau Band with Jamie Oldaker, and Dustin Welch with Brandy Zdan performed, and it was mighty fine stuff. You know I have been sitting in bars and venues since I was fifteen years old. Some people would say that they are done with that lifestyle. But for me, MUSIC is what it is. I am happy in real time, sitting and absorbing it all. Though there have been times in my life where I have had the realization that I have spent an inordinate amount of time in saloon settings. And that can be a hard thing for many.

We recorded Corb Lund solo during the Americana Fest in Nashville. He sings a song about being in exile in a bar, but he is not happy. R-E-G-R-E-T. He spells it out. I am not certain that this tune has ever found its way to an album, yet. This is a sorrowful country tune. Folks ain’t writing them much like this anymore. Simple. Heartfelt. Heartbreaking. Corb Lund is the whole package. He can write sad, and he can write funny. He is a wonderful musician, and an exceptional performer. Get to know him as he travels.

-Jessie Scott