Sara Petite "Doghouse Rose"

It has been so long since I have had to dissect the whys and wherefores of relationships; as I live in the land of no apologies necessary, no behavior meltdowns, and no gifts to make up for thoughtless acts. I don’t miss any of that. I admit it is pretty funny, as I did the research on the title “Doghouse Rose,” it turns out that this is a term I had never heard before. Initially, the picture that came to my mind upon hearing the words was that the stores were closed, a gift was needed and so flowers were picked. No, that ain’t it, it is the present you give when you are in the doghouse. Who knew?

Sara Petite named her most recent album Doghouse Rose, loosely after the Steve Earle book of a similar name. We bring you the title song today from our session last September at the Americana Music Festival. Sara has this gender bending thing going on, that is, songs you expect to be told from the male point of view are first person for her. By the way, she is working on new music, and an acoustic tour is underway.

Here is Sara with Steve Peavey on mandolin, filmed at the Music Fog studio during the 2010 Americana Music Festival in Nashville. Forgiveness, forgiveness...remember that before you need to bring one of these home, “Doghouse Rose.”

- Jessie Scott

John Hiatt "Damn This Town"

Back in 1984, I had a year of hanging with Keith Richards off and on. I scoured my then 15,000 vinyl album library for tasty cuts, historical oddities, and obscure goodies, and made tapes that he, Bobby Keys, and I would listen to together. We drank the music down along with the Jack. When something particularly caught Keith’s ear, he would declare it “Snaky,” and that was the highest of compliments. I conjecture that if he were to hear the new John Hiatt album, Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns, I expect he would pronounce it snaky, that is if he still uses that term.

Today, the new John Hiatt album comes out, and that is always cause for celebration. He has penned some mighty ubiquitous tunes that have become part of our musical legacy over his career; “Thing Called Love,” “Have A Little Faith In Me,” “Perfectly Good Guitar,” and “Cry Love” among them. I am happy that he has returned to a grittier, more rockin’ place on this new release. Take a listen to “Damn This Town,” which has equal parts dashed hopes, broken people, and co-dependent relations. There's also a video on YouTube for the tune, which puts an exclamation point on it all by showing the boarded up buildings and abandoned dreams of dysfunctional America. For a limited time, via John's website, you can order the deluxe signed vinyl and album bundle and get a handwritten lyric print.

John Hiatt -Damn This Town

- Jessie Scott

The Infamous Stringdusters "All the Same"

About a month ago, I got a phone call from Felton Pruitt at Fat Music asking me to come out to the High Sierra Music Festival to co-anchor his radio webcast. He had set up the remote studio facility in a tent on the rise-up from the side of the main stage. This was a broad scope festival featuring a wide swath of the best and the brightest, like Warren Haynes, Neko Case, and Dawes. And there were some huge surprises, like Los Amigos Invisibles who do this really high energy Latin dance synth pop, and Ernest Ranglin, who is credited with being the Father of Ska. And then there were the new grass guys. While Felton and I were watching the Infamous Stringdusters and Yonder Mountain String Band, he commented that we are seeing the next generation of jam grass taking its place alongside established heroes like Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas.

That is high praise indeed from Felton, who was the first program director of the XM channel, Bluegrass Junction. As for me, I am intrigued with the repeated merging through the years of black and white music. The confluence over the last several centuries in this hemisphere has made for a very rich tapestry, a cross pollination that is still yielding potent results. The hallmarks of the blues are alive and well in this song from The Infamous Stringdusters, who came to our makeshift studio during last September's Americana Fest in Nashville. This week, they are touring out west, and will be playing the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival, which Felton is also webcasting next week.

With a tune from their album Things That Fly, here are Travis Book, Jeremy Garrett, Andy Hall, Andy Falco, Jesse Cobb, and Chris Pandolfi in all their glory, “All The Same.”

- Jessie Scott