Hurray for the Riff Raff "Look Out Mama"

Happy Mother’s Day! I was in New Orleans visiting the kids a few weeks back, when the subject came up of Mother’s Debris. For the uninitiated, Mother’s Restaurant is a NOLA institution. You go through the line to order your food, and let me tell you, you spend the whole time as you shuffle down trying to decide what you are going to order. It is really hard! One of my favorites there, though, is the roast beef po’ boy sandwich. The “debris” moniker comes from the pieces that fall into the pan gravy during the roasting process, making for well-seasoned crispy bits and a huge mess dripping down your face while you are eating it. So I was talking about this feast, and the kids heard me wrong, and thought I was saying Mother’s Day Brie, speaking of gooey messes dripping down your face, and that is what I got this Mother’s Day. I do love that, and I hope if you are a mom, that there is a modicum of comfort and joy for you and a hot mess, in the best possible way.

In our continuing campaign to discover cool music, we present the band Hurray for the Riff Raff. Their new album Look Out Mama just came out a couple of weeks ago. It was recorded in Nashville and produced by Andrija Tokic, who worked with the Alabama Shakes. The song we bring you today is the title track, “Look Out Mama,” led by the band's writer, lead singer and primary creative force, Alynda Lee Segarra. She is a Puerto Rican runaway who grew up in the Bronx until she was 17, then she bounced around for years riding the rails before landing in New Orleans. I think that is a really good fit.

- Jessie Scott

Shooter Jennings "The Deed & The Dollar"

I had a scary time a couple of nights ago. My mouse froze, the fan started whirring on my computer, and I shut it down as fast as I could. The only problem was, then I couldn’t get it to reboot afterwards. You know the deal when you go to the doctor if you are sick, and all of a sudden your symptoms go away in the office while you are waiting to see him? Well, it was just like that. I brought my computer to the Geek Squad, and it magically came back up. “What’ja do,” I asked, totally bewildered. He said there was nothing wrong with it. Not wanting to trust this was just an anomaly, I got a terabyte hard drive and am now backing up while I still can. I never back up my computer, do you? This is fair warning, and my public service notice for the weekend. Whether hard drive, on a cloud or whatever, back your stuff up.

I think it is generally a good idea to get out of one’s routine sometimes to do things differently. That’s what Shooter Jennings did when he up and moved to New York. No matter where you grew up, New York is a different deal. It is a fast city, and like a fast river you just jump in and ride it, or should I say you let the current carry you at its pace. There is something freeing about this, and really you can’t fight it anyway, you just have to go with it. Juxtaposed against the concrete and steel, the roots music movement there keeps getting stronger. And Shooter is part of the fabric of it. Very cool! You know he was just on the road with Cody Canada and The Departed for the Magical Misdemeanor Tour , I’ll bet that was fun. Shooter’s new CD Family Man came out in March. On it, there is a loving homage to Drea DeMatteo called “The Deed & The Dollar.“ This is the Music Fog version, filmed during our Spring Music Fog Marathon at Threadgill’s WHQ in Austin, Texas.

- Jessie Scott

Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis "Border Radio

OK, I admit it, I am a radio junkie. Or at least I was, it is hard to embrace what most radio has become today. Back in the day, they was a magic to it. It captured your imagination, made you feel as if the communication was directed to you alone, or in the case of tuning in faraway AM stations, you felt as if you were peering into life on another planet. Part of the joy of it all was music discovery, which is something that will never happen if you are listening to your iPod. In the annals of far off signals, maybe none have been so romanticized as those of the Mexican border radio stations which started to see light of day in the 1930s. It was in homage to border radio that my XM station was named with a “X” for Cross, X Country. Speaking of which, I would love to be programming a radio station again, but I digress….

Dave Alvin used to do a show for my now defunct station. We called it “9 Volt” after a tune on his 2004 Ashgrove album, and the monthly show was simply some of the finest radio that there ever was.  The show was totally eclectic; he made it work by the art of the segues and the depth his knowledge as a musicologist. When Dave came to me with the idea for the show originally, of course the first thing that came to my mind was to call it “Border Radio,” after yet another of his homage songs noting the indelible mark radio left on his psyche growing up. Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis covered the song during their appearance before the Music Fog cameras last month in Austin at Threadgill’s WHQ. This is hot news, as Bruce and Kelly, each with illustrious solo credentials, have formed a most amazing band. We are talking layers of virtuosity here, from the songwriting, to the singing, to the phrasing to the immaculate playing They did the Kickstarter thing,  to fund their new album which will be out later this year. Yes, we have no choice but to wait, but first, savor their take on “Border Radio” from the Spring Music Fog Marathon.

- Jessie Scott