The Howlin' Brothers "Watermelon Bucket Band"

Can we trust that summer is almost here? I dunno, the weather has been so tentative, warm one day, and then there is a chill in the air again. But I think it is ever closer, and I welcome the idea of summer, though I suspect this one will be unlike any we have ever experienced. Of course, we are all wishing to be back in those easy pre-quarantine days.

Back before things got nuts, I was on the Delbert McClinton Sandy Beaches Cruise with lots of fine artists and friends. We disembarked in Ft. Lauderdale, the home of one of my favorite restaurants, The Rustic Inn. The Howlin’ Brothers had played on the ship, and I convinced them to accompany me for a midday feast of garlic crabs, served waterside on a canal. Now this was back in January, but it was a wistful taste of the season changing.

Today we feature a carefree summer-feeling tune from The Howlin’ Brothers. Music Fog filmed them doing “Watermelon Bucket Band” during a private session in Nashville last year. The original can be found on their most recent album Still Howlin’. Not sure when we will be able to gather, but you can roll the rug up and dance around the room anyway!

- Jessie Scott

The Shootouts "Who Needs Rock & Roll"

I dream of simpler times from not that long ago. Back in those day we danced cheek to cheek, or we two-stepped the night away to our heart’s content. Doesn’t that feel like another lifetime? Seriously, I hope your shut in time is not too hard to bear. I have been growing a vegetable garden in my spare time. I can’t wait for the harvest, but I gotta say it just makes me feel better to look at the greenery of it.

Photo Credit: Aimee LambesBefore everything got shut down, we had Ryan Humbert and Emily Bates over to the house for dinner. Even that seems quaint! The band was in Nashville, working on a new record with Chuck Mead producing, and we don’t yet know the release date, since things are so weird. Ryan and Emily, along with Brian Poston, Ryan McDermott, and Dylan Gomez are The Shootouts, and they are spiffy dressers...and we like that when we film. They were recently nominated for an Ameripolitan Award, for Best Honky Tonk Band, and yeah, they like the Western Swing, too. That is evident on this tune originally found on their 2019 Quick Draw album, “Who Needs Rock & Roll.” This here is the Music Fog recording, from a private session last year in Nashville. Yee haw!

- Jessie Scott