I have enjoyed hearing from many about the new album. My favorite response has been from a friend, Laura, who said the CD takes the aggression out of her daily commute in Austin. Some of you are learning and playing the pieces, too. Does me good.

Dodee and I are headed to Memphis this weekend to attend the International Folk Festival. This will be a first for me. It looks to be sheer madness - seems everybody with a guitar and some little round glasses is on the roster. World class songwriters will be there and lots who are gifted and unknown. They fill up a hotel downtown and have “official” and “private” showcases that go pretty much all day and night for five days. I am not planning to play but we are going to enjoy, see friends, and scout a bit for Blue Rock Studios (our place in Wimberley, www.bluerocktexas.com).

So what is happening in folk music that captures my imagination? This whole genre is almost totally under the media radar. Attention is not paid. Except it is - in private house concerts, coffee houses and listening rooms, summer hillside festivals, by avid fans doing their word of mouth grass roots thing, and once a year in some hotel in Memphis where it seems the whole world runs on the energy of singer songwriters. Something is going on here largely missed in the culture of broadcast media and product placement. It’s as though the songs themselves are “compelling” the audience - a movement from the bottom up. Maybe you hear Beth Wood sing “Little Hands” or Pierce Pettis’ “Black Sheep Boy” and it feels so unfiltered and necessesary, you get on your blog or a flight to Memphis!

So, here’s to courage and art for the sake of love. You have my attention.