"the earth has music for those who listen"

JAZZFEST MADNESS 2008 So far, so good. Fog City artists, past and present, are playing EIGHTEEN shows (and counting!) in New Orleans during this year's Jazz & Heritage Festival. And that doesn't even count the sit-ins that will be happening all over town, every night of the week. For an onslaught of funk and soul in one of New Orleans' most vital clubs, we recommend you check out JJ Grey & MOFRO (with New Mastersounds) at Tipitina's. For those of you who look for something more personal, PAPA MALI will be playing an intimate little show at the Rusty Nail. Also, we have high hopes for GARAGE A TROIS at One Eyed Jacks and GALACTIC on the Riverboat Creole Queen. Oh and then there's STANTON MOORE and ROBERT WALTER at historic Preservation Hall... Where to even start? Where to stop? It's gonna be nuts. Check out our tour page for the latest. (link)

NEW JJ GREY & MOFRO RECORD IN THE WORKS Fog City label head and producer Dan Prothero is hard at work with JJ Grey & MOFRO, recording tracks for their next (fourth) album in St. Augustine Florida. The intent is to release the record this year, but we can't tell you any more than that for the time being...

NICE WORDS FOR THE NEW PAPA MALI RECORD In addition to a very flattering five-page feature on PAPA MALI in their latest issue, Hittin' The Note magazine has included his latest record (Do Your Thing) in their top 10 list for 2007. Aww, shucks! (link)

JJ GREY & MOFRO PLAY BYRON BAY AUSTRALIA JJ Grey & MOFRO went down under in March for the Byron Bay East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival, playing for three days on March 22-24. Other acts included John Fogerty, KT Tunstall, Xavier Rudd, Keb Mo and G Love & Special Sauce among others. (link)

ROBERT WALTER TOURING WITH THE ALLSTARS AGAIN ROBERT WALTER is continuing his occasional touring with The Greyboy Allstars. April 2008 sees them East Coasting before playing three shows at JazzFest. If you missed the Allstars the first time around, don't sleep. (link)

IN A HOLIDAY GROOVE More mojo than a warehouse full of mistletoe, more spirit than a bathtub full of gin, groovier than anything you're gonna hear on the radio this holiday season... it's got soul, it's superbad... it's THE ROBERT WALTER HOLIDAY RECORD. Seriously, we get so many comments about this little record, and it's always a hit when we're at home for the holidays. Take a listen and pick up your copy now. Santa baby! (link)

MOFRO RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR IN JAX JJ GREY & MOFRO celebrate the New Years with a return to their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida for FOUR nights at Freebird Live. A discounted 4-night pass is available ONLY here.

VOLUNTEER DURING JAZZFEST 2007 It's that time of year again... JazzFest. New Orleans. I can already taste the duck and pheasant gumbo at the fairgrounds, oysters at Casamento's, the muffaletta at Central Grocery, late night fried chicken at Fiorella's... mmmm. But it's also time to give a little something back. This year, we will again be volunteering with Habitat For Humanity and helping complete the Musician's Village project. Those who volunteered with us last year know it was a little exhausting and a lot rewarding. Come join us this year and experience it for yourself. You will be glad you did. (link)

WORD OF THE DAY: GRIMOIRE The first review of PAPA MALI's upcoming release Do Your Thing has arrived (courtesy of New Orleans' Gambit Magazine), and we thought you should read it -- not because it flatters us, but so you can see how to properly rock a word like "grimoire": Malcolm "PAPA MALI" Welbourne is the kind of local character that would be genuinely iconic anywhere else. Here in his adopted New Orleans, though, where we historically curate a stellar permanent collection of freaks, oddities and twisted brilliance, he simply fits right in. That's not faint praise, either. The psychedelic swamp sounds on Do Your Thing are New Orleans inside and out, and even if the sound didn't show it, his guest list would. No less of a supporting cast than the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's sousaphone player Kirk Joseph, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, award-collecting pianist Henry Butler, the Golden Eagle Mardi Gras Indians, and the Reverend Goat Carson -- who's equally likely to be seen sweeping up a Frenchmen Street bar in the early morning as playing in one late at night -- appear on the record, which is a magically crafted grimoire of voodoo space blues. Reminiscent of Night Tripper-era Dr. John, Coco Robicheaux or C.C. Adcock's latest gritty ghost-rock effort, Do Your Thing runs the gamut from prayerful blues on tracks like the haunting, understated closer True Religion to psychedelic, almost Beatles-esqe fuzz guitar on I Had The Dream. All in all, a powerful, glowing globe of swamp gas. (link)

JJ & MOFRO BOOKED FOR JAZZFEST 2007 JJ Grey & MOFRO are playing their first Jazzfest this year, on opening day - Friday, April 27th. The initial lineup has been announced, too. Some of our favorites: Dr. John, Van Morrison, Jill Scott, Irma Thomas, Pharoah Sanders, Rebirth Brass Band, Richie Havens, Percy Sledge, Mose Allison, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Eddie Bo, Henry Butler, Allen Toussaint, Tony Joe White, GALACTIC, Irma Thomas' Tribute to Mahalia Jackson, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste, Morning 40 Federation, Lady Buckjumpers and Undefeated Divas SAPCs, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles, and, well, every Mardi Gras Indian tribe and brass band... plus the gospel tent... we're gonna start saving up on our sleep right now... (link)

DO YOUR THING! How can mere words convey the gravity of the imminent appearance of THE NEW PAPA MALI RECORD? How can you describe the raucus, floor-rattling grooves and explain how, somehow, this funky good time actually proves to be meaningful and even a little thoughtful, like the kind of thing you'd like to go back and listen to a few dozen more times just to get your head around it. How do we get this across to you? Well, let's put it this way: Imagine yourself on some random night out that turns into a chance encounter with an outrageous special someone, where somehow things get real naughty and, you know, things are said and done to the point where you might even be a little embarrassed and you aren't sure if you can both still respect each other, and then just when you're wondering if it's cool to call them they go ahead and call YOU, and you end up dating for a long, long time. Oh yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Well, the new PAPA MALI record is kind of like that. Except it's a record. (link)

ETIENNE ON TOUR WITH HONEYCUT Our own ETIENNE DE ROCHER has been touring with Bay Area breakout band Honeycut, rocking his fuzz bass and otherwise looking like a member of Gorillaz or something. Who knew? And check out their bad-ass drummer, who plays a drum machine with his fingers. Yeah we never thought we'd say that either... laugh for now if you must, but when they rock their version of "Impeach The President" you will submit. (link)

SOUTH AUSTIN GOT SOUL PAPA MALI is giving something back to his adopted home of Austin Texas, and you're invited. He's enlisted friends the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers, Shelley King, Leann Atherton and others, and will be heading up what is fixin' to be the first annual Soul Of South Austin Holiday Reunion. Bring your cushions, blankets and long-lost friends, and join in on a spiritual and soulful reunion. Gumbo and red beans & rice will be provided (as you might expect at any self-respecting reunion). Bring your favorite appetizer or side dish to share. The event benefits the Capital Area Food Bank; canned food donations are being accepted and each can knocks a dollar off the $15 ticket price. December 21st at Ruta Maya, South Austin TX. (link)

PAPA MALI EAST COASTING WITH GALACTIC PAPA MALI is celebrating the January release of his new album with old friends: GALACTIC. Twenty dates have been announced so far, taking the bands from Memphis to Boston and back down south again. PAPA MALI will be facing off with drum monster Robb Kidd in a drum and geetar showdown. The funk begins January 24, the day after the release of DO YOUR THING. As always, the latest tour dates are available here. (link)

THIS IS THE CALIFORNIA WAY TIM BLUHM is furthering his rapidly developing friendship and collaboration with longtime fan, fellow California resident, and Verve recording artist Jackie Greene. The two are touring the west coast in December, appearing at classy joints statewide as The Skinny Singers and singing reworked versions of songs from Tim's solo acoustic debut California Way and Jackie's back catalog. If their fledgling mano-a-mano appearance in Sacramento a few months back is any indication, these fearless multi-instrumentalists will be swapping songs and backing each other up on an assortment of geetars, keyboards and drums. Expect greatness. (link)

YOU KNOW YOU FINALLY MADE IT WHEN... So I was just wandering around YouTube the other day, you know, watching videos of Little Superstar and whatnot, when I happened upon this fake video of a classic MOFRO tune. The kids are alright! (link)

MOFRO PERFORMS W/ SYMPHONY - AGAIN! Yeah u right. MOFRO will be backed by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra for the third time, at the beautiful Jacoby Symphony Hall in their hometown of Jacksonville on Thanksgiving weekend (November 24, 2006). The orchestra will play an overture of MOFRO material (the score has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Music), and then accompany the band for a set. Other high-concept surprises are in the works for this evening. Recognition of this sort is a major accomplishment for any songwriter and any band, and we are very proud of JJ and MOFRO. (link)

ETIENNE TO PLAY HSB FESTIVAL ETIENNE DE ROCHER has just been confirmed for this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival here in San Francisco. It's one of the best run festivals of its kind in the country, a great day in the park even given its huge growth in popularity (last year, we heard there were more people in Golden Gate Park then there ever have been... for any event... ever). Plus it's free. Righteous! (link)

TIM BLUHM HEADS FOR THE HILLS It's summertime, and the weather has been remarkably un-foggy here in Fog City. But as usual, TIM BLUHM is way ahead of the curve, having headed up into Yosemite to lead summer hiking tours through some of the west coast's most beautiful terrain. An accomplished backwoods guide and campground gourmet he may be, but we're eager to see Tim ease back into his city slicker persona before too long. Come back, Tim, and rock the not-so-free world! (link)

JJ GREY OPENS FOR GALACTIC Hot on the heels of his spotlight show at Fog Fest 2006, MOFRO's JJ Grey has confirmed a string of dates opening for GALACTIC as a solo act. Expect mostly solo acoustic performances with plenty of sit-ins during this very special limited run. Details as always are available on our gig page. (link)

ETIENNE HITS EAST COAST WITH ALL STAR BAND ETIENNE DE ROCHER reunites with some old friends for a brief tour through the east coast in July. Old bandmates Todd Sickafoose (now touring with Ani diFranco) returns to his duties on bass and Andrew Borger (now with Norah Jones' band) returns to the drum chair for this limited summertime run. Expect greatness! (link)

PAPA MALI IN MUGGE DOCUMENTARY PAPA MALI appears in the feature length documentary New Orleans: Music in Exile, by award winning director Robert Mugge, which premiered on the Starz cable network and may see theatrical release. Papa is featured in performance w/ Cyril Neville and being interviewed about post-Katrina New Orleans. We also recommend you check out Mugge's excellent Sun Ra documentary A Joyful Noise as well as Black Wax (wherein Gil Scott Heron philosophises in a wax museum) whenever the opportunity arises. (link)

CLASSICAL MOFRO As a result of MOFRO's stint working with the Jacksonville Orchestra, JJ Grey worked with A. Paul Johnson to create the “ MOFRO ‘N' Mo Overture”. The song, which presents a medley of MOFRO originals in classical style, is performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in music. Need to hear it to believe it? Click here to purchase. (link)

JAZZFEST VOLUNTEER EFFORT WRAP UP Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who volunteered with us in New Orleans during JazzFest 2006. Our group volunteered for Common Ground (cleaning out their volunteer dorm and raising a collapsed tent housing relief supplies) and Habitat For Humanity (helping construct one of the first of 75 homes being built on the site of the Musicians Village in the Upper 9th Ward). Mike D (from the Hairy Apes and GARAGE A TROIS) is seen in the photo to the right, attending to some sheathing on one house which has since become someone's home. Although our two days of volunteerism is just a drop in the bucket, we left with the feeling that the challenges facing New Orleans are not hopeless. If a few dozen ideas like the Musicians Village can come to fruition, with the help of a sustained army of volunteers, real progress can take place in even the most ravaged areas. It just takes creativity and commitment. We highly recommend that you consider volunteering in any way you are able, to any extent you can afford... you just might end up feeling the same hope we do. (link)

MOFRO IN EUROPE MOFRO returns to Europe for the third time, playing a string of spring dates in the UK, Netherlands, and Germany through June 4th. Highlights include a night at the beautiful Jazz Cafe in London. Fans from the USA have already been spotted attempting to not look like stalkers as they follow the band from country to country. Click here for details. (link)

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FOG CITY T-SHIRTS LINKED TO SCANDAL

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Well, maybe not a scandal exactly... ok, so there's no scandal. That was just what we in the bizness refer to as a CPG (Cheap Publicity Gag). But seriously, the baby doll tees we're now making do usually get noticed because they're so cute and because men and women alike appreciate a nice baby doll tee. Of course, guys don't usually wear a baby doll tee. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But they sure do appreciate how they fit. On women. While they rock their own men's cut t-shirt. Is that clear enough? And did I mention they all glow in the dark? Bananas! Anyway if you're still reading this you should really just click here and order one (for yourself or for your girl).

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MOFRO TOURS WITH HOMETOWN FRIENDS THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND

MOFRO returned to the North East this November with hometown music mates the Derek Trucks Band. The two Jacksonville, FL bands played historic and beautiful listening rooms like Town Hall in New York City and the Keswick Theater in Philadelphia. These shows were filled with Southern soul, funk, and rock in some of the most epic venues in the country. Click here for more details and future tour dates.

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CRITICAL RAVES FOR NEW TIM BLUHM CD !!

Tim Bluhm, known around the West Coast as front man for the legendary Mother Hips, has recorded his debut solo acoustic record for Fog City. To those of you who thought we were just about the funk, this may be a surprise... but we see this unusually "unplugged" release as a continuation of our interest in finding and exposing great artists with strong regional flavor... in this case, a California soul that we think you'll find as charming as we do.

TapeOp Magazine put it this way: "the spare acoustic recording is witness to the fact that Tim Bluhm is one of the best (and most underrated) songwriters of his generation."

Learn more about Tim and this record and buy it.

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DON'T ACCEPT THOSE PREMATURE AUTOPSIES

We are tremendously saddened by the devastation of one of America's greatest treasures in the wake of hurricane Katrina. Our hearts go out to the victims of the storms.

All our musical friends who call New Orleans home, including Galactic, Stanton Moore, and members of Garage A Trois, Stanton Moore, MOFRO, and Robert Walter's 20th Congress, are all safe.

If you would like to help those who are not so lucky, we encourage you to to contribute to organizations like the American Red Cross (800-HELP-NOW), Operation Blessing (800-436-6348), America's Second Harvest (800-344-8070), or to volunteer in the relief effort by contacting your local branch of the American Red Cross (who are organizing accelerated training programs for relief workers).

Our musical work has always stood on the shoulders of giants, and in particular the unequaled musical heritage and rich culture of New Orleans. It's our hope that this beautiful community will rise again and carry forward its traditions. You may find these words inspiring in that regard.

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JAZZFEST 2005

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2005... another year absolutely packed with Fog City artists, past and present... more concerts during a single JazzFest than any other label, maybe ever... and we were blissfully ignorant of the flooding that would take place a few months later. Now, in the aftermath of the hurricanes, we look forward to JazzFest 2006 and encourage you to support New Orleans by planning to be there in this next, critical year of recovery. Please bring your enthusiasm, high spirits, and some tourist dollars, and participate in what could be remembered as a major turning point for the city.

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Papa Mali, JJ, and David Bromberg - at Harvest Fest (photo: Curtis Lynch)

HARVEST FEST

At the Florida Music Harvest Festival, festival organizers were so excited about Fog City artists MOFRO and PAPA MALI's sets that they set up an impromptu "songwriters summit" with PAPA MALI, JJ, guitar legend David Bromberg, and lap steel wizard Curtis Burch. The guys traded songs and stories, singing or supporting each other in a moving set.

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FOG CITY RECORDS CARAVAN TOUR

PAPA MALI sits in with MOFRO @ Tipitina's, New Orleans (photo by Lee Frank)

MOFRO's grand finale to their Blackwater support tour was FOG CITY RECORDS CARAVAN WEEK. MOFRO - and - PAPA MALI, sharing the stage for the first time! Especially significant to us, since Papa Mali's Thunder Chicken record was a big reason MOFRO wanted to work with us in the first place.

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FOG CITY ALL STAR SHOW - NEW YEARS WEEKEND, SAN FRANCISCO!

MOFRO's opening performance at Big Night Out 1 (photo courtesy of lukew.com)

FOG CITY RECORDS' first major showcase, BIG NIGHT OUT #1... an all-star soul summit featured, on stage at the same time, together for the first time: Stanton Moore, Robert Walter, Skerik, Charlie Hunter and Chris Stillwell. Plus, a special opening set with Fog City recording artists MOFRO. The show was recorded for possible release on Fog City. An Honest Tune called it "on fire from the first note"

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REQUIRED LISTENING: STANTON MOORE'S FIRST SOLO ALBUM

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If you've seen a Galactic show, you've definitely heard Stanton Moore - the kind of funk drummer that only New Orleans can produce. For All Kooked Out!, his first solo project, he hooked up with some superbad out-of-towners (guitarist Charlie Hunter and Seattle-based saxophonics wizard Skerik) as well as a few friends from the local scene (including Galactic tenor saxophonist Ben Ellman and ex-Sun Ra trumpeter Michael Ray). The result is, as you might expect, super funky - taking New Orleans funk into the future and way, way out! Now a classic release, still one of our most popular items, and a launchpad for an incredible artist's career. And, worth noting, a document of the very first meeting of Skerik and Charlie Hunter!

If you'd like to be kept informed on this and other new releases, join the Fog City mailing list.

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OUR FIRST BABY IS ALL GROWED UP NOW

Fog City Records was proud to feature New Orleans funk band Galactic on its first release. Using what was (back in 1996) cutting edge mastering technology, we packed about an hour of the New Orleans funk grooves (for your regular CD player) AND a full-blown multimedia experience (for your computer's CD-ROM drive) onto a single disc. This made us one of the very first record labels to release an Enhanced CD... and more important, we've seen Galactic develop to one of the most successful New Orleans bands of all time. Capricorn (now BMG/Volcano Records) has reissued Coolin Off and released Galactic's second album Crazyhorse Mongoose (which Fog City's Dan Prothero also produced). Not too shabby for our first release!

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WE'RE PRO-TAPING

We encourage the taping and trading of live shows by Galactic, Stanton Moore, Papa Mali or any other artists we work with. If you're interested, please take a minute to read our taping guidelines.

"Fog City puts out sole music that refuses to follow in anyone else's footprints." (SF Weekly)

"Fog City's consistency in putting out the highest quality recordings - and I use that term in an all encompassing way to include talent, sound, the enhanced CD extras, etc. etc. etc. - is amazing and probably unmatchable." (fan mail from Garrett)

"Fog City is an eminently cool record label with its penchant for expanded-media CDs and utterly cool taste in artists." (Lafayette Daily Advertiser)

"you really have a great knack for finding and shepherding unique creators of quality handcrafted uncompromising music... for this I salute you! In the age of sound alike bands with little talent FC provides a ray of hope for the future of music... great job..." (fan mail from Zachary)

"Prothero is yet another reason San Francisco's Bay Area will stay on the musical map forever." (pauserecord.com)

"I absolutely love each Fog City release, and look forward to continued success on your part. This is grass roots style, and your imprint is stamped heavily on each disc (superb graphics). IMO, that's a great thing, and something we in the scene should appreciate." (fan mail from Patrick in D.C.)

"I've really learned to trust Fog City and the music they put out - you can pretty much depend on their artists' putting on a great show." (fan mail from Kyle in Chicago)

The Fog City record shop is open 24-7-365.

Record stores interested in carrying our jaw-dropping catalog, please click here for distribution information.

We are always seeking committed acts that are ready to record and tour. Please read our notes on submitting demo material.

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"the earth has music for those who listen"