Tag: Josh Day

WATCH: Danny Burns & Steve Earle, “Mercenary Song”

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Artists: Danny Burns & Steve Earle
Song: “Mercenary Song”
Album: Hurricane EP
Label: Bonfire Music Group

In Their Words: “We cut ‘Mercenary Song’ before the pandemic, and I had reached out to Steve and he really dug our arrangement. I had my pal Colin Farrell (of Lunasa, not the actor) add a fiddle tune into the middle parts and then thought it would be cool to add some Tex-Mex vibes on accordion. So we asked Michael Guerra from The Mavericks to add some accordion and he blew the doors off it. Then, Chris Masterson of The Mastersons and The Dukes added bari Tele and it all came together nicely. We also added Josh Day on drums, Byron House on upright bass, and Matt Menefee on banjo, mando and dobro. Finally, Steve added his bouzouki in the mix in a bajo sexto vibe.

“We thought it would be cool to shoot a video in NYC at the Dead Rabbit Irish pub. Sean Muldoon, one of the owners who’s from Belfast, was a great host. I recruited director Jim Wright into the project. We had been threatening to work together for few years now, and Steve was up for it and lives pretty close. So we just hung out, talked music and guitars, Ireland, and Irish breakfasts for a day and shot it upstairs at the Rabbit.” — Danny Burns

Photo Credit: Jim Wright

LISTEN: The Contenders, “You Don’t Care or You Don’t Have the Time”

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Artist: The Contenders
Hometown: Vermont / Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “You Don’t Care or You Don’t Have the Time”
Release Date: April 3, 2020

In Their Words: “Life is often a series of made or missed connections. The thoughts and emotions can be the things that wake you up in the middle of the night and get your mind running. They do for me sometimes, anyway. You could call this song a meditation, or maybe even a rumination on that… playing back in your head what you said or what you didn’t say and facing the less pretty qualities of your own character. It’s probably also worth noting that we love sad songs and we feel that they are often the very best vehicle for harmony singing. Our friend (and 2019 Americana UK instrumentalist of the year) CJ Hillman really drove the point home that we were trying to make musically with his sublime pedal steel.” — Jay Nash, The Contenders

https://soundcloud.com/thecontenders/you-dont-care-or-you-dont-have-the-time-master/s-5yqp9

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba

WATCH: The Contenders, ‘Save a Place at the Table’

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Artist: The Contenders
Song: “Save a Place at the Table”
Album Title: Laughing with the Reckless
Release Date: November 3, 2017
Label: Rock Ridge Music

In Their Words: “This song is definitely one of our favorites. The original kernel of inspiration actually came from seeing what all of my old friends in Los Angeles had been up to by way of the Sunday morning Instagram feed review. I lived there for 10 years, and now I live in Vermont. So, on Sunday mornings, I would see all of these images of dear old friends carrying on, making music together, and raising hell in all my old stomping grounds.

When we got into writing the song, the first, second, and fourth verses all came very quickly in a bit of a stream of consciousness. We were happy with those three verses, but we still felt like a deeper sentiment was missing from the song and necessary to make it feel complete. Our hope is that this song conveys a sense of equal parts heartbreak, hope, and peace to the listener. I think that we feel all of those things when we sing the song.” — Jay Nash

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba