Songs by Dolly, Danzig, and Ween get the orchestral treatment.
Of “Jolene Rides West,” a Western re-imagining of Dolly Pardon’s “Jolene,” Flagpole Magazine’s Gordon Lamb writes: “Sometimes you just get knocked out by people’s creativity and talents you never knew they had. Case in point, longtime Athens musician Andrew Steck (Liberator, Los Meesfits) also composes and records orchestral music. His latest single, “Jolene Rides West,” is, in his words, “a reimagining of the Dolly Parton song ‘Jolene’ wherein the Jolene character is the villain of a spaghetti Western movie.” And, honestly, dude nails it. This is no mere cover—he’s true to his promise of it being reimagined. I’d encourage listeners to also check out his piece “Shapes and Shades in Passing,” which is a trio for flute, English horn and cello. He has a few other new-ish tracks online, too, so take a few and listen in. I realize fully that most of Steck’s friends probably already knew all about this stuff, but, you know, this ain’t the first party I’ve been late to. Dig in at andrewsteck.bandcamp.com.”
Well, thank you, Gordon!
Also on the three-song EP is “Mother” by Danzig. “Mother” was arranged to sound very serious, but in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way – note the gesture to a different song called “Mother” at the very end.
Rounding it out is the song, “Transdermal Celebration,” by Ween. I love Ween and think they are severely overlooked as quality song craftsmen. People tend to think that being silly every now and again discredits the authenticity of an artist’s more genuine efforts. This is far from the truth when applied to Ween. They can do it all. “Transdermal Celebration” is a favorite of my wife and I. When arranging it, I wanted to incorporate the strong sense of the magic and wonder that the original lyrics portray. My goal was to keep working on it until it would make a Ween fan cry. Throw on some shades and have a listen!
released February 13, 2021
Album cover art by Allen Sutton (@adobeallen)
-“Jolene (Rides West)” was originally written as “Jolene” by Dolly Parton – Copyright Velvet Apple Music
-“Mother” was written by Glenn Danzig – Copyright Universal Music Corp. o/b/o American Def Tune
-“Transdermal Celebration” was written by Aaron Freeman and Michael Melchiondo – Copyright Downtown Dmp Songs o/b/o Browndog Music
Proof of licensing available.
