New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Born out of a love of rock music and for the virtuosity of bluegrass musicians, CMH Records' Pickin' On series features the best in bluegrass, paying tribute to the biggest and brightest artists in rock and pop. After revisiting some past recordings in the label's back catalogue, it was clear the heartfelt and inventive take on "Sweet Child O' Mine," originally released on the 2007 album The Bluegrass Tribute to Guns N' Roses, deserved a little extra attention. Performed by Alabama-based quartet Iron Horse, with this new video the music can be appreciated in a whole new way.
Watch video for Iron Horse's take on Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" below @Top40-Charts.com.
When Iron Horse approached this Guns N' Roses classic, they did the unthinkable by completely forgoing the song's iconic guitar intro. In doing so, they completely reinvented the song, taking its once epic melodrama and replacing it with a warm, nostalgic, and familial sweetness. With virtuosic instrumental performances and beautiful pitch-perfect harmonies, this cover shows Iron Horse at their best, approaching a rock classic with both creativity and admiration.
"Well, it's been a minute since 2007 and a lot of songs have been played, added and subtracted to our set list but one song has been with us through all this time, 'Sweet Child O' Mine,'" Iron Horse's Tony Robertson shares. "No matter the venue or reason for music to be played, this song fits every single situation. When we start into this song the crowds, no matter small or large, will erupt into approval as soon as they recognize the banjo and diamonding intro, and they will sing along until it's over. I think every person who's ever heard this song can relate to it on some level either from memory or something they are experiencing at that moment in time. Everything ends but I don't think this song ever will…enjoy!"
Though Pickin' On started modestly in 1993 with the release of Pickin' On the Movies, tributes to The Beatles and Eagles soon followed, and by 1997 the Pickin' On Series was on fire. It continues to thrive with one hand in traditional bluegrass and the other in popular music, ready for the next chance to create innovative bluegrass music.
Recent releases featuring Iron Horse, Pickin' On Pearl Jam and Pickin' On Nirvana, were well-received and garnered press from Rolling Stone, Brooklyn Vegan, and Uproxx, among others. Pickin' On Modest Mouse and Fade to Bluegrass: The Bluegrass Tribute to Metallica both charted on Billboard's Top Bluegrass Albums chart. The series has also been given extensive retrospective write-ups by Los Angeles Times and No Depression and currently has nearly 200,000 monthly listeners and more than 91,000 followers on Spotify. Songs from Pickin' On have been featured in the television series Revolution and HBO's True Blood. Other artists that have been given the Pickin' On treatment include Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers Band, Coldplay, The Black Keys, Jack White, The Killers and many more.
About CMH Records:
Founded in 1975 by Martin Haerle, CMH Records has released albums from artists whose monumental influence on American roots music is unparalleled. The '70s and '80s represent the foundational recordings in CMH Records' bluegrass, old time and traditional country history, with material being put out by Merle Travis, The Osborne Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Joe Maphis, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Grandpa Jones, Lester Flatt and Eddie Adcock. Throughout the '90s and into the new millennium, CMH Records continued to cut records with artists such as Wanda Jackson (aka "The Queen of Rockabilly"), Raul Malo, Larry Cordle, Pine Mountain Railroad, Jimmy Gaudreau, and many others. Producing songs rich in American heritage by artists with their own distinct style created a strong backbone and history for the label.
The label remains a proud family business, now run by Martin's son David. Described by the Los Angeles Times as a "stubborn, curious Silver Lake music company," the label has been a strong proponent for honest music and has found success with its classic catalog and its ongoing "Pickin' On" series, which features bluegrass interpretations of contemporary artists, including recent hit albums dedicated to the music of Nirvana and Modest Mouse. The Times piece added that CMH "meets unsung needs in the music industry" and cited its "creative diversification."
Iron Horse was formed in 2000 in the famous hit recording capital of the '60's and '70's, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The band consists of four members including Vance Henry, guitar, lead & tenor vocals; Anthony Richardson, banjo, baritone & bass vocals; Ricky Rogers, bassist, baritone & lead vocals; and Tony Robertson, mandolin, lead & tenor vocals. The band members' roots go back to the late 1970's, when Tony Robertson and Ricky Rogers were charter members of the popular local group The Next in Line. Through the many years that followed Robertson and Richardson continued to quench their musical appetites in several regional groups playing in bands that included bluegrass icons such as Rual Yarbrough, Jake Landers and others. In 2000 Iron Horse was formed to sort of stretch the boundaries a little from traditional Bluegrass to a little less traditional; but still stay true to the heart of what bluegrass music means to them.
Iron Horse was approached in January 2002 by Jim Silvers of Los Angeles-based CMH Records and asked to record two demo tracks pertaining to the heavy metal band Metallica. "Do them as bluegrass songs with your flare" was the request from the label. These 2 songs lead to what eventually turned into a ten-track project, Fade to Bluegrass which was released in October 2003 to critical acclaim and eventually made it on the Grammy nomination list. That release sealed a relationship with CMH that still flourishes today. The group then began to tour more nationally and internationally and has done so for some 20 years now. Iron Horse has toured throughout the United States, as well as the Bahamas, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Iron Horse's music has been well received across the world and the band has had thousands of requests via their web page guest book from all over the world to please and come and play in our country. Their music has been played on the space shuttle to wake the astronauts and used for bumper music on nationally recognized news outlets. A cut of "Night on the Sun" from the Modest Mouse tribute was included in an episode of the HBO series True Blood.
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Web: https://www.ironhorsebluegrass.com
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