Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy have been sharing a series of cover singles over the past few weeks. They began with Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam’s Blackness of the Night followed by Hank Williams, Jr’s OD’d in Denver. With each song, they are joined by a guest (AZITA and Matt Sweeney so far) but for the latest there was a shiver of excitement here at HQ as Scottish folk musician Alasdair Roberts leads the band on their latest cover of Dave Rich’s I’ve Made Up My Mind – also our Song of the Day.
Drag City: As fragrant wah-wah leads weave and genuine Nashville-strung guitars strum in front of a gentle fiddle march in ¾, Bonnie sings lead, with Bill’s bass harmony vocals winding in and out of the droning waltz. Brother Callahan steps forward to testify at several key moments, and hands reach across the water all over the place, with the redolence of Gram and Emmylou, Richard and Linda, Shirley and Dolly, Bob and The Band, The Albion Country Band and all of their forebears, kith and kin stretching from here back to the horizon.
Order the single here: https://ffm.to/ivemademind/
Read our review of Bill Callahan’s latest offering Gold Record.
Main photo by Alasdair Cloustath, Bonny Billy by Mickie Winters, Bill Callahan by Hanly Banks Callahan