LOVE CANON

LOVE CANON
COVER STORY

Organic Records
OR171322

Love Canon travels back in time to bring a fresh acoustic musical perspective to the pop hits of the ’80s and ’90s. Besides bandmembers Jesse Harper (lead singer/guitarist), Adam Larrabee (banjo), Andy Thacker (mandolin), Darrell Muller (bass), and Jay Starling (resonator guitar), the group is joined by Alex Hargreaves (fiddler),  and special guests Jerry Douglas, Aoife O’Donovan, Keller Williams, Michael Cleveland, and Eric Krasno. This is a follow-up to their Greatest Hits Volumes 1-3.

Dobro player Jerry Douglas was pumped to record the Mister Mister song “Kyrie Eleison.” Larrabee says, “The parts he added, plus the epicsolo that he took, along with tasty interjections by the great Mike Barnett on fiddle,  really made the track come alive. I am so impressed with how quickly these iconic musicians can get what they want in so few takes. It’s interesting to hear that track because Jay Starling, our usual Dobro player, isn’t on the track at all, and when you listen to it, you can tell there is something different about it right away.”

Michael Cleveland laid down eight “killer” takes of his fiddle playing for the band’s spin on Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” “It was really hard to decide which one to use. He is just unbelievable in how he drives the band and interacts with all the other instruments at the end. He is so organic and versatile, but also just jaw-droppingly awe-inspiring. Funny story, when we were mixing it, after we had decided on the fiddle solo we were going to use, we found out that the fiddle track had been lined up wrong and was starting an entire quarter note early for the whole track, but it still sounded amazing! I don’t know anyone who can be one whole beat off from the entire band and still sound like he’s taking a perfect solo. We fixed it, of course, but still, that is some other level stuff.”

While staying true to the nostalgia hits, Love Canon’s covers demonstrate their brilliance in translating the originals into modern day acoustic numbers. Check out especially Billy Joel’s “Prelude (Angry Young Man),” “Islands In The Stream” (Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers), R.E.M.’s “Driver 8” and Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill”/“Icecaps Of Pentatonia.” (Organic Records, P.O. Box 829, Arden, NC 28704, www.organic-records.com.)BC