The album features Grammy winners Emily Saliers (The Indigo Girls) and Sara Watkins (I'm With Her, Nickel Creek), The Weepies, Will Kimbrough and more. All proceeds will benefit Little Kids Rock, funding music education in underprivileged public schools. The Bluegrass Situation premiered "Backstreets", performed by The Weepies – share via Soundcloud.
"The ukulele – assuming one of well quality and well played – is substantial and brings something to music that other instruments simply cannot," says Keith Metzger, the producer, and also a perfomer, on Born To Uke.
The project was recorded in pro and home studios in the Bay Area, Nashville, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Iowa City and even Iceland. It presents songs from the seminal album in a way they’ve never been played or heard before, with stark arrangements bringing emphasis to the lyrics, the meaning and message.
In terms of production and arrangements, the only direction offered to the artists was the “rule” that the recordings needed to be limited to ukulele, bass, vocals and percussion. Some of the recordings are sparse, as with "Backstreets", "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Born To Run". The point was to build everything around the sound of the ukulele, and the only exception to the “rule” on the album is with "Jungleland" – where given the length and complexity of the song, a pump organ sound and a synth bass were used rather than an electric or acoustic bass.
Discussing the idea behind Born To Uke, Metzger stated, "I've always been a fan of Springsteen and at one point thought 'She’s The One' off of Born To Run might make a great cover, in the style I’d been recording. It had a Bo Diddley beat with a tribal feel to it that I thought lent itself thematically to the ukulele. After finishing the recording I thought: 'What if one were to do ukulele covers of the entire Born to Run album?' I didn’t have time or the patience to pull that off, and so I thought 'what about if other artists were involved?' The question then became: why would other artists of any note want to do it? At that time, I had become familiar with Little Kids Rock, knew that Bruce’s sax player Clarence Clemons had been involved in its founding, and it all kind of clicked for me."
Born To Uke is available for pre-order at BornToUke.com
Track listing:
The project was recorded in pro and home studios in the Bay Area, Nashville, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Iowa City and even Iceland. It presents songs from the seminal album in a way they’ve never been played or heard before, with stark arrangements bringing emphasis to the lyrics, the meaning and message.
In terms of production and arrangements, the only direction offered to the artists was the “rule” that the recordings needed to be limited to ukulele, bass, vocals and percussion. Some of the recordings are sparse, as with "Backstreets", "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "Born To Run". The point was to build everything around the sound of the ukulele, and the only exception to the “rule” on the album is with "Jungleland" – where given the length and complexity of the song, a pump organ sound and a synth bass were used rather than an electric or acoustic bass.
Discussing the idea behind Born To Uke, Metzger stated, "I've always been a fan of Springsteen and at one point thought 'She’s The One' off of Born To Run might make a great cover, in the style I’d been recording. It had a Bo Diddley beat with a tribal feel to it that I thought lent itself thematically to the ukulele. After finishing the recording I thought: 'What if one were to do ukulele covers of the entire Born to Run album?' I didn’t have time or the patience to pull that off, and so I thought 'what about if other artists were involved?' The question then became: why would other artists of any note want to do it? At that time, I had become familiar with Little Kids Rock, knew that Bruce’s sax player Clarence Clemons had been involved in its founding, and it all kind of clicked for me."
Born To Uke is available for pre-order at BornToUke.com
Track listing:
1. Thunder Road - Sara Watkins
2. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - Will Kimbrough
3. Night - Svavar Knutur
4. Backstreets - The Weepies
5. Born to Run - Emily Saliers
6. She's the One - Keith Metzger
7. Meeting Across the River - Albratross
8. Jungleland - Kai Welch
2. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - Will Kimbrough
3. Night - Svavar Knutur
4. Backstreets - The Weepies
5. Born to Run - Emily Saliers
6. She's the One - Keith Metzger
7. Meeting Across the River - Albratross
8. Jungleland - Kai Welch
About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock is a national nonprofit that transforms lives by restoring, expanding and innovating music education in public schools. Their student-centered approach brings popular music education into 21st century classrooms and provides teachers and students with the tools to learn the musical styles that resonate with them, educationally and emotionally. In addition to empowering students playing the music they know and love immediately, the program focuses on improvisation, composition, and collaboration. Since 2002, Little Kids Rock has served more than 850,000 kids by training and equipping teachers in 5,000 schools across 45 states. The program currently serves more than 400,000 youth nationwide and is actively working with school districts and higher education institutions to transform music education at a fundamental level to make it highly inclusive and culturally responsive.Every dollar that the organization raises helps support bringing more music to more kids – $5,000 can launch a lasting music program in a school, serving up to 180 students per school year.
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