Among the many perks of owning a record company is the ability to release new music of your own whenever you want. Of course, it helps tremendously if you are also a noted performing and recording artist as well as a label head, as is the case with Stephen and Jana Mougin of Dark Shadow Recording.
Stephen has been Sam Bush’s guitar man for nearly 20 years, in addition to his well-earned reputation as a crafty and capable studio engineer. His wife, Jana, made her career bones in her native eastern Europe, playing and singing with the popular Czech/Slovak bluegrass group, Fragment, in the 1990s. These days, living in Nashville, and running a label, keeps the two rather busy, but they still find time to sing together when they can.
The Mougins have a new single the spring, The Wire, a Dan Seals song from 1992.
It’s a track they cut some years ago, and upon rediscovery, found it worthy of release.
“In the early 2000’s we got on a Dan Seals kick, and listened to everything we could get our hands on. We originally recorded this track way back then, and recently unearthed it from an old hard drive. When listening back, we realized that we still love the song and the message. With a strong bluegrass treatment, and shared vocals, we turned this into an uptempo love song!”
Helping out on the track are Sim Daley on banjo, Aaron Till on fiddle, and Mike Anglin on bass. Stephen is on guitar and mandolin, and both he and Jana provide vocals.
Their cut of The Wire makes a fine bluegrass song. See if you don’t agree.
Look for The Wire from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers will find it at AirPlay Direct.
