Compass Records has created a new music video for Special Consensus just ahead of this Friday’s release of their new album, Great Blue North. It’s for the band’s current single, Alberta Bound, and carries along the theme of the Great Blue North with a musical look at all that Canada’s bluegrass music scene has to offer to the wider community.
The song is a classic from the great Gordon Lightfoot, possibly the most influential songwriter to have come from Canada. This video hitting just over a week after his flame went out is an accidental tribute, and a sure sign that people will be recording and performing Lightfoot songs for many years to come.
For this cut, Special C teamed up with a plethora of Canuck pickers and singers, who added their parts remotely to the recording. Featured are Ray Legere on fiddle, plus John Reischman and Trisha Gagnon from The Jaybirds, Pharis & Jason Romero, and Claire Lynch on vocals, rotating across the many verses. That’s in addition to the regular members of the band: Greg Cahill on banjo, Dan Eubanks on bass, Greg Blake on guitar, and Michael Prewitt on mandolin.
It all proceeds in a round robin sort of fashion, culminating in a grand chorus at the end with all hands on deck, plus John Showman and Patrick Sauber. Seeing all these folks pop up in turn during the video adds an extra layer of fun to the sonic variety we got from the single.
Have a look/listen…
Pre-orders for Great Blue North are enabled now in all formats from the Compass Records web site. It will be available on May 12 from all the popular download and streaming services.
