Video Premiere: He Can’t Own Them from Danny Paisley

Pinecastle Records has a new music video today from trad grasser supreme, Danny Paisley, for one of the songs on his current Bluegrass Troubadour album.

He Can’t Own Them is a mighty lonesome number, written by Eric Gibson, about folks who work around luxury goods, things they couldn’t afford to own themselves. The song plays with that contrast throughout, using a number of examples that should ring true to the bluegrass audience.

As always, Paisley delivers it with his trademark ‘ragged but right’ style, supported by his stellar band. With Danny on guitar, and his son, Ryan, on mandolin, the band also includes Mark Delaney on banjo, T.J. Lundy on fiddle, and Bobby Lundy on bass. Family has always been an important part of their sound, ever since Danny’s father, Bob, and T.J. and Bobby’s father, Ted, played together a generation earlier.

The video follows Danny and Ryan around classic vintage automobiles and collectible guitars, playing on the theme of the lyrics, only to finish with a final verse that uses the same paradox to describe loving a woman you can’t contain. Very effective.

He Can’t Own Them, and the full Bluegrass Troubadour album, are available now wherever you stream, or download music online. Radio programmers can find the tracks at AirPlay Direct.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.