Singer/songwriter, Donna Ulisse, has released a new single, When I Go All Bluegrass On You, from Billy Blue Records in Nashville. The song, co-written by Ulisse and her husband, Rick Stanley, features a hard-driving beat and numerous bluegrass hero references including such legends as Monroe, Ralph & Carter, Flatt & Scruggs, and present day icons:, Ricky, Del, and Doyle. The catchy chorus includes the phrase, I love to hear a banjo ringing out, I want that doghouse bass in my face, and a fiddle sawing loud.
Ulisse explained the evolution of the song…
“When I Go All Bluegrass On You was a real gift of an idea. I had an appointment with Jerry Salley for a 10:00 a.m. co-writing session. He was coming to what we lovingly refer to as the little house (which is a guest house behind my house, and sits almost in our field – perfect for songwriting). Jerry has so much on his plate these days; running Billy Blue Records, writing, producing, touring, fishing… He called me that day and said he thought he’d be a little late, so I said no problem. He called again and said it would be more like 10:30 and I said no problem. Then he called again and said he was sorry, but it might be more like 11:00 and I said, no problem. Then as a funny afterthought as I hung up the phone, I said to myself, ‘When he gets here I might just go all bluegrass on him for being late!’ (I am Italian, by the way!).
All of a sudden I thought, wait a minute, there’s a song if I ever heard one! I put the hammer down on it and wrote the first verse and chorus in about 15 minutes. I brought my guitar in the big house (which is really not a big house, but it does have farm charm) where my husband, Rick Stanley, was. I played it for him and asked if I should wait and finish writing it with Jerry when he arrived. Rick snatched the guitar away from me and said absolutely NOT and just spouted out the second verse like he found it in his back pocket. We were singing that song to the top of our lungs when Jerry peeked his head in and said, ‘Wow, I love that! What song is it?’ My big comeback to Jerry Salley was…that’s the song I almost wrote with you today!”
Salley stamped his approval as well.
“Donna’s new single, When I Go All Bluegrass On You, is one of the most fun singles of her career. It not only shows off her beautiful, identifiable voice, but her clever songwriting skills shine once again (with the help of co-writer/husband, Rick Stanley). Of course for me personally, it will always be ‘The Song I Almost Got To Write!’
All of us at Billy Blue Records are very proud of our relationship with Donna and are grateful for the opportunity to represent her new music! She told me to say that, or she would ‘Go All Bluegrass On Me!!!’”
Musicians on the recording are Cody Kilby on guitar, Greg “Papaw” Davis on banjo, Josh Swift on reso-guitar, Mason Nolen on mandolin, Evan Winsor on upright bass, Stephen Burwell on fiddle, and Nathan Fawcett on snare drum.
“Of course my hero, Doyle Lawson was at the helm, producing his heart out,” Ulisse explained. “Can a girl get any luckier?”
The songstress summarized herself, her life, her mission by saying, “I consider myself a spiritual soul. I let it show in my songs, and hope that it shines in the way that I live my life. Of course, all the parts of my days and nights include music somehow. It’s the central part of who I am so my life is a song.”
The song is available wherever you stream on download music online, plus from the artist’s website, and at her concerts.
“Now, buy them, don’t make me go all BLUEGRASS ON YOU,” Ulisse jokingly concluded.
