Fanatic is a music marketing company established by Josh Bloom in 1997 to build fan-to-fan connections between artists and the media. For 25 years, Fanatic has continued to help launch careers through the strategic advocacy of creative talent.
Friday, August 7, 2020
Inara George (The Bird and The Bee) launches “Road Angel Project” benefit with “Sex In Cars” duet with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), streaming everywhere now.
The Bird and
The Bee vocalist Inara George has teamed with Dave
Grohl of Foo Fighters for a new
single “Sex In Cars: Road Angel
Project,” a duet version of the track “Sex
In Cars” from George’s latest
release “The Youth of Angst”. The
song is available now on all streaming platforms and can also be heard via
Rolling Stone here.
“I wrote ‘Sex
In Cars’ after the artist Terry
Allen asked if I’d be a part of an art installation entitled “Road Angel” that he was creating for The Contemporary Austin,” George explains.
“Sex In
Cars: Road Angel Project” is the first
in a series of planned “Road Angel
Project” singles, which will see all proceeds donated via a partnership
with Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. The COVID-19
Relief Fund at Sweet Relief
provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music
industry workers who have lost income due to the global pandemic.
“Having been such a massive fan of Inara for years, it’s always such an
incredible honor to work with her, whether on Foo Fighters music or for The
Bird and The Bee,” Grohl says.
“Her voice is timeless, so pure and real. So I jumped at the chance to duet
with her on this song. It was a dream come true! And for a great cause:
Musicians coming together to support each other in difficult times, working to
keep the music alive.”
The name “Road
Angel Project” is an Allen-authorized
nod back to the piece that inspired “Sex
In Cars,” and the cover image for the series by Alice Lin is based on a Brian
Fitzsimmons photograph of Allen’s
actual installation.
With “Road
Angel Project,”George is
continuing to follow a line of thought that began with her current release “The Youth of Angst”. George saw so many musicians and music
industry friends out of work during the pandemic and saw an opportunity to keep
them working. With the previously unreleased duet version of “Sex In Cars” featuring Grohl, she hopes to continue
helping.
“I always knew I wanted this version of ‘Sex In Cars’ with Dave to benefit some amazing non-profit,” George says. “As the pandemic hit and it became very clear that
live music would not resume for many, many months, I immediately thought of Sweet Relief, not only because they
help so many musicians, but also because they help everyone in the music
industry.”
George has many friends in the music industry and has seen
their jobs evaporate.
“All of those people who work at venues booking shows,
stage managing, bartending, lighting, mixing sound, and on and on... Sweet Relief is set up to help all of
these workers during this crisis and also any other crisis that might come.”
Sweet Relief’s Aric
Steinberg says, “Sweet Relief is so grateful to be a part of the Road Angel
Project. It’s been incredible to see the music community come together
during this pandemic, and this is another example of good people doing good things.
The funds raised will allow us to help even more music industry professionals
in desperate need and we are truly thankful for Inara and Dave’s
support.”
The
second volume of the “Road Angel Project” is already being prepped for a
Sept. 4th release. The three-song bundle “Road Angel Project:
Volume 2” will include songs by Alex Lilly, Danielle De Andrea
(featuring Larry Goldings), and Mike Viola.
Inara George has been getting together with producer Wendy Wang for a couple of hours, here and
there, off and on over the past few years, working on a handful of songs that has
now been released as the three-song bundle “The
Youth of Angst” via Release Me
Records.
“Wendy started playing with The
Bird and The Bee when we released our second album,” George says. “I remember being impressed with her right away. That
was about 12 years ago, and since then she’s become an in-demand producer and
songwriter, as well as a dear friend and collaborator. I’m equally proud of her
and in awe of her.”
George continues, “There was no rush on my side, and Wendy’s been super busy with her own
career, so it took a few years to finish by getting together for a few hours
every so often. Maybe I had it in mind to make a full album? Or maybe a
traditional EP?”
As it turns out, George
got the word “bundle” stuck in her head after a conversation with a friend.
“Maybe I just thought she said ‘bundle?’”
No matter, it stuck, and in fact “The Youth of Angst” feels like a bundle. Fresh, even considering
its long development, and innocent, even with a song called “Sex In Cars”.
“I wrote ‘Sex
In Cars’ after the artist Terry
Allen asked if I’d be a part of an
art installation he was creating for The
Contemporary Austin. When he asked me to write the song, I immediately
thought of a photograph by RJ
Shaughnessy that I had bought as a gift for my husband.” The cover of “The Youth of Angst” features that Shaughnessy shot and the song itself is
as bare as the subject matter.
“Wendy and
I recorded several different versions of this song,” George explains. “But there was something about more production
that seemed to make it slip away from its initial intention.” The version that
made it to the final recording is actually the original voice memo that George sent to Allen. “I still haven’t had a chance to see that installation, I
hope I can someday... soon,” George
says.
Innocence isn’t just for “Sex In Cars” here. Youth… memories of... loss of… is at the core
of this group of songs that, although just a bundle, plays with a moving,
dramatic arc.
“‘1973’ is a song I
wrote for a friend,” George
explains. “She lost a child almost ten years ago and to mark his birthday every
year, I write a song. The songs end up being about him, but also but her and ‘1973’ is really a love song about our
friendship. As for “Brother,” it’s
pretty simple: “I wrote this song for my brother, haha. No one will ever know
you better than your brother can.”
“The Youth
of Angst” is the first in a planned
series of collaborative releases “with a little theme and not the huge pressure
of a full album,” George says about
how she plans to make this long experiment into something more frequent. For
this release “I wanted to write from the perspective of my younger self, but
also with the idea that I could never actually have that perspective again. I
suppose this bundle is nostalgic for a time and feeling that isn’t really
possible to recreate, or only possible to recreate in my imagination.”
Understanding what once was and what will be is
especially important now, in the new reality of 2020.
“I think we are all kind of grappling with this
reality right now. We can only move forward from here. Life won’t be the same
for a while, or maybe ever. But it’s nice to dream about the past while
reimagining the future, and I like the idea of doing these little
collaborations, especially in these times of isolation.”
Inara George’s three-song bundle “The Youth of Angst” is out now via Release Me Records. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
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