Born out of a love of rock music and for the virtuosity of bluegrass musicians, CMH Records’ Pickin’ On series features the best in bluegrass, paying tribute to the biggest and brightest artists in rock and pop. Legendary grunge and alt-rock icons Pearl Jam are being celebrated with the release of Pickin’ On Pearl Jam out May 12. Ahead of the full-length, the track “Yellow Ledbetter” from the collection performed by Alabama-based quartet Iron Horse is out today (4/21). This follows the recently released song and music video “Better Man.”
“Yellow Ledbetter” is out now on all digital platforms.
Pickin’ On Pearl Jam is a collection of some of the biggest and best-loved songs from the Seattle legends reinterpreted through the framework of classic bluegrass instrumentation and vocal stylings. Series stalwarts Iron Horse have rearranged and performed these new versions of alt-rock classics using earnest sensibilities and traditional technique. There’s no winking irony to be found here. Just four guys from Muscle Shoals putting forward an honest, heartfelt tribute to the music of five guys who’ve never been anything but honest and heartfelt.
Following the release of the album’s first single “Better Man,” Loudwire proclaimed “Who knew? Pearl Jam’s ‘Better Man’ works wonderfully as a harmonica bluegrass jam.” They went on to say: “Further proving that a great song is a great song no matter the genre, the members of the Alabama-based quartet Iron Horse have adapted Pearl Jam’s ‘Better Man’ into a bluegrass jam that you need to hear.”
Though Pickin’ On started modestly in 1993 with the release of Pickin’ On the Movies, tributes to The Beatles and Eagles soon followed, and by 1997 the Pickin’ On Series was on fire. It continues to thrive with one hand in traditional bluegrass and the other in popular music, ready for the next chance to create innovative bluegrass music.
Pickin’ On Nirvana, the previous Pickin’ On series release featuring Iron Horse, was well-received and garnered press from Rolling Stone, Brooklyn Vegan, and Uproxx, among others. Pickin’ On Modest Mouse and Fade to Bluegrass: The Bluegrass Tribute to Metallica both charted on Billboard’s Top Bluegrass Albums chart. The series has also been given extensive retrospective write-ups by Los Angeles Times and No Depression and currently has over 190,000 monthly listeners and more than 90,000 followers on Spotify. Songs from Pickin’ On have been featured in the television series Revolution and HBO’s True Blood. Other artists that have been given the Pickin’ On treatment include Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers Band, Coldplay, The Black Keys, Jack White, The Killers and many more.
Track listing for Pickin’ On Pearl Jam:
Once
Corduroy
Rearviewmirror
Better Man
Even Flow
Given to Fly
Spin the Black Circle
Daughter
Alive
Just Breathe
Yellow Ledbetter
Nothingman
