It’s been a long time since listeners have heard new music from Mountain Home Music Company’s The Cleverlys, but the irrepressible bluegrass-based humorists are finally back — and with a bang at that, dropping not one, but two new singles that will delight their fans and likely make them some new ones, too.
Following in the vein of their inspired bluegrass remakes of songs like Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” and Kelis’ “Milkshake,” Paul “Digger Cleverly” Harris and his crew reach back some 20 years to make the Black Eyed Peas’ GRAMMY-winning “Let’s Get It Started” into a dobro, banjo and bass-driven rave-up that manages to be at once delightfully off-kilter and yet faithful to the spirit, if not the sonic palette of the original. Says Digger, “It’s a big risk taking on a song like, ‘Let’s Get It Started,’ being that it’s such a huge backwoods anthem and the Black Eyed Peas are steeped in Bluegrass tradition. I hope we were able to do it justice.”
"Let's Get It Started" is available in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL. Allowing listeners to feel as if they're inside the song itself, Dolby Atmos is familiar to many from its “surround sound” application in thousands of movie theaters. It is described by the respected sound technology innovator as “revealing depth, clarity and details like never before….a sound experience you can feel all around you.” Audio produced in Dolby Atmos adapts automatically to your Atmos-compatible device and system to give you an unexpected, all-enveloping sound experience.
On the flip side, The Cleverlys turned to an even older song: Steve Earle’s “Hillbilly Highway,” a 1986 single that helped to launch what Earle himself called “the great credibility scare” of late 80s country music. Here Digger and his nephews — Ricky Lloyd, Dale Vernon Dale and Steven Tyler Dale — along with his younger brother, Waspur, dish up their own kind of credibility, backing the twangy lead vocal with straight-ahead bluegrass picking and harmonies that make theirs the most down-home version yet. As Digger notes, “Many of us get the story behind ‘Hillbilly Highway.’ It’s somewhat autobiographical. My grandpa, dad and I have all driven down the ‘Hillbilly Highway’ — then we crossed the double yellow and failed a series of tests, which led to my grandpa’s truck being impounded and a body cavity search. A day that we will never forget.”
Audience favorites at the Grand Ole Opry, where they earn standing ovations with every appearance, The Cleverlys are a unique — and uniquely entertaining — presence in popular music. With the release of “Let’s Get It Started” and “Hillbilly Highway,” they are back — and while Digger Cleverly might add “for better or for worse,” there’s no doubt that fans are ready and waiting.
Listen to "Let's Get It Started" HERE and "Hillbilly Highway" HERE.
About The Cleverlys
The Cleverlys’ show is a one-of-a-kind comedy and music experience that consists of Dr. Digger and his nephews, Ricky Lloyd, Dale Vernon Dale and Steven Tyler Dale, along with Dr. Digger’s younger brother, Waspur. The New York Times wrote, “If Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs and Spinal Tap spawned a litter of puppies, it would be The Cleverlys.” Their unique comedy and high-level musicianship has landed them on the stages of some of the largest festivals in the country, like Stagecoach, CMAfest, Telluride, RockyGrass, PAC’s, theaters and even the Grand Ole Opry.
