Born out of a love of rock music and for the virtuosity of bluegrass musicians, CMH Records’ Pickin’ On series has continued for over three decades, producing over 80 albums of unique bluegrass renditions of indie rock, pop, heavy metal, music from films and more. On June 28 another title gets added to the acclaimed collection with the release of Pickin’ On The Doors. To celebrate, the first single and video for “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” is out today (5/31).
>Watch/Listen to “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” out now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMS1gM3dqio
Since 2003, Alabama bluegrass quartet Iron Horse have been the main recording artist for Pickin’ On, lending their incredible musicianship, precise picking, rich harmonies and endlessly creative arrangements, delivering clever twists on these classics. Here on Pickin’ On The Doors, Iron Horse turn their focus to one of the most iconoclastic bands of the 60s.
Formed in 1965 and lasting only a short 8 years, The Doors were countercultural figures who were nonetheless responsible for countless major hits and classic tunes. The band is responsible for eight consecutive Gold certified LPs and have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the bestselling artists of all time.
On Pickin’ On The Doors, the Alabama ensemble takes twelve fan-favorites by The Doors and reinvents them in an authentic bluegrass style. From “Break On Through (To the Other Side),” “Love Her Madly,” to “L.A. Woman” and “Roadhouse Blues,” Iron Horse brings a charming lightness and joy to The Doors’ fieriest tunes. The Pickin’ On series is one of the most beloved traditions at CMH, and this newest addition to the discography is sure to delight listeners of all kinds, and maybe even lend nonbelievers a new appreciation for the music of The Doors.
“It’s been a minute since we started working on this project of the Doors songs, but after stepping away from it for a bit and now giving it a fresh listen, I'm thinking, ‘we should have done this project sooner,’” shares Iron Horse’s Tony Robertson. “Their great songs just fell right into that bluegrass genre and made themselves at home. ‘Break On Through’ has all the grit and energy you can possibly fit into a three-and-a-half-minute song. You can feel the determination in the writer to just spew out every emotion he’s feeling and drive his story right into your soul. It was awesome for us to have the opportunity to work with such great material and present it this way...thanks to CMH.”
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.
Recent releases featuring Iron Horse, Pickin' On Pearl Jam and Pickin’ On Nirvana, were 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 170,000 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 The Doors:
Break On Through (To the Other Side)
Love Her Madly
Roadhouse Blues
Hello, I Love You
L.A. Woman
Love Me Two Times
People Are Strange
Love Street
Strange Days
Touch Me
Bird of Prey
Riders on the Storm
