Stephen McCarthy and Carla Olson “Skip This Town” – Americana UK

Stephen McCarthy and Carla Olson “Skip This Town” – Americana UK
Photo Credit: Markus Cuff

Two americana icons join forces for a new rave up, ‘Split This Town’.   This is the second single from Stephen McCarthy and Carla Olson’s forthcoming duets album ‘Night Comes Falling’.   The tale of a con man and his exasperated girlfriend, the sepia-toned video show McCarthy performing in jail and other ragged locales while Olson chimes in via TV and longs for the open road. Guitars roar and an organ played by Skip Edwards, rips through a solo, a road song for sure. Each performer was shot separately and then edited together by director Tim Roth.

Of the song McCarthy says, I had an idea about a ne’er-do-well swindler whose luck was running out. A confidence man on the run with his gal who was trying to set him straight. She was in too deep to make a clean break. The story is a conversation between the two co-conspirators…I remember showing it to Carla and suggesting that she sing it in a way that showed she had some disgust with my character.”

The duets album brings together two performers with storied americana roots. Stephen first came on the scene in Los Angeles as one of the singers and songwriters as well as the lead guitar player in the Long Ryders. Along with Rank & File, Lone Justice and a few other acts, the Long Ryders helped launch what would later be known as americana. Combining the style of the Byrds and the raw energy of the Clash, they created a new twist on country music. Carla was one of the founding members of the Textones, a Los Angeles band that had a touch of americana mixed with straight ahead Rock’n’Roll. Carla followed her time leading the Textones with a series of both solo albums and collaborative albums with other artists including Gene Clark of the Byrds and Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones.

 



Ed Donnelly is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer and record producer from Los Angeles. He has worked with Willie Nelson, Crowded House, Marc Cohn, Jools Holland, Matchbox Twenty, The Cult, BoyHaunt, Gladys Knight, Trent Summar and The West Coast Mob, Smashing Pumpkins, Del McCoury, OK Go, Exodus, Molly Leach, Tom Morello, O.A.R., Madness, The Crystal Method, DrunkHungry, Deadmau5, Zac Brown, CrysP Tyger, Bighead Todd and the Monsters, Jake Shimabukuro, Barenaked Ladies, Tsar, Killola and more. Donnelly regularly performs with Nathan Jacques as well as Little Silver Hearts and records with GhostsDream. Little known fact: He previously held Top Secret Security Clearance with the U.S. Department of State and Q Clearance from the Department of Energy.
He currently runs The Barber’s Basement Recording Studio in Highland Park and is a partner in The Atmos at Lemontree Studio.

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