Songs from the open road – seasoned musician, Andrew Jed releases bluegrass single ‘Panama City’
“‘Panama City’ brings all of those stories together into one rather unfortunate situation for a man whose poor choices have finally caught up with him.”
The best part about American bluegrass music, is its ability to truly showcase the performer’s talent – be it on stage or in studio, there will come a time when the musician will need to step it up and execute a jaw dropping solo.
In traditional bluegrass music these moments are called ‘breaks’ and are a core part of the type of music.
It’s these aspects that draw singer-songwriter, Andrew Jed, to the genre. He is originally from the US, but recently relocated to Lynnwood in the east of Pretoria.
A seasoned musician, the award-winning multi-instrumentalist has been writing music, producing in studio and performing on the stage for decades.
Jed has just released his new single “Panama City”, off his album Silver Star. The song is an up-tempo bluegrass tune with a modern edge to it.
“Some might call it ‘new grass’ or ‘mountain grass’ as it adds instrumental elements that are not part of traditional bluegrass.
“Of course you have guitar, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle, but you also have drums, electric bass, and a B3 organ added to the production. All this fresh instrumentation makes a song like this one, a new classic,” he said.
When asked what he loves most about bluegrass music, he said that the best bluegrass songs usually play with themes of love, death and really bad decisions.
“‘Panama City’ brings all of those stories together into one rather unfortunate situation for a man whose poor choices have finally caught up with him.”
All songwriters, musicians and recording artists want their music to resonate with others.
With bluegrass music, Jed’s aim is to get people up and moving and singing along to his songs – simply having a good time. Moreover, an artist wants people to discover the song on your album that makes them play it over and over again.
“It’s an absolute barnburner. It’s a ripping tune that has a great hook, a well-written chorus, a fun imaginative story, and tons of opportunity for great musicians to let it rip and show off their skills,” he added.
The song was originally written in 2021 and released last year. Since then the song has been modified.
Jed brought in South African musician Dan Patlansky to rework some of the guitar parts.
“I recently met and got to know Dan, who, in my opinion, is one of the best guitar players in the world right now – and I don’t say that lightly.
“I’ve been looking for an opportunity to bring Dan in on one of my songs. ‘Panama City’ was the perfect song to showcase Dan’s world renowned guitar skills and to create some fantastic interplay with my mandolin and banjo.”
Other phenomenal artists who features on the album includes Conrad Rudolph and Siobhan Lloyd-Jones.
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