Fretsore Records would like to welcome critically-acclaimed country-soul duo My Darling Clementine to our roster. The news comes ahead of a new 4-track ‘Country Darkness’ EP of Elvis Costello interpretations due later this year after collaborating and reworking numerous songs with Steve Nieve of The Imposters/The Attractions.
My Darling Clementine is comprised of vocalist and pianist Lou Dalgleish and guitarist and singer Michael Weston King. For this project they reunited with Richard Hawley alumni Colin Elliott, Stan “Shez” Sheridan and Dean Beresford, with whom they made their much-loved 2nd album ‘The Reconciliation’, to help Michael and Lou realise their ambitions. It was produced by Colin Elliot (Hawley, Jarvis, Duane Eddy, Kylie).
Having toured extensively across Europe and North America for the most of a decade, Dalgleish and Weston King returned to the studio earlier this year to craft the follow-up to their 2017 release ‘Still Testifying’. The new release will include an exclusive vinyl pressing and will be accompanied by a European tour and selected UK dates this autumn.
Label head Ian Sephton shares his thoughts on the signing.
When Michael told me about their plans to re-interpret for duet carefully selected songs from Elvis Costello’s songbook, I knew it would be something special. It will delight My Darling Clementine fans, intrigue and attract EC fans, and have a wide appeal due to the co-writing credits including Paul McCartney and Loretta Lynn. And of course, having the amazingly talented Steve Nieve involved in the project is icing on the cake. This EP is the first part of the larger Country Darkness project, so there’s more to come!
Michael Weston King writes on the inspiration behind the record.
Making these recordings took me back to my 19-year-old-self, out buying a copy of Almost Blue during my lunch hour. It was Elvis and Steve’s making of that album which set me, and I think many others of my generation, off along a country path to discover more about this form of music previously only viewed with suspicion. For me it became something of a pilgrimage, a vocation, even a “career.” So this feels like the completing of a musical circle of sorts – to record a selection of some of mine and Lou’s favourite EC country songs with the added thrill of performing them with Steve.
For more on My Darling Clementine please see:
Website: https://mydarlingclementinemusic.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mydarlingclementine.music/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/My_Darling_Clem
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