When I was a clean- cut suburban kid in my late single-digit years, I used to be afraid of AC/DC fans. Nowadays, hearing strains of the landmark Australian hard rockers’ “Highway to Hell” or “Back in Black” makes me nostalgic for a time simple enough for music to actually seem scary. To be fair, though, back in those days AC/DC did cultivate a somewhat malevolent image; these days, I imagine they’re mostly grateful to still get paid big money to travel the world and play to arenas full of screaming fans. In the image at right I attempt to juxtapose their former menace with the relative cuddliness of their current state.
For the uninitiated, here’s a clip of AC/DC’s best-known song:
If the prospect of still touring after 37 years seemed unlikely, the notion that AC/DC’s music would be given a second incarnation by a bluegrass tribute band calling itself Hayseed Dixie must have been even more farfetched. The flatpicking rock-and-roll devotees’ tribute to AC/DC made a sufficient splash for them to continue on with cover versions of their other rock favorites, including Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” and the J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold,” to name but a few… or rather, to name but the few that I bought and downloaded before I realized that a little bluegrass covering of rock tunes can go a long way. At least, in a single sitting.
Be that as it may, the fun of the initial AC/DC covers remains undiminished. Listen up for yourselves:
Hayseed Dixie have themselves an Amazon store page thingy. They peddle their recordings at various other online merchants too, which are linked on their homepage at www.hayseed-dixie.com. You can always see if their concert itinerary is going to bring them anywhere near you, in which case you could take advantage of their permissive audio and video taping policy, which stands as (presumably) a grateful homage to The Grateful Dead.
Tags: audio clips, childhood, cover songs, music
