I’ve always been a huge fan of Queen. Way back in the stone age of 1980 before stadiums had corporate sponsorship, I saw Queen at The Oakland Colliseum. (No “McAfee”. No “Oracle”. It was just called “The Oakland Arena”.) It’s still the greatest rock concert I’ve ever seen. And probably ever will. Along the same lines, I love a good Queen cover. My rule on cover tunes: Don’t play it like the original, or what’s the point, really? Make it your own. For example, listen to L.A. songwriter Grey Delisle’s take on “Bohemian Rhapsody”. It’s stark. Just her and an autoharp. And it’s quite brilliant.
That said, I’m continually overwhelmed (in a good way) by the amount of music and the number of musicians that I stumble upon. On Monday afternoon, I finished an interview with Antsy McClain of The Trailer Park Troubadors. Antsy was travelling and doing a quick California run with fingerstyle guitarist Edgar Cruz, so I interviewed Edgar, too.
When Edgar told me he did a note for note version of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, I asked him to play it, and he did. Turns out it’s on his instructional video, which has been authorized by Queen guitarist Brian May and features a few other Queen classics as well.
Pretty inspiring (well, humbling more likely) stuff. Both Antsy and Edgar will be featured interviews in upcoming episodes of my “Songs and Stories” podcast. Check back here in a few weeks or sign up on my mailing list to find out when these interviews are posted.