Americana Highways is pleased to present Dane Clark’s video premiere of Dane Clark’s song “When the Panic Sets In” from his album Songs From Isolation with John Sebastian, Abigail Clark and Jason Sturgeon.
The album was produced and arranged by the Backroom Boys, mixed at Dane Clark’s Thundersound Studio in Anderson, IN, and mastered by Alan Johnson at the Static Shack, Indianapolis.
“When the Panic Sets In” is Dane Clark on vocals and drums; Abigail Clark on vocals; Troye Kinnett on accordion and synthesizer; Randy Melson on bass; and Erik Scull on electric guitars and background vocals.
This video was conceived by Dane Clark and Sam Kinnett, and edited by Sam Kinnett. Against a foreboding backdrop kicked off with accordion, the song of the coronavirus pandemic is particularly resonant right now. In the early stages we all drew together in a unified awe as we embarked on the experience of quarantine from a prolific, brainless virus. Dane Clark nailed it in song. And the video, with distanced zoom performance, portrays it visually. Nice job.
“When The Panic Sets In” began with just that phrase on March 20. It was one week into coronavirus madness here in Indiana, I was doing my morning walk and got the idea to write some songs about the pandemic. I was without work and had plenty of free time so I decided to write about the strange situation we, as humans on earth, were suddenly in. I had half of “Six Feet Away” written in my head before I could get to my piano and figure out the chords. It was finished within the hour. I next started working on “When The Panic Sets In.” I came up with the music to that, and what ended up being verse 2 and verse 3, then set the song aside. That same afternoon I finished another entire song and started a fourth. My most productive day, by far, as a songwriter.
The first verse of ‘Panic’ was written in early April in real time the morning of the protests in Lansing, Michigan at the statehouse about people wanting to be able to go back to work. I was trying to capture lyrically a moment in American history that the entire country was witnessing. It was recorded that very week. My daughter Abigail’s vocals, Erik Scull’s haunting guitars and background vocals, Troye Kinnett’s menacing accordion and Randy Melson’s relentless bass enveloping my drum track and lead vocal made a track that could not have turned out better as far as I’m concerned. We were very honored a month or so ago when AARP put it 1st on their AARP Pandemic Playlist. When making the video I included all of the lyrics to make sure they were all heard and understood. This is the 9th video from “Songs From Isolation” and my favorite. Special thanks to Sam Kinnett for his editing prowess and being able to translate my ideas into the video that you see. Every video we have done has been done remotely, each in our own workspaces, with our respective iPhones. Kudos to Sam for making the sum greater than the whole of the parts. We as a band, 8 months later, have not been in the same room together. But we hope to be able to do so very soon. Thanks to all of you for watching and heartfelt blessings to everyone. — Dane Clark November 2020