Americana Highways presents this premiere of David Starr’s version of Bob Dylan’s song “Gotta Serve Somebody”; part of Starr’s evolving album project Touchstones. Touchstones will be the culmination of Starr’s releasing one song a month for an entire year. “Gotta Serve Somebody” was produced by David Starr and Mark Prentice, with co-production by David Kalmusky. All of the songs were recorded, mixed, and mastered at Addiction Sound Studios in Nashville by David Kalmusky along with Ethan Barrette and Alberto Sewald.
“Gotta Serve Somebody” was written by Dylan for his 1979 Slow Train Coming. This interpretation is David Starr on lead and background vocals and electric guitar; Mark Prentice on bass and keyboards; Matt Bubell on drums; Mark Prentice on electric guitars; Dan Dugmore on lap steel; and Michelle Prentice on background vocals. Starr and company capture the restrained sultry groove of the song impeccably here. It feels like the restraint of 2020 building up and waiting to rock out into next year, in this case, with the rest of the Touchstones album too. Enjoy it.
When I was putting together a list of songs for the Touchstones project, Bob Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” kept rising to the top. Not only does this song have a soulful, swampy feel, it speaks unambiguously to the choices we humans are faced with between right and wrong, good and evil, truth and deception. It is clearly a song for this fraught moment, in my opinion. And it’s a blast to play with this great studio band! — David Starr
Follow the project here: https://www.davidstarrmusic.com