Americana Highways is hosting this premiere of Ian David Green’s song “Antony and Cleopatra Head for the Highlands,” from his forthcoming album Songs From the Wheel. The song and album were recorded and produced by Marty Hailey at Metro13 Music, Edinburgh, Scotland, and mastered by William Bowden at King Willy Sound, Launceston, Australia. The single will be available on January 20.
“Antony and Cleopatra Head for the Highlands” is Ian David Green on guitar, vocals, and harmonica; Rachel Walker on fiddle; and Marty Hailey on drums, bass, and piano.
Sometimes great new music comes out of nowhere and lands in your lap, and this is definitely the case with Ian David Green. Haven’t heard of him? You need to. “Antony and Cleopatra Head for the Highlands” is a wonderful, intelligent and heartfelt love song echoing through the ages, and the arrangement, the light touch on the instruments, and raw vocal delivery creates a timeless song too. And it’s more than relatable with Tony and Cleo this time. In playing the rest of the album, Songs From the Wheel, it quickly confirms this is the kind of music you’ll naturally be drawn to listen to.
“Antony and Cleopatra Head for the Highlands” is my Scottish love song. I recalled playing at an open mic night in a bar on Sauchiehall Street, a lively part of Glasgow, and imagined two characters meeting there and starting a love affair, albeit with quite differing memories of how it actually all began.
I like the contrast between the very epic-sounding names of the hero/heroine and their actual personalities and outlook – Tony and Cleo heading off to a Lochaber trailer park in a beat-up rent-a-car. At the end of the day it’s still love and that’s what counts.
I really like the instrumentation that Marty brought with the gently bouncing drums and bass, and Rachel’s fiddle playing just gels it all together. I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan in my youth and this is probably the most Dylanesque of my songs – if he ever got the chance to hear it I hope he’d approve. — Ian David Green
To listen, buy the single and/or pre-order the full Songs from the Wheel album on Jan 20, click here:
https://iandavidgreen.bandcamp.com/track/antony-and-cleopatra-head-for-the-highlands
Find more info on Ian David Green, here: https://iandavidgreen.com
Enjoy more new Americana music (and folk music of course!) on our playlist here: New Americana Music playlist by Americana Highways