Here’s the video premiere of KB Bayley’s moody interpretation of The Korgis’ global 1980 hit ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’. The song is utterly transformed and made into something altogether new by Bayley, whose spellbinding performance is steeped in introspection and sombre atmosphere. At the heart of the song is Bayley’s striking lap steel guitar, which is precise, atmospheric, and ethereal, particularly during his solo halfway through the song. His steel travels around the strings and frets on a melodic journey that is captivating to listen to and hypnotic to watch in the accompanying video.
Bayley describes how the song came into being: “This cover version was all about a collision of three ideas. First – the thread running through the ‘East Side Confessions’ album is the influence of place and memory on who we are. That song for me is all about being a teenager in a small seaside town – still a long way from adulthood, but leaving childhood innocence behind. It has a simple yearning quality which always takes me back there. Second, I do love leftfield covers: interpretations that take a song somewhere completely different from the original, away from its initial genre and arrangement style. Think Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails, or Charles Kelley and Wrecking Ball (beautiful, if you’ve not heard it.) I’d always been a fan of Beck’s version of this song. One night, I started experimenting on the lap steel and the descending keyboard chords of the original Korgis’ tune seemed to land nicely – somewhere different and unexpected, new but still familiar. And lastly – like a lot of the songs on the album – it was about collaboration. I’ve worked with Jonny Martin on soundtracks, and he paints beautiful textures with his electric guitar – his clouds of sound seemed to blend perfectly with the acoustic simplicity of the Weissenborn. Sarah Carter is an amazing artist and singer, her voice possessing an intimate quality that draws you in. She created these beautiful vocal layers and call and response lines, which built on the yearning feeling inherent in the song.”
The video, filmed and edited by Nick Ross, captures the mood of this version of ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’. Bayley explains: “The video was filmed by Nick Ross, in the churchyard next to the same church where the ‘East Side Confessions’ title track film was shot. It was fun to see passers-by stopping and listening with curiosity to this half-remembered song being played in a way they didn’t expect on a strangely-shaped guitar. That’s just the response I was hoping for…”
This is the second single from Bayley’s recent third album “East Side Confessions”, which featured six original songs and four carefully-selected and thoughtfully-reimagined covers. If you like haunting steel guitar notes that slide and shimmer, then seek out this album – it’s a master class in lap steel.
