The Singer and The Songwriter, also-known-as modern folk duo, Rachel Garcia and Thu Tran, are releasing a beautiful version of the classic Jackson Frank folk song, ‘Blues Run the Game’. Like a folk music cliché, they first heard the song around a campfire while on tour. They were so taken with the haunting, timeless beauty of the song that they decided to record their own version, following in the footsteps of the likes of Laura Marling and Simon & Garfunkel, who also covered this folk masterpiece.
The lyrics focus on travelling far and wide only to find that people everywhere face the same old struggles. When Garcia sings: “Wherever I have gone // The blues are all the same,” it resonates just as much today as it ever did. Garcia’s vocal has a grace and warmth that draw the listener in like an intimate conversation.
The accompanying video has a charming sense of nostalgia thanks to the public domain archive footage. This was Garcia’s idea as a way of overcoming social distancing restrictions during the lock-down. Ursa Major, an East Bay area video production team, collaborated with the band to produce the video, which we are delighted to premiere here on AUK. The song will be released officially on 10th July – the pre-save Spotify link is here. Enjoy this classic song for the lonesome.
stunning!
This is so beautiful and well done!