Arden, North Carolina (March 26, 2021) — Crossing genres may be more popular than ever these days, but even so, it takes a confident, creative musician to go deeper than a superficial mash-up, especially when it comes to blending traits from fundamentally different realms like acoustic roots music and amplified pop-rock. For Organic Records’ Jeremy Garrett, it’s an ongoing process — not the only, but a persistent thread in his work — and his growing mastery is evident in his latest single, “Magic.”
“I am a sucker for love songs and I’m not ashamed to admit that I love pop music,” he confesses. “I don’t often do covers, but when I heard this song by the band Coldplay, it really spoke to me. Love should be magical and you’re lucky if you find it. This one goes out to all the lovers out there!”
“I had a blast layering and looping up some different parts on this song,” Garrett adds, “and I hope the ‘feel good’ vibe that I was going for really comes through in the track.”
That vibe is established from the song’s downbeat, as Garrett brightens the original’s almost somber mood with a jangly, percussive opening before swirling guitar chords outline the song’s harmonic progression amid flashes of carefully manipulated and layered fiddle and mandolin textures. Indeed, when the vocal finally emerges, the sound is at once rootsier and more unselfconsciously pop-flavored than the original — a finely-wrought, yet utterly organic illustration of Garrett’s own interpretive magic. And that feeling persists through the track’s shimmering six minutes of soulful singing, vivid saxophone-influenced fiddle passages and, always, irresistible groove.
More than an artificial yoking together of disparate elements, Jeremy Garrett’s “Magic” displays the musical force generated when a fearless artist not only reaches into different worlds, but does the hard and inspired work of bringing them into a convergence that reflects artistic integrity, deep personal belief — and, of course, the magic of love.
Listen to “Magic” HERE.
About Jeremy Garrett
Jeremy Garrett is known as an innovative fiddle player, expressive singer, and soul-searching songwriter in the GRAMMY Award-winning band, The Infamous Stringdusters, who broke onto the national scene in 2007, scooping up 3 International Bluegrass Music Association awards, including Album and Song of the Year. Since then, the group has become a national ambassador for progressive bluegrass, playing to club, theater, and festival audiences around the country.
To the fans of the Stringdusters, Jeremy is known as “G-Grass” or “Freedom Cobra” for his dynamic stage presence. When he is not touring with The Infamous Stringdusters, he turns his attention to his solo show, wowing listeners by using electronic effects to layer and loop multiple instruments and vocals. Jeremy also performs in all-star line-ups ranging from funk music to traditional bluegrass.
Jeremy has a more intimate side as a songwriter and has a broad catalog of originally crafted songs. He has contributed several songs to the Stringdusters, including the title track for their 2014 album “Let It Go,” winning first place in the Folk category for the 2014 USA Songwriting Competition. His songwriting collaborations include Darrell Scott, Oliver Wood (of The Wood Brothers), Jon Weisberger, Josh Shilling, Becky Buller, and more.