Personas are important, but they're distracting. I'm thinking of Pink, in particular, who has done so much to define herself as a wild-haired rocker bad-ass, that it's easy to totally overlook the fact that she's also super talented. In other words, it can be hard to hear -- over all the hollering and snarling she's rightfully famous for -- that Pink can sing like nobody's business.
Butch Walker looks real tough, too, but he's another story altogether. He's been chipping away at the music industry since the mid '80s, working as a songwriter, producer and a member of several successful bands. He's played pop metal, glam, and straight up rock with bands like SouthGang and Marvelous 3, never restricting himself to any particular genre. Between gigs he's made records for artists as diverse as Avril Lavigne, Lindsay Lohan, Hot Hot Heat, Pete Yorn, The Academy Is..., The Cab and, wouldn't you know it, Pink.
Outside of the studio, Butch and Pink (who share a motorcycle obsession, among other things) have been drinking buddies for ages. He played her "Here Comes The..." way back, when he first wrote it, and she was instantly smitten. Told Butch that if and when he ever recorded it, she wanted to take care of the harmonies for him. When the time came, that's exactly what she did.
In his latest effort, a solo stint that's produced a record called Sycamore Meadows, Butch Walker plays boozy, drawling rock, true to his Georgia roots. "Here Comes The...," the album's second single, is a rollicking bar room reel. And, although Pink doesn't appear in the hilariously weird mannequin-love video below, she carries the tune with backing vocals that ooze old-country soul. By checking her persona at the door, Pink lets previously overshadowed talent shine through, possibly ushering in a new direction for her music and a more solid identity for Butch Walker's.
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