Happy 4th of July from Wild Up | Nick Deyoe’s SSB #3

BBQ’s, dogs with frisbees, patriotism (the good kind), pie dishes gathering condensation just the moment that they leave the fridge, competition for competition’s sake, family, the family one chooses, whiskey sodas, a spare firework with grandpa, American brews, hot dogs like they mean it with mustard and pickle and tomato ketchup, a pool with simply too many joyous people swimming in it, long jump on the lawn, just lawn games generally, people in inner tubes on a river with leashed coolers in tow, bathing suits perhaps too small and with a national logo, regionalism and poor decisions, love in the air, the sound of acoustic guitars with the smell of fresh cut grass, peach pie, social commentary, and commentary years and years hence on whatever that previous commentary was about, a palace of sound played for hundreds of thousands of people at once, Jimi Hendrix….

The Fourth of July is an incredible American pastime. In a more pure moment of pre-2016 naive nationalism, we thought this video was a good idea. I mean, OK, maybe we still think it was an at least an OK idea. Here’s the deal: this is a cover of a cover. Nick Deyoe writing shredding shards of distorted metal pouring directly from two sources, the most unlikely of sources, a cello and a bassoon, the artistry of Archibald Carey and Derek Stein. An homage and cover of Jimi Hendrix’s cover of our National Anthem, a song inspired by the raising of a massive flag, September 14th, 1814 — our “Star Spangled Banner.” Hendrix performed the anthem dozens of times, and famously at massive “Aquarian Exposition” in Bethel New York. Woodstock was a “3-Day Festival of Peace and Music.” For the show, Hendrix performed “The Gypsy Suns and Rainbows” for the first time, with an ad hoc band. An incredible idea. An idea and a musical moment that changed the world.