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KC Armstrong is Thinking Of Someone Else Tonight

The singer-songwriter gives a vintage track a fresh new coat of sonic paint.

KC Armstrong isn’t the only one who wishes he were holding Someone Else Tonight in his latest single and video — showcasing today on Tinnitist.

When musicians revisit older songs, it can shed light on a certain time and place — and provide an opportunity to refresh a vintage cut with a new coat of sonic paint. For Brantford, Ont., Americana musician Armstrong, the pandemic was a time to rediscover old gems like Someone Else Tonight — the latest strikingly solid single from his Finally Crafted album.

Someone Else Tonight was originally recorded for Ranchsongs, an album released in the mid ’80s by Armstrong’s previous band Cadillac Ranch. Armstrong says that version was “recorded live off the floor in about three takes with no rehearsal.” For this update, the process was deliberate, with files sent back and forth via e-mail after recording was done in each musician’s home studio. Armstrong says he started with drum tracks, then bass, 12-string acoustic guitar, and a scratch vocal. “Doing the recording in this fashion, you might think there would be no synergy between the musicians; each in their own cities, each at a different time — but this was not the case.”

Guest musician Bobby Brioux, who plays mandolin on the song, was given the bare-bones backing tracks as a guide and asked to “play away.” Similarly, keyboardist and accordionist Steve O’Connor had only been told to be “eerie and foreboding.” Neither knew what the other was playing. “It was astounding,” Armstrong says. “There was only one small bar of music in the whole song where both musicians were playing simultaneously. The rest of the song fit together perfectly while also allowing guitarist Barry Haggarty places to showcase his talents. Another cosmic bit of good fortune emerged when Armstrong unknowingly left both of Haggarty’s guitar tracks in the song. When played simultaneously, they created a gorgeous ‘twin solos’ effect.”

Someone Else Tonight brings to mind a dark and mysterious collage of folk, blues, swampy country and Americana similar to Steve Earle’s Transcendental Blues or Gordon Lightfoot’s darker moments. A Celtic hue adds great results as the song has a surefire, steady pace demanding your attention. Alongside Armstrong (who sings and plays bass), Brioux, Haggarty and O’Connor, Someone Else Tonight features vocalist MaryEllen Allen, saxophonist Sean O’Connor, guitarist Scott Utting and drummer Jake Adams.

Watch the video for Someone Else Tonight above, listen to Finally Crafted below, and spend some time with KC Armstrong on his website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.