The Beatroot Road continue to joyfully commune with their own eclectic and musically daring muse on their intoxicating and thematically poignant sophomore single “It’s a Laugh in the West”, out November 22nd on digital platforms. An ambitious multi-genre collective spearheaded by Mark Russell and Hazel Fairbairn, the scope and influence of this alternative and world music fusion project continues to widen due to the wide open minds involved.
“This song is an irony within an irony. There is something wrong and twisted in the life that we live in the west; I don’t know what the answer is, but music is a medicine that can always be relied on to blow the confusion away, at least for a while.”
Written by Demmy James and Neil Harris with ‘Your Dinner’ for the 1980s, it’s now 40 years later and the message is still valid, which is curious allowing for all the changes that have happened since then. It started out as a jangly afro reggae song that somewhere along the way got accidentally hi-jacked by some jazz horns. These things happen.
Produced by Mark Russell, vocals by Sophie Smith & The Trueheart choir, and tenor sax from Ian Putz. Hazel Fairbairn plays rockabilly fiddle, with chops and slides. The bodhran based rhythm section, horn arrangements and other instruments are by Mark.