CLUTCH Releases New Version Of 'Willie Nelson' As Part Of 'Weathermaker Vault Series'

Maryland rockers CLUTCH have released a new studio recording of the track "Willie Nelson". The single is the sixth in a series of new studio recordings that comprise the "Weathermaker Vault Series".

"'Willie Nelson' is a song we wrote close to 20 years ago," says singer Neil Fallon. "It started making appearances in our sets recently, so we figured now was a good time to re-record it. This time around, Shawna Potter (WAR ON WOMEN) added back-up vocals and is in the video as well. And for what it's worth, 'Red Headed Stranger' gets regular play on our tour bus."

"Willie Nelson" was re-recorded and remixed by J. Robbins (JAWBOX, JAWBREAKER, THE SWORD, AGAINST ME!),and the track comes in at 3:21.

"Willie Nelson" was originally released in 2003 on CLUTCH's album "Slow Hole To China: Rare And Unreleased".

Other CLUTCH songs which were previously made available as part of the "Weathermaker Vault Series" include a reworked version of "Spacegrass", renditions of the Willie Dixon 1950s classic "Evil" (later recorded by CACTUS),ZZ TOP's "Precious And Grace" and CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL's "Fortunate Son", as well as a new version of "Electric Worry".

CLUTCH drummer Jean-Paul Gaster told Cory Blose of TotalRock Radio's "The Valley" about "Weathermaker Vault Series": "We got into the studio [in early 2019]. After we finished another U.S. tour, we jumped in the studio and we recorded a selection of songs. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a full album. But the idea is just to release a few things. And these will be completely just digital releases as well. We're sort of experimenting with that format — just releasing stuff for streaming purposes. And we'll see how that goes."

He continued: "It was fun to get in the studio, and we picked some songs that sort of all meant something to us in different ways. We also re-recorded a few CLUTCH classic songs, so those will be coming out as well. I suppose maybe in some ways it's sort of just a way to tide us over until we really get the juices flowing to record another album."

Gaster said that CLUTCH's insistence on recording and releasing new music comes from a pure place.

"As we all know, there's not a tremendous amount of money to be made in releasing albums anymore, so you have to do it because you wanna do it," he said. "And also too, it just gives us an opportunity to play some new stuff when we get out there on the road and play shows. We do not wanna be a band that gets up there and just plays the hits and that would be the end of it. This is not a nostalgia thing for us. For us, this is still very much a live working rock band. We have the desire to be creative and to play music, so we try to foster that in whatever way we can."

He added: "I can see a scenario where we'll release this collection of singles and maybe a few more, and then eventually we might put these all on a vinyl record and put them out.

CLUTCH's latest album, "Book Of Bad Decisions", was released in September 2018. The record sold 26,000 copies in America during its first week of availability, giving the group its third consecutive Top 20 album on the Billboard 200.

"Book Of Bad Decisions" was recorded was completed at Sputnik Sound studio in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Vance Powell.