Hillbilly Vegas Drop New Collaboration With Paul Rodgers,
Announce “A La Mode” LP Release
Oklahoma Rockers Hillbilly Vegas have droppedtheir new single & video for “Mr. Midnight“, which was written by and features Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Paul Rodgers (Bad Company). The track is the 2nd single from their new album “A La Mode”, which is slated for release on May 8th via Quarto Valley Records. It’s the follow-up to the hit “I Hope You Know”, which is at #20 on the Rock Radio charts and still climbing.
“Mr. Midnight” is a heavy, electric blues-rock song that has a retro feel of ZZ Top ‘Tush’ mixed with the modern blues sound of Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. The edgy and slinky guitar riffs evoke images of Beale Street late at night, whiskey in hand, while on the prowl for good trouble – buoyed by the unmistakable Paul Rodgers ethos of classic 70’s rock and roll.
Paul Rodgers says “I wrote “Mr. Midnight” a few years ago when I was writing songs – that to my surprise – became an album ‘Midnight Rose’. I had no idea that the songs would become an album. But when Sun Records said that they would be interested in releasing a Paul Rodgers album you would have to be mad not to accept. I actually forgot that I had the song and that is why it was not included on the ‘Midnight Rose’ album. Bassist Todd Ronning from my solo band – who later joined Bad Company – played on the demo track for the song and was familiar with it”.
He continues “The song started with the guitar riff. I had it floating around in my mind, and I built the song around that. When I was looking for lyrics I was inspired by a feline. Cynthia, my wife, has a number of rescued cats, and there was one black cat in particular named Jasper. His coat was so sleek and black that I nicknamed him Mr. Midnight. You can let your imagination take it from there. When I heard Hillbilly Vegas’ recording of ‘Mr. Midnight’ – Steve (Harris) did such a great job, I felt they had it well covered. I did not want to disturb the flow created in their recording, but I had made a promise to the boys in the band – so I sang some lines, and it turned out very well.”
Hillbilly Vegas’ Steve Harris adds “Being part of something like this with Paul, who’s had such an impact on how we all hear rock and roll, was an incredible experience that we still can’t quite believe happened. His voice, his phrasing and the way he approaches a song…that’s the blueprint. It raises the bar, but it also reminds you why you started doing this in the first place, because you realize you’re not just making a record, you’re stepping into a lineage that guys like Paul built.”
