Rising New York soul-rock outfit Melt has shared a new studio cover of Neil Young favorite “Harvest Moon” captured live at Asheville, NC’s Echo Mountain Recording.
Melt’s reimagined arrangement of Neil Young’s light and dreamy 1992 ballad takes a much more heavy-handed approach than the original, buzzing with atmospheric rock distortion, acrobatic dynamics, brass accents, and emotive vocal delivery from its first notes to its enveloping climax.
While a mellow folk-rock tune may sound like an unusual choice for this energetic band of 20-somethings—which features Veronica Stewart-Frommer (vocals), Marlo Shankweiler (guitar), Eric Gabriel (piano), Nick Sare (sax), and Lucas Saur (bass) joined by Andres Valbuena (drums) and Evan Lane (trumpet)—the group came by the cover organically. As Stewart-Frommer recalled to Live For Live Music, “At a rehearsal in August I remember desperately needing to run the set down for fall tour but spending the whole rehearsal ruining Neil Young’s ‘Harvest Moon’ instead. We immediately knew the cover was a keeper.”
“Serendipitously, we actually played under a harvest moon the night of our kick-off show at 9:30 Club in D.C.,” Stewart-Frommer continued. “Playing it felt like summoning a guardian angel of our first headlining cross-country tour. This cover had a serious hold on us, to the point where we closed every show on the tour with it, which is unusual since it’s a cover. We’d play it at soundcheck when the group needed a morale boost.”
Related: Daze Between New Orleans Reveals 2023 Lineup: Goose, Tank And The Bangas, Lawrence, More
Melt was in need of another morale boost when Hurricane Ian bore down on the group’s tour route in September of 2022. Pivoting away from the storm, the band instead headed to Asheville, NC for an impromptu studio session at Echo Mountain Recording. The project came together overnight as Melt scrambled to source housing, rain boots, and a local videographer.
The live “Harvest Moon” from that Echo Mountain session arrives today and marks the band’s first live studio video release in a year. The recording’s audio was engineered and mixed by Colin Fraser and mastered by Jess Burchett. The video, filmed by Craig Tracy of Sunroom Productions, was produced and edited by Melt’s Veronica Stewart-Frommer and Marlo Shankweiler. Watch the in-studio performance below.
Following a run of tour dates in late March and early April including a trio of shows supporting Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Melt will head to New Orleans, LA during Jazz Fest to take part in the 2023 edition of Daze Between New Orleans (May 2nd–3rd) alongside a festival lineup featuring Goose (two nights), Tank and the Bangas, Lawrence, David Shaw (The Revivalists), Neal Francis, George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, Eggy, J & The Causeways, The Quickening, and Honey Island Swamp Band. For single-day and two-day tickets to Daze Between New Orleans 2023, head here. For a full list of upcoming Melt tour dates, head here.
Melt – “Harvest Moon” (Neil Young) – Live from Echo Mountain
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