Music created by The Roving Apatosaurus showcases a collaboration between multiple independent freelancers and aims to reinvent classic songs under a new light. In this case, John Deere Green, a Joe Diffie original, comes through with a colourful and family-friendly sort of ambiance – an organic and joyful way to let the story within shine brightly.
For me, this was my first time – to my knowledge – of hearing this song. The collective have done a grand job in representing it. The music pours through almost like a live show, the instrumentation is clear and professionally, skillfully captured, the vocals offer a sense of character and genuine connection to (or enjoyment of) the story, and all of this makes it feel like something of a classic pop-rock fusion (with a few flickers of Americana just to further that reach). The guitar work in particular holds close to this sentiment, though elsewhere there are some wonderful dashes of saxophone, and the drum-line is also well worth appreciating as things evolve.
Set-up is everything with a song like this, in order for it to welcome an audience of all ages and backgrounds, in order to leave a mark – you have to be able to lead into that chorus section in an appealing way. It’s a strong but subtle hook, mellow and not overly attention grabbing, so the instrumental stepping stones are crucial. The creative machine that is The Roving Apatosaurus has structured and built up each moment in the perfect way, in my opinion, so much so that you can easily tell that a live show from the band – should that ever somehow come to fruition – would be a lovely way to spend an evening.
The way this project has introduced a touch of so many different genres lets the melody and concept of the song stand tall, almost is if it’s a short piece of theatre. It works well and I look forward to browsing back through the rest of their collection and any more that may surface in the near future.
Instrumentals by Pitch Perfect Productions, Jerusalem, Israel – Alon Leon Hillel. Download the single via iTunes or stream it on Spotify.
