Record: Non-Secure Connection (album) .. 2020
Features: Bruce Hornsby (piano, Chamberlin, keyboards, vocals); James Mercer (vocals); Rob Moose (string arrangement, violin, viola); Gibb Droll (guitar); John Mailander (violin); J.T. Thomas (Novation keyboard); J.V. Collier (bass); Chad Wright (drums).
From Bruce Hornsby on Apple Music:
“I wrote this song inspired by a conversation I was having with my older brother who’s a big music fan, loves the old ’60s and ’70s music he grew up on. We were talking about the great old Stephen Stills band Manassas, and the first record they made [1972’s Manassas], this double record that was just really, truly great. Maybe the most famous song on the record is a song called ‘The Treasure’. It was this epic, sweeping piece, and our discussion made me go back and listen to it, and I decided I want to write a piece that gives me the same feeling. I guess you could say it’s the least abstract song on the record. It’s a Sisyphean tale of the creative life, of the ups and downs. I wanted an angular melodic line in it, and I was inspired by a Shins record that I liked. So I wrote the song, and I thought, ‘This sounds like something on which I’d like to sing a duet, and there’s a Shins-esque area in this song.’ I’ve never met this guy but I’m a huge fan, so I reached out to [Shins frontman] James Mercer, through the channels, manager to manager, and he got back and said, ‘Yes, please send me the song.’ Long story short, he liked the song, and we sent him the track and he sang beautifully on it. Now we’re friends. So friendships can happen through music, and here’s a perfect example of it. It’s one of the songs on that record that I’m the most proud of.”