Singer, songwriter and 'Son of Dad' pays tribute to one of his main influences
For those who have seen Stephen Wilson Jr.'s thrilling live shows, they know the knockout comes during the one-two combo of “Year to Be Young 1994” into a cover of Nirvana's “Something in the Way.” Until now, fans have only been able to hear his grunge-country tribute on stage, but on Thursday – Wilson's birthday – he released an audio version online.
When Wilson performs “Year to Be Young” live, he often weaves in the melody of Nirvana's “All Apologies” to telegraph what's to come. “Stuck in my headphones for years on this one,” Wilson wrote on Instagram of “Something in the Way.” “Thank you for this song and this band.”
Directed by Jace Kartye, the video features Wilson sitting in a hallway to perform the song as another figure wearing Wilson's blue cardigan and a fox mask haunts the doors. Like a lot of what Wilson does, it's creepy and, at times, aggressive stuff (the way he strums his acoustic guitar in the solo is as scary as that guy in the mask).
Wilson is currently on tour in Europe, opening a series of dates with Joss Stone. He returns to the US for festival appearances at Country Thunder in Wisconsin, Faster Horses in Michigan and Headwaters Country Jam in Montana. He kicks off his first Son of Dad tour in September in Cleveland.
Last month, Wilson — who wrote about the loss of his father on his breakthrough album Son of Dad — released a cinematic video for “Grief Is Only Love” that recreates moments from Wilson's life, including learning how to box from his father. and gives the singer-songwriter an unseen narrator, who rides fantastically in the back of a car as his screen self races home to see his dad before he dies.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/stephen-wilson-jr-nirvana-cover-something-in-the-way-1235058175/