Turnpike Troubadours Bring Out Red Clay Strays For Stellar Duet Of “Long Hot Summer Day”

Oh, I could get used to more of this duo. A little Alabama meeting Oklahoma action took place in Macon, Georgia, when the Turnpike Troubadours invited out their supporting act, the Red Clay Strays , on stage during their set for a little duet. Brandon Coleman, the frontman of the Mobile, Alabama, band, got up on center stage next to Evan Felker to lay down a stellar performance of Turnpike's hit song "Long Hot Summer Day." Recorded for Turnpike's incredible Diamonds & Gasoline album in 2010, the song was originally written and recorded by John Hartford for his 1976 Mark Twang album. Hartford also wrote "Gentle On My Mind," as well as a number of other popular bluegrass tunes. But if you have ever been to a Turnpike show, you know that this song is where everyone knocks the dirt off their boots, stomping their feet as soon as the fiddle opens the tune. Coleman's booming vocals take over the second verse. It takes him a second to see how his style of country will fit into the red dirt anthem, but after the first few words, he dials in and knocks it out of the park. "Well, I got me a girl in Pekin
She's a good old girl, okay
Oh, she's sittin' there waitin' by a window fan
On a long hot summer day..." After he finishes his lines, Felker looks like he has a big ole grin on his face before he gets ready to give back into the song. This is a collaboration I never saw coming, but now that I have gotten a taste of it, I need more from these two. This comment perfectly sums up how I feel after watching this snippet. "Imagine this at Cain's Ballroom." This is what will keep me up at night now.