NEWS
Press Release via AS Written, May 2022
VINCENT’S NOD TO LEGENDARY SONGWRITER RODNEY CROWELL WITH DEBUT SINGLE
When it comes to choosing a debut single, the choice can often be a tough one for a singer. After all, the world is full of amazing songs. Two rules-of-thumb, however, that are well worth being guided by if you decide to introduce yourself with a cover version, are pick a brilliant song, and then, crucially… do it justice.
With his decision to release RODNEY CROWELL‘s 1989 single MANY A LONG AND LONESOME HIGHWAY as his first record, Tipperary’s VINCENT VAUGHAN has picked a class song, and he has put his heart into it too.
Now available to request at radio and set for general release on Friday, May 13th – also Vincent’s birthday as it happens – Many A Long And Lonesome Highway will also be the first taste of a long-player project already in the works. The single comes hot on the heels of Vincent’s recent performance at the Smithwick’s Kilkenny Roots Festival.
Written by Rodney Crowell and Will Jennings, and produced by Crowell and Tony Brown, Many A Long And Lonesome Highway was the lead-off track from Crowell’s Keys To The Highway album, his sixth studio collection (released October 1989). The single climbed all the way to the #3 position on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in January 1990, spending 26 weeks in total on the chart. It also went all the way to the top of the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. The Keys To The Highway collection was the follow-up to Crowell’s iconic 1988 Diamonds & Dirt LP, the collection that produced all five of Crowell’s #1 hits.
For Vincent, deciding to cut a Rodney Crowell song as his debut single was made easy by the fact that – as well as being a long-time fan of the Texan – he’s also spent time in the great man’s presence. Back in 2018, the opportunity happened to come Vincent’s way to attend a songwriting workshop with Rodney in California. And not only that, Vincent has also shared a stage and a mic with the two-time Grammy winner. So choosing Many A Long And Lonesome Highway as his first single is also a respectful tip-of-the-hat to a man and an artist for whom Vincent has the highest respect, has long admired, and has always been inspired by.
That West Coast songwriting workshop was also the catalyst for what would become Vincent’s debut album, eventually bringing Vincent’s way the chance to perform with players who have backed figures as illustrious as Johnny Cash, Robert Earl Keen, and Jerry Jeff Walker. But that’s a story for another day.
And VINCENT VAUGHAN is a man with stories to tell, that’s for sure. Many A Long And Lonesome Highway is but the first chapter.
~ MANY A LONG AND LONESOME HIGHWAY, the official debut single from VINCENT VAUGHAN, will be available to stream on all platforms from FRIDAY, MAY 13th. The single is already available to request from radio stations nationwide. You can follow Vincent on Facebook and YouTube at Vincent Vaughan Music, and on Instagram and Twitter at @vvmireland.
On The Right TRAX 