Born out of a love of rock music and for the virtuosity of bluegrass musicians, CMH Records’ Pickin’ On series features the best in bluegrass, paying tribute to the biggest and brightest artists in rock and pop.
After revisiting some past recordings in the label’s back catalogue, it was clear the heartfelt and inventive take on “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” originally released on the 2007 album The Bluegrass Tribute To Guns N’ Roses, deserved a little extra attention. Performed by Alabama-based quartet Iron Horse, with this new video the music can be appreciated in a whole new way.
When Iron Horse approached this Guns N’ Roses classic, they did the unthinkable by completely forgoing the song’s iconic guitar intro. In doing so, they completely reinvented the song, taking its once epic melodrama and replacing it with a warm, nostalgic, and familial sweetness. With virtuosic instrumental performances and beautiful pitch-perfect harmonies, this cover shows Iron Horse at their best, approaching a rock classic with both creativity and admiration.
“Well, it's been a minute since 2007 and a lot of songs have been played, added and subtracted to our set list but one song has been with us through all this time, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’” Iron Horse’s Tony Robertson shares. “No matter the venue or reason for music to be played, this song fits every single situation. When we start into this song the crowds, no matter small or large, will erupt into approval as soon as they recognize the banjo and diamonding intro, and they will sing along until it's over. I think every person who’s ever heard this song can relate to it on some level either from memory or something they are experiencing at that moment in time. Everything ends but I don’t think this song ever will…enjoy!”
Though Pickin’ On started modestly in 1993 with the release of Pickin’ On the Movies, tributes to The Beatles and Eagles soon followed, and by 1997 the Pickin’ On Series was on fire. It continues to thrive with one hand in traditional bluegrass and the other in popular music, ready for the next chance to create innovative bluegrass music.
Recent releases featuring Iron Horse, Pickin' On Pearl Jam and Pickin’ On Nirvana, were well-received. Pickin’ On Modest Mouse and Fade to Bluegrass: The Bluegrass Tribute to Metallica both charted on Billboard’s Top Bluegrass Albums chart. The series currently has nearly 200,000 monthly listeners and more than 91,000 followers on Spotify. Songs from Pickin’ On have been featured in the television series Revolution and HBO’s True Blood. Other artists that have been given the Pickin’ On treatment include Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers Band, Coldplay, The Black Keys, Jack White, The Killers and many more.
