A home recorded up-beat bluesy song featuring honkytonk piano, and New Orleans-style brass, with an hilarious video,
homemade during New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown, is threatening to become an unlikely lockdown hit.
In just over six days the video has had tens of thousands of views on Facebook and, with minimal commercial radio airplay of any kind, the song entered this weeks Official NZ Hot Singles Chart at #16.
Getting Sober For The End Of The World is the work of Wellington musician Darren Watson. Watson last hit the charts in 2018 with his album Too Many Millionaires.
Several high profile musicians have praised the tune highly. Powerhouse vocalist Tami Neilson says
“ . . you can smell the crawfish étouffée bubbling on the stove while a New Orleans first line shuffles and slinks past
the window, the lyrics carrying you along with the unifying connection of music and humanity.” While Mavis Staples’ guitarist Rick Holmstrom says “ It’s not easy writing catchy tunes that carry a message, but Darren pulls it off easily, singing in his big, soulful
voice: ‘...you can hold folks up, you can knock folks down, it matters what we do and what we say.’ Right on!”
Getting Sober For The End Of The World is available on all download and streaming platforms worldwide at the moment.
Audio: lnk.to/gettingsober