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For the second instalment of her Honeysuckle Friend Sessions, Rachel McIntyre Smith duets with Gabe Lee on a version of John Prine's 'Spanish Pipedream,' a song about a soldier and a topless dancer who shares some of her homespun wisdom with him before they run away together to live the good life somewhere.
"When I was creating my new EP, I thought to myself, 'What's a project called Honeysuckle Friend without any friends on it?'This led me to the idea for the Honeysuckle Friend Sessions, a companion video series where I invite my musician friends to my home to cover a song with me," Rachel McIntyre Smith explains about how the idea came about. "Over the past few years, I have been fortunate enough to meet some very kind and talented musicians. I wrote down a list and started reaching out to them one by one. Some of them were people that I had only interacted with on social media and some were very close friends. Regardless of our relationship prior to recording, I left every single session feeling like I was honeysuckle friends with my collaborator."
Originally included on John Prine's debut album in 1971, 'Spanish Pipedream' became a favourite in his repertoire over the years. Filled with enticingly carefree advice, the song sums up the late '60s hippie ideals as the exotic dancer dishes out some much-needed guidance to the soldier and encourages him to live a more simple life.
"Blow up your TV / Throw away your paper / Go to the country / Build you a home," she tells him in the chorus. "Plant a little garden / Eat a lot of peaches / Try an' find Jesus on your own."
In this sedentary, anxiety filled digital age, it feels like running away to Spain to eat peaches is some advice we could all take to heart; although John Prine admitted he himself never quite followed through with the advice to blow up his own television set.
“I used to keep a small bowl of real fine pebbles that I picked up on my mail route, and if somebody said something really stupid on TV I’d throw some at the screen,” Prine once told Performing Songwriter.
The video for 'Spanish Pipedream' by Rachel McIntyre Smith featuring the wonderful Gabe Lee is premiering exclusively on Holler below.
"I think that warm and welcoming atmosphere is evident in the videos," Rachel McIntyre Smith says. "These sessions are relaxed, acoustic recordings of songs that are significant to us in some way. The stripped-back production allows for the vocals and harmonies to take center stage. I'm so proud of these sessions and grateful for all the musicians who shared their talent and time. Some of the artists that are going to be featured include Gabe Lee, Julia DiGrazia, Janelle Arthur, Mary Heather Hickman, Scott Wolverton, and Summerlyn Powers. This series will continue into 2025 with more artists to be announced."
Raised in the small East Tennessee town of Oliver Springs, Rachel McIntyre Smith is one of a wave of singers and songwriters, along with artists like Halle Kearns, Emily Scott Robinson and Hailey Whitters, whose songs revisit and rework the sound of old school classic country and make it feel completely fresh while staying true to its storytelling traditions.
Rachel McIntyre Smith's latest EP, Honeysuckle Friend -which became the inspiration for these sessions - was released in August 2024 to widespread critical acclaim and showcased her easy breezy brand of dreamy classic country.
Honeysuckle Friend by Rachel McIntyre Smith is available now. Holler will be exclusively premiering another video from the Honeysuckle Friend Sessions in the coming weeks. To follow the video series, subscribe to Rachel McIntyre Smith's YouTube channel here
