Ward Hayden and the Outliers: “Youngstown”

A story that starts in 1803. The Bruce Springsteen original “Youngstown” maps the history of Youngstown, Ohio, from its beginning as a boomtown for iron mining, through generations of steel mill workers, who sometimes thrived, but mostly just survived, until the steel industry collapsed into a shadow of its former self by the 1970s. The Ward Hayden cover drives the narrative from behind an acoustic guitar, weaving in a fine country accompaniment of bass, fiddle, drums, and steel pedal, to give the number a roadhouse zip that bucks a little bit of the melancholy belonging to the original. Off Little by Little, an album of Bruce Springsteen covers by Ward Hayden & The Outliers.

Stream, share, buy to your heart’s content.

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