DUTCHMAN Cover of Gordon Lightfoot Song to Benefit Canadian Wildfire Relief
Bandleader Connor Johnson cites Lightfoot, The Guess Who and The Band as key influences.
Delaware band DUTCHMAN has released a studio recording of Gordon Lightfoot's SUMMER SIDE OF LIFE, with all streaming royalties from the track directed to the Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian Wildfire Fund. The recording arrives as wildfire smoke has drifted across the border into the band's home skies in Delaware, prompting bandleader Connor Johnson to frame the release as a response to the human toll of the disaster rather than the political tensions between the two countries.
For Dutchman, the decision had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with people. Watching wildfire smoke drift across the border into their own skies in Delaware, bandleader Connor Johnson found himself troubled less by the fires themselves than by coverage that seemed more interested in assigning blame than helping the people living through the disaster. 'We found the current situation troubling not only because we could see it from our homes but because no one should have to wonder whether they have a house tomorrow.' Johnson says. 'In music there are no borders, countries or sides. Just musicians and listeners. In the end we're all just human beings trying our hardest to make the best of it.'
That philosophy is baked into the choice of song. Canadian music has shaped Dutchman's sound and sensibility since childhood, and the band points to Gordon Lightfoot, The Guess Who, and The Band as touchstones long before they ever considered where those artists were from. 'A big chunk of our life's soundtrack comes from Canada,' the band explains. 'In America you don't learn much about Canadian history, but you can learn a lot from a Lightfoot tune.' Covering 'Summer Side of Life' became a way to honour that influence directly, at the exact moment Canada needed support most.
The band moved swiftly once the plan came together. Within a day of Johnson's idea, Dutchman had booked a television appearance on WBOC-CBS's DelmarvaLife and learned the song from scratch in rehearsal. They then went into the studio to record a full version, using vintage instruments chosen to mirror Lightfoot's own recordings as closely as possible, including a 1967 Gibson B45-12 string guitar identical to the one pictured with Lightfoot on the cover of 'Sundown,' a period correct Fender P bass in the spirit of longtime Lightfoot bassist Rick Haynes, and a Martin acoustic echoing guitarist Red Shea's tone on so many Lightfoot classics. The arrangement draws inspiration from Lightfoot's own 1972 BBC performance of the song, stripped of drums to preserve the same intimacy.
'The credit for making this happen really goes to Eric Alper as well as Gary Whitelock, & the band's studio engineer Ross Douglas as well as the whole team at WBOC-CBS for giving us the platform so quickly,' Johnson says. 'I think it was about 72 hours or so from my initial phone call to everyone to taping the performance and interview for television. I would also like to give credit to the guys in the band for moving their respective schedules around last minute to accommodate the short notice plan.'
Bassist Garrett Gravatt says the recording session itself became something the band will remember for reasons well beyond the cause behind it. 'We purposefully decided to record Summer Side of Life live in the studio together, and with our period correct instruments to pay homage to Gordon Lightfoot and his band,' Gravatt says. 'What you hear on the recording is the second take we did. Connor sang while he played the Gibson 12 string and I sat in on bass trying my best to replicate Rick Haynes' exceptional musicianship, with the string arrangement overdubbed shortly after by our gifted arranger Mitchell Wiseman, who also had taken time out of his vacation in support of the cause.'
Every link tied to the release points listeners directly to donation pages for both charities, with royalties routed through an independent distribution channel to ensure funds reach the intended recipients without delay. It is a small gesture measured against the scale of the wildfires, but one Dutchman hopes carries meaning beyond the dollars raised. At a time when so much public conversation between the two countries has turned toward disagreement, an American band choosing to spend its summer break honouring a Canadian songwriter, and directing every cent of the proceeds north, stands as its own kind of statement, one written entirely in the language both countries have always shared.
Johnson has said the band's connection to Canadian music, including the work of Gordon Lightfoot, The Guess Who and The Band, shaped the decision to record the cover as a charitable gesture.
