Single Review: Keep On

Keep On is the title track of a Warratahs album released in 2006 (don’t mind that Spotty-fi has it as 2020). An almost lost song, as was the album, but a classic Barry Saunders story centred  around someone, could be an acrobat, somewhere, where they don’t want to be, meeting a woman who shakes stars from her hair, dreaming in the morning, drinking in the afternoon, realising that love is the only thing missing, and therefore it must be plain sailing from here, just keep on, keep on, keep on.

Fortitude, persistence, resilience, the traits of the average Kiwi battler, and now Barry teams up with a younger version of himself, the multi-genred Adam Hattaway with his ever-ready Haunters, to revisit this timeless theme.

Whereas the original had fiddle and largely acoustic, this time round we get harmonica and electric guitar, sharper, darker, a little more earnest, the discordant harmonies serving to accentuate the message and put it in a time capsule for ever more.

Of course Barry can sing with anyone, be it Delaney, Marlon, Jackie, Tami or even Ebony Lamb, anyone who can soften or harshen his underlying grit , dependent on the outcome desired.

With Adam there’s no exception, with the younger voice taking the high road and adding a wail of emotion to the mix. Adam Hattaway can also sing with anyone, and this little gem, grit meets grit, is one we hope starts a trend, an expectation, characterised by the pervasive feeling which prevails at the song’s send: we want more of this…..

Keep On is released today, May 19th, and Barry and Adam are doing a celebratory show tomorrow night, May 20th, at the Vogelmorn Bowling Club (who?, what?) in Wellington. Be the lucky ones and be there!