I think it’s pretty fair to say that we are living through a pretty tumultuous era. It seems like our politics have never divided us so much before as a country, and millions of people have taken to the streets across the last 18 months or so to voice their dissatisfaction with both the powers-that-be, and the policies they hope to put into place, or dismantle. To help voice their support for so many different grassroots uprisings like the Women’s March, the fight to save Obamacare, and the wave of students protesting gun violence after the shooting at Parkland, today, KT Tunstall and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready have unveiled a powerful cover of Tom Petty’s immortal hit song “I Won’t Back Down.”
Tunstall did a lot of the heavy lifting on the song, performing nearly all the instruments you hear on the track, including acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and percussion. McCready lent his own signature, electrifying guitar parts and served as the producer, while Thunderpussy drummer Leah Julius added the unrelenting percussion.
In the video’s opening the trio stated the goals they hoped to accomplish with the song. “The three musicians felt it would serve as a loud shout of support to all the people all over the world marching, protesting and standing up for justice and equality…Power to the people!”
You can watch KT Tunstall and Mike McCready’s rendition of “I Won’t Back Down” in the video above.
