Music appears to run in the Young family as Bob Young, older brother to the one and only Neil Young, has released his debut single at the age of 78.
Proving that age is just a number, Neil Young’s older brother Bob has taken his first step into the music world by releasing his first single at the young age of 78.
Titled ‘Hey America’, the country bop was recorded with a band Bob calls The Peterboroughs, which includes Neil Young on harmonica and vocals, Mike Belitsky on drums, Travis Good on banjo, Ryan Weber on bass, and Melissa Pyne on fiddle and harmony vocals.
As for why Bob decided to make his music debut in 2020, he admits that while he had no musical aspirations like his younger brother, he felt compelled to do something after witnessing all the political discourse brought on by Donald Trump.
“I didn’t set out to become a songwriter and singer at 78 years of age,” Bob said in a statement (via Rolling Stone Australia). “It was and is an organic event. I was watching Donald Trump on TV a couple of years ago and wrote down a few lines.”
“When I got home, I found I could play those lines on guitar. Gradually, it became what it is now. It took a while to be able to play and sing the song from start to finish. When I could finally accomplish that, it was a victory.”
Describing the recording process, Bob says it all “happened at once.”
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“I had never done that either. It was a band performance that had spontaneity,” recalls Bob. “In another session, some vocal harmony was added, and Neil played harmonica. My perspective is simultaneously that of a participant and spectator. I am watching myself do this.”
“All you aging baby boomers out there, give it a shot. As Yogi Berra put it, ‘It ain’t over ’til it’s over, and even then it ain’t over.’ I agree. I have more songs, all from the same creative spark.”
Alongside the single was also a music video directed by his brother, actress Daryl Hannah and CK Vollick.
Talking about how the video was filmed while the pandemic is raging, Bob says it was done in “three separate shoots with the same background and assembled in post-production to look like three people singing together.”
Let Bob Young serve as inspiration that you’re never too old to do anything, and that includes a career in music.
Check out ‘Hey America’ by Young Bob & The Peterboroughs:
