This year has come with a lot of unintended consequences for people. The impacts of COVID-19 have been far-reaching and the lasting effects, both health-wise and the reverberations the pandemic will have on our collective societal psyche, have yet to be fully understood. One thing we might have anticipated, however, was the red-eyed, no-limits-but-your-own lifestyle of hardcore Netflix binge-watching that a quarantine might induce.
The new single from Adam Baxter, “Keep Safe”, is not the public service warning for six-feet-of-safety and wash-your-hands-while-you’re-at-it that you’d expect, but the result of taking in the first full season of Ozark.
Baxter explains, “The song is about quickly getting home and bunkering down with your loved one while the world outside becomes more and more concerning.”
“I originally wrote this song after watching the first season of that show, Ozark. I was so freaked out by the shows intense nature that I went around the house, locking the doors, turning off the lights and pulling down the blinds. I seriously thought the Mexican drug cartel was coming for me. I get a little freaked out with intense shows. Then I wrote this song pretty much sitting in the dark until Tia, my wife, for home. I think I may have overreacted a bit… But at least I got a good song out of it!”
Baxter says he has no particular ties to drug cartels of any affiliation, but hasn’t ruled out the possibility that something similar could happen.
“Absolutely nothing,” says Baxter of his nefarious connections, “But dude just got kinda dropped into it – I thought my luck would go South!”
Pulling together a gang of his own, Baxter has brought in musicians from across Newfoundland and further abroad, noting that “Keep Safe” was still recorded with all the safety of social distancing in mind, with the musician recording in eleven different home recording stations across the world (Eight in Newfoundland, one in Quebec and one in Tokyo, Japan).
“The flute player, Sophia Chaffeyis a grade 12 student of mine,” says Baxter. “She is the first flutist in my concert band. I think it’s cool to have given her the chance to play on a single with someone like Chris Harnett from the Ourobouros.”
Musicians on Keep Safe:
Stuart Gallant, Kippens, NL – Drums and Percussion
Rick Waterman, Corner Brook, NL – Bass Guitar
Phia Chaffey, Lewisporte, NL – Flute
Kathy Conway-Ward, St. John’s, NL – Oboe
Chris Harnett, St. John’s, NL – Tenor Saxophone
Erin Sharpe, Tokyo, Japan – Trumpet
Michael Snelgrove, Grand Falls-Windsor, NL – Trumpet
Tony Batten, Gander, NL – Baritone and Alto Horn
Sean Jessome, St. John’s, NL – Trombone
Russell Peddle, McMasterville, QC – Tuba
Adam Baxter, Campbellton, NL – Guitar, Vocals, Piano and Clarinet
“This project is the 2nd of a six (or possibly seven) song collection (or album) that is intended to be a somewhat large scale collaboration,” says Baxter, with the single following on the tails of “All My Friends“, which was released in late April.