Band follows Korn’s cover of the same track
Nickelback is the latest metal band to release a cover of Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” since his death last month. The group teamed with guitarist and producer Dave Martone for the song that features hard rock dueling guitars that starts with a samba-feel drum beat, but no fiddle.
“Charlie Daniels seamlessly fused country, southern rock, Western swing, blues and bluegrass into a sound and style all his own,” says frontman Chad Kroeger. “More importantly, his ability to tell compelling and relatable stories through his songwriting has stuck with me to this day. None more so than ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ I was only five years old when that song came out and it remains one of my all-time favorites. A few years ago we recorded a rough take during a studio session with our good friend Dave Martone. It was a fun song to tackle and brought back so many good memories for us all. When Charlie passed last month, the world lost a music icon. I hope our version will bring half as much joy as his did for me and so many others.”
The cover, produced by Nickelback and mixed by Chris Baseford, features all four band members (Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger, Daniel Adair), along with modern guitar hero Dave Martone and is available everywhere now. The animated official video is below.
The original song is off Daniels’ 1979 album Million Mile Reflections. The song tells the story of a fiddle-playing man named Johnny who is challenged by the Devil to a fiddle contest. If Johnny wins, he gets the golden fiddle; if he loses, the Devil gets his soul.
Late last month, Korn released their interpretation of the track featuring YelaWolf. The band is donating 100% of the proceeds to Awakening Youth, which empowers young people who have lost regular interaction with a parent to life events such as divorce, addiction, death, and more, to realize positive change in their lives and awaken the motivation to be their best selves.
