The Eagles’ Glenn Frey died five years ago today. The singer/guitarist was one half of arguably one of the greatest songwriting duos of the rock era. The band’s Greatest Hits album—containing classics such as “Lyin’ Eyes,” “Desperado,” and “Tequila Sunrise”–was the single best selling album of the 20th century in the United States.
While the band’s legacy includes dozens of instantly recognizable classics—and thousands of bands have covered their material in a live setting—there aren’t too many covers available online. Surviving member and co-founder Don Henley controls the publishing, and he’s notorious for protecting his property.
There are, however, Eagles covers to be found on YouTube. Some, in fact, that have been up for years and received millions of views. There are a scant few that have been recently uploaded, but not too many of high quality.
But we did manage to find a great clip that has been up for a few years, has not gotten many views, and contains a solid performance. Since we are in the business of promoting musicians who we feel deserve some recognition but haven’t gotten the proper exposure, our pick this week is a young lady from the southwest U.S. named Briana Payne.
According to her Facebook page, Payne lives in southern California and has gigged with her band—aptly named The Briana Payne Band—near her home as well as western Arizona. Her YouTube channel offers a bit over a dozen videos dating from 2013 to the present, with both full band and solo clips in the mix.
It’s hard to tell from her online presence how active Payne is with her craft. On one hand she has past gigs listed on her FB Page, and we imagine she’s been shut down with live shows just like the rest of us. On the other hand, there’s not a lot of activity with any of her socials. But one things for sure…the girl has talent.
We were lucky to find this clip of Payne singing The Eagles’ “Take It Easy.” It’s one of the most often covered songs by rock bands, but Payne is a country girl, and the Eagles have also been well represented in that genre.
This video appears to be shot in her home where she strums on an unseen acoustic guitar and sings live. Her voice is sweet with just a touch of country twang, her pitch is dead on, and her guitar playing is more than capable. Watch the clip below, and share using the buttons below.
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Do you have a clip worthy of Video of the Week? Send an email to steve@coverbandcentral.com with a link to the clip (must be a YouTube video) and a brief summary as to why you should be chosen, and you could be our next selection!
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