Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Appalachian honky-tonk rockers SCATTERED HAMLET have released the official video for a cover of Twisted Sister‘s “Stay Hungry“.
The single and its video are a true product of love, one that is a heartfelt tribute to the band’s drummer, Jake Delling Le Bas, who is currently in a coma. The band’s singer / guitarist, Adam Joad, shared the details behind the song and the events that led to its being recorded:
“There we were, one second we were waiting to see if we landed a tour support slot with an artist we really looked up to, and then next, I got the call. The heartbeat of the honky-tonk metal machine, Jake Delling Le Bas, was celebrating his 30th birthday and fell off a third story balcony….. They didn’t know if he was going to make it. Later though, he did defy all odds and made it, but was in a coma with a traumatic brain injury. The kind of brain injury soldiers get from IEDs. I couldn’t make this crap up if I tried, it was like an episode of Behind The Music, but this time, instead of me watching it we were living it. I’m writing this nearly eight months later and I haven’t heard his voice since September.
“After talking with his family and the guys, we realized Jake didn’t work most of his adult life this hard to get the band to where we were only for us to decide we couldn’t move on. Honestly, that would piss him off most. Since the album cycle was cut short for Swamp Rebel Machine, we wanted to make something special so we put a call out to our fans on social media to pick a song for us to cover as a tribute for our fallen brother.
“We had some great ideas pitched to us and some not so great ideas [laughs]. Anyway, we demoed a few and they ran a complicated series of emotions: reflective, sad, sentimental… you name it, we tried to link that emotion to a song we could do justice. In SH though, we always had one gear and that’s balls out straight ahead. At the end of the day, we were still hungry and still wanted that same thing we were after the first time Jake, me and the early SH machine drove halfway across the country to SXSW in Austin to announce to the music community that we were here. So that’s when my older brother stepped in, the fella who gave me my first Kiss album and got me started on this journey, he said, “Do Twisted Sister.” My brother grew up on Long Island and he and his friends used to see them in their early days. I’d always been a fan, but I watched their documentary and thought, wow, these guys knew how to overcome. Here we are feeling sorry for ourselves and should be out kicking ass again.
“With the help of Jake’s best friend, and decorated producer, Jason Donaghy, and Jake’s younger brother, Alex, doing the video, this tune gave us a chance to get back on the horse and maybe when we play Warped Tour it can introduce some of the younger folks at the shows to the badassness that is Twisted Sister, or of course, Dee and the band can go N.Y. style on my ass if they think we messed up their song.”
That did not happen though, as Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider has publicly shared his support for the song via Twitter, as seen below. Check out the video now and find some up-to-the-minute touring news from SCATTERED HAMLET further below.
To coincide with the single’s release and hopeful recovery of Jake, SCATTERED HAMLET is planning to take to the roads of North America in July. The trek has been dubbed the “Stay Hungry – Stay Free” tour and the itinerary can be found below.
Tour Dates:
07/06 @ Little Harper Brewing – Nashville, TN
07/07 @ Coyotes – Shreveport, LA
07/08 @ NRG Park-Main St Lot – Houston, TX
07/10 @ Tennessee State Fairgrounds – Nashville, TN
07/12 @ Rockfest – Cadott, WI
07/13 @ Top Fuel Saloon – Braidwood, IL
07/14 @ Lifers – Algona, IA
07/17 @ Token Lounge – Westland, MI
07/18 @ The Electric company – Mansfield, OH
07/19 @ Evening Star – Buffalo, NY
07/20 @ The Rim – Norton, WV
07/21 @ The Nail – Ardmore, PA
07/22 @ Hucklebucks – Pottsville, PA
07/25 @ Shakas Live – Virginia Beach, VA
07/26 @ Ground Zero – Spartanburg, SC
07/27 @ Whiskey River Club – Anderson, SC
07/28 @ Jesco White’s Birthday – Leoma, TN
08/08 @ Side Stage Buffalo Chip – Sturgis, SD
08/09 @ Mainstage Buffalo Chip w/ Lita Ford, Kid Rock – Sturgis, SD
