Jeremy Fetzer Teams Up With Duane Eddy on 'Mendocino' [Fresh Track]

It's an uncommon and very special treat to hear something new from Jeremy Fetzer. Depending on your frame of reference for local music, you might know him from a great, long-defunct band called The Deep Vibration, or as a guitarist for ace songwriters like Andrew Combs and Caitlin Rose. You could also know Fetzer as a topflight graphic designer, or as a co-founder of the mostly instrumental country-psych-funk band Steelism.

Way back in 2017, not long after Steelism released their great second LP ism, Fetzer released a short EP of his own work called Wisdom of the Octopus. Wherever Fetzer takes his Telecaster, you can expect the melody lines to be clean and crisp and to lead off into places you didn't expect. Today, Fetzer has announced he's launching a new label just for instrumental music called Fetzicon. And its first release is a doozy.

Above, stream the single "Mendocino." It's not an interpretation of the Sir Douglas Quintet classic. But it is a dark and rich piece that ever so slightly recalls "Rebel Rouser," one of the signature tunes of guitar legend (and Nashville resident) Duane Eddy. And appropriately enough, Eddy himself — someone whose work beginning in the 1950s has shaped the way we hear and think about electric guitars — plays on the track.

“I was introduced to Duane and his wife Deed back in 2012 at a Sirius Radio event in downtown Nashville where I performed with Caitlin Rose and Spencer Cullum,” Fetzer writes in a statement. “They couldn’t have been kinder. I took a chance years later — I had the basic melody theme and band arrangement of 'Mendocino' and kept hearing a Duane Eddy-esque guitar sound playing the lead. Steelism studio collaborator Charlie McCoy gave me Duane’s contact. It’s been an incredible experience getting to know Duane during this recording process — he has incredible rock and roll stories for days.”

Head over to Fetzer's website to get a copy of the "Mendocino" 7-inch, which has the stereo mix of the track on the A side and the mono mix on the B side. Fetzer says all proceeds from sales in April will be donated to Hands On Nashville for tornado relief efforts and to MusiCares' relief fund for musicians who've lost work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And keep your eye on the site for news about Fetzer's next release via Fetzicon: It's set to be a solo EP called Phases, due to drop in June.