Following on from the "Belfast Noir" stylings of the May promo for 'Three', VerseChorusVerse unveil another video today.

Capturing a live and pretty spontaneous performance on the streets of Camden Town, it finds Tony Wright playing a cover of '16 Tons'. Originally recorded by Merle Travis, Wright says the Tennessee Ernie version is his personal favourite.

"It's about as spontaneous as you can get,' editor Kiran Acharya says of the clip. "I had hoped to film Tony's headline show in Camden but couldn't get a ticket. The whole festival including VerseChorusVerse had long since sold out. So I was sitting with three friends when Tony phoned with half an hour to spare. He said 'just tell me where to stand and I'll belt it out.
"That afternoon I had been sitting across from the disused off-license and had spotted the word 'metal' scrawled up on the wall. I liked the suggestion of something heavier - and also the fact that the chain had gone bust. It seemed a natural place for the song. You can see my audio recorder perched on the ledge. I only noticed afterwards how all the colours corresponded to what Tony was wearing. Red, white, black: the colours of anarchy, and of course the passing London busses.
"The song's a working man's classic from the Kentucky coal mines, first recorded by Merle Travis in 1946. I knew the Johnny Cash version but not the Merle Travis one - or the Tennessee Ernie Ford version which hit #1 in America. Tony has reintroduced the song to his set so it was an honour to capture the VerseChorusVerse version. There are funny moments in the video but also impassioned ones. You can hear the traffic, but also see the veins in his neck."

VerseChorusVerse: Sixteen Tons from 147 Digital on Vimeo.