Chris “BadNews” Barnes has just released his third album BadNews Rising. Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi) produced the record and also appears on drums. The sessions took place at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, with Hambridge also enlisting Kevin McKendree (Delbert McClinton, Anson Funderburgh) on keys, Tommy MacDonald (Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter) on bass and Pat Buchanan (Cameo, Hall & Oates) on guitar. Barnes, who began his career as comedic actor, co-wrote the 10 blues-infused originals on the album with Hambridge.

Today we premiere the official video for “I Slow Danced with Joni Mitchell.” Barnes tells Relix, “I wrote this song contemplating the highs and lows of my life, the accomplishments and the failures — from slow dancing with Joni Mitchell and drinking whiskey with Bill Murray to hitting a drug and alcohol bottom, losing my mother, who I miss the most, and the struggle to rise again. It’s the story of my wild and creative journey through the 70’s in New York City and Saturday Night Live, and the Hollywood Hills of the 80’s, and it includes notable characters like Joni Mitchell, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Eric Clapton, Hunter S. Thompson, Robin Williams, Saturday Night Live, Carol Burnett, Elwood Blues, and Sugar Blue. Looking back now from a more sober reality in these days of unrest, I’m glad I lived to write the song and tell the tale.”