Danny Burns Hummingbee
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Song Premiere: Danny Burns' Enchanting 'Hummingbee,' Featuring Mindy Smith and ChessBoxer

Irish-American singer-songwriter Danny Burns melds a variety of transatlantic influences on his forthcoming album North Country (out on Jan. 18). Born in Ireland's County Donegal, Burns spent several years traveling in the states before settling in his current home of Annapolis, Md. The album, which Burns produced, reflects his folk, bluegrass and country roots.

Today, Wide Open Country is premiering the beguiling "Hummingbee," a reflective tune that conjures images of Burns homeland of Ireland. But Burns says the tune, which features vocals by Mindy Smith and instrumentals by ChessBoxer, was equally inspired by his time spent in Texas.

"This is a song I wrote after watching Blake Shelton and his dad on an interview talking about the passing of Blake's brother," Burns tells Wide Open Country. "I recorded this with Shani Gandhi at Minutia Studio in Nashville. Mindy Smith's vocals added purity and a haunting quality and ChessBoxer (Ross Holmes & Matt Menefee) crushed the instrumentals! It had this Texas border town feel to me for some reason. I lived in San Antonio briefly when I was younger, so I think this came back to me through the song."

Listen to "Hummingbee" below.

North Country features appearances by several artists, including Holly Williams, Tift Merritt, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Dan Tyminski.

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