Johnny & The Mongrels

Drinking With Angels - Johnny Ryan/Scott Sharrard – Everyone has someone they've lost. Figuring out how to express what they meant to you is a universal quest. Drinking With Angels is an encomium to one of Johnny's closest friends who pasted away of cancer in 2018. He was an integral part of countless adventures that fostered the love affair with New Orleans for Johnny. Many of the songs that have been written for Johnny & The Mongrels over the years derived from moments that included Jeremy. “It's one of the most emotionally challenging but rewarding songs to perform”, says Johnny.



- Johnny: “Amazingly, this track was recorded in one take during the week long adventure of creating the album at Dockside Studio. Weeks previous to being in Maurice, LA to do so, Jeff (Bostic) and I ventured to NYC to meet with co-producer and guitarist on the album, Scott Sharrard for a writing session. Drinking With Angels was a song I had conceptualized in my head and when I began to sing it acapella for Scott, the exact guitar drone/melody that was visualized in my head came out of Scott's playing. I literally had to fight back tears every time we worked on this song. I'm so grateful it's going to be heard and hopefully felt by others. And I hope it can help convey how someone felt about someone they've lost as well.

Thankfully also, the amazing Marty Rifkin (Bruce Springsteen) agreed to play steel guitar on the track to complete the wistful and melodic feel I had been hoping for and truly ties the theme of the song together perfectly.”