John Lodge is bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the iconic Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame 2018 inductees, The Moody Blues. Songwriter of such mega Moody Blues hits from “Ride My SeeSaw” to “I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band)”, “Isn’t Life Strange?” and many more, Lodge has been performing and recording with The Moody Blues for more than five decades, selling in excess of 70 million albums. Lodge has been voted one of the “10 most influential bass players on the planet,” and has been the recipient of many awards, including ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers), an Ivor Novello Award, to name just a few.

“In These Crazy Times (Isolation Mix)” is available to download on Amazon and iTunes, and on all streaming services. Being stuck ‘in isolation’, the track was recorded by John in his home studio, and John performed not just vocals and guitars, but also keyboards and drums. Joining John on the track are his wife, Kirsten, on backing vocals, and his son, Kristian, on lead guitar, both of whom have never recorded before! John was also delighted to have Jon Davison, of YES, add backing vocals and harmonies. With each of them recording in their own homes the track truly is an ‘Isolation Mix’, but is about people working together, and it is John’s hope that the track resonates with everyone, as it did with him.

To download and stream the song, head here. In the video below, John explains how the new song was constructed during the lockdown period.

In John’s words: “In 1967 The Moody Blues recorded Days Of Future Passed, and we were in the studio in lockdown 24 hours a day creating an album that changed my life. Being in lockdown now reminds me of the creativity and solitude that took place during that period of my life. So I have taken the opportunity, given by this lockdown period, to write and record a new song about these difficult days, days that stretched into weeks and months. The song is called 'In These Crazy Times'.

"When the pandemic came I had just finished up my US tour and the Rock And Romance cruise and within three days my wife and I were ‘stranded’. Music is my life, and without a studio (or my band), I decided to perfect my use of ‘Garageband’ to create all the instruments, and record my guitars and vocals in my “home studio”.

"As I believe we are all in this together, I thought what a great idea to involve all of my family. My wife Kirsten is singing backing vocals (for the first time!), my son Kristian is playing lead guitar, his wife, Inga, took the photo for the cover (with social distancing!), Jon Davison, from the band YES, has joined me on vocals, and Emily, my daughter is managing the whole thing.

"The track was recorded at my home and Kristian and Jon added their parts in their homes, before we sent it to Ray Nesbit, my Front of House Sound Engineer for him to mix at his ‘home’ studio. It truly is an ‘Isolation Mix’. My wish is that we can all be together again soon, and then I hope that my 10,000 Light Years Band and I can get together and make a ‘Freedom Mix’.

"I hope you all can relate to this song as another step in life’s strange and mysterious path, and help you continue to keep the faith that we can do it together.” - John Lodge, June 2020