By Wayne Laepple
LEWISBURG -- A take-off on an old country-western hit is bringing a lot of political attention to a Lewisburg singer-songwriter.
Billy Kelly, who performs as Earl Pickens and the Band Named Thunder, recorded "Obama Everywhere" in Hufnagle Park on April 6 and put the resulting music video up on YouTube. Since then, the song has received more than 17,000 hits.
The song is his version of "I've Been Everywhere," in which Pickens rattles off the names of more than 100 Pennsylvania towns and villages, with the signature "I've been everywhere, man, I've been everywhere" chorus, twanging guitars and all.
He performs a version of the original song, "I've Been Everywhere," written by Geoff Mack and made famous by Hank Snow and Johnny Cash, that he modified to "I've Been Everywhere in Pennsylvania" at his live gigs.
Pickens talked about the song by cell phone while he was en route to appearances in New England.
He got the idea about changing it a little more because he's excited about the prospect of the Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania, now less than two weeks away.
"I wrote it and recorded it in about an hour," he said. "In a couple of days, it had a couple thousands hits." That was his solo version recorded and put up on YouTube, an online video-sharing web site, last week.
Then he got to thinking about recording the song a second time, this time with his Band Named Thunder, and over the weekend, he got together with Paul Smith of Saturation Acres Studios.
"We rounded up about 35 volunteers, and Paul directed and filmed the video," he said. It features Pickens and his band singing the song, along with volunteers waving Obama signs and dancing around.
Pickens posted the video to YouTube on April 7.
"The Daily Kos (a liberal national political Web site) featured it on their main page," Pickens said. "There was a banner in all caps: Greatest Video Ever."
Pickens calls himself a moderate, but he said he favors Obama in the primary election.
"I'll keep an open mind in the general election," he added. "I want to add something to the primary election."
His ditty has added something.
He received a phone call from someone in the Obama campaign.
"He said they saw it and they liked it, and they asked for a copy of it," he said.
"It's nice to put something out there that takes on a life of its own," he said. "The song seems to strike a chord."
YouTube, he observed, overlaps with Obama enthusiasts, many of whom are younger voters.
Last year, Pickens put up a music video of his whimsical song "Can I Turn on the Radio," which featured him riding a unicycle from New York City to Lewisburg, which became an online hit.
"Can I Turn On the Radio" has garnered more than 15,000 hits in the 11 months its been on-line, but it looks like "Obama Everyhwere" is destined to bring Pickens and his band more opportunities.
"My e-mail in-box is overflowing," Pickens said. "Gig invitations and even a campaign event invitation."
He's delighted at the attention, both for himself and the attention the song brings to the election.
"It gets people to laugh, and it's good for the election," he declared.
n See the video, posted with this story on www.dailyitem.com.
