Brandon Ratcliff ‘Uncovers’ Alison Krauss’ ‘Forget About It’

Newcomer Brandon Ratcliff has been revives a scintillating deep-cut as part of his ambitions Uncovered project, wrapping up with a remarkable rendition of Alison Krauss’ “Forget About It.”

For a little background, Ratcliff conceived Uncovered as remaking three special songs that influenced his own just-emerging, super-diverse music — and it’s been a mixed bag from the start. After covering Fleetwood Mac (“Rhiannon”) and Stevie Wonder (“Living for the City”) previously, Krauss’ “Forget About It” actually seems like a more traditional choice by comparison … but not how Rafcliff does it.

The rising talent’s mother was bluegrass singer Suzanne Cox of the popular Cox Family, so he learned of Krauss through her. “Growing up listening to Alison’s amazing catalogue of music, I gravitated to the songs she wrote with R.L. Castleman,” he explains. “Lyrically, but specifically the feel, of ‘Forget About It’ drew me in. That feeling is what I try to pull from in my own music.”

But his version of the track is all his own. Reimagined as a passionate electro-pop anthem, it pulsates with romantic desire and features smooth, ’80s-inspired sonics, plus Ratcliff’s undeniably soothing vocals. It’s now miles from its modern-bluegrass roots, and a sharp example of how much country itself has changed since Krauss’ 1999 original.

View this post on Instagram

The final song in my ‘Uncovered’ project is @alisonkrauss’s “Forget About It.” I always gravitated toward the way Alison’s songs were written. This song in particular was melodically inspiring to me as a singer just as much as the lyrics inspired me to love a well written song. You can stream my cover of “Forget About It” at the link in my bio!

A post shared by Brandon Ratcliff (@brandonratcliff) on May 22, 2020 at 6:40am PDT

“As passionate as I am about writing and singing my own songs, I never thought I would’ve have been as excited as I was to do a cover project, but diving into this project allowed me to break down to build up some of my favorite songs growing up, and I had so much fun doing it,” Ratcliff admits of his Uncovered journey. “It was challenging to try to unhear the ways these songs were captured originally, but I can honestly say getting to dig into the bones of what makes up a classic song has shaped the way I will look at my own material in the future.”

That material should be coming soon, as Ratcliff continues to work on his debut album.