Crown The Empire give "Old Town Road" an acoustic spin

In peak 2019 fashion, Crown The Empire have covered Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” that you’ll just have to see to believe.

The band, who is currently on the road with We Came as Romans, performed the song live during one of their shows.

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The song is extremely stripped-down by lead singer Andy Leo and guitarist Brandon Hoover. You can see some clips of the performance below.

You can check out the remaining Crown The Empire dates with We Came As Romans below.

Dates

04/19 — Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
04/20 — Hartford, CT @ The Webster Theater
04/21 — Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
04/23 — Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
04/24 — Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
04/27 — Houston, TX @ So What? Music Festival
04/28 — San Santonio, TX @ Paper Tiger

In other news, “Old Town Road,” which takes a little bit of traditional country music and mixes it up with hip-hop to spit out a totally original and unique song (with its own meta-narrative!) is actually built from a sample of “34 Ghosts IX,” found on the 2008 Nine Inch Nails release Ghosts I-IV.

If you listen closely to the strings that kick the song off, you can hear the sample, which was originally found at the end of the Nine Inch Nails release’s second disc. The sample is then heard throughout the rest of the song, forming an important foundation for the track.

If you can’t remember how the strings sounded in the original Nine Inch Nails song (or never heard it to begin with), you can hear it in the video below.

Wondering what’s up with all the “Old Town Road” excitement, anyway? Lil Nas X’s crossover hit was originally removed from Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart after it was decided that the track, while massively popular, just didn’t sound country enough. The official explanation? It “didn’t embrace enough elements of today’s country music.”

It’s back now, thanks to an excellent remix by way of Billy Ray Cyrus, and the song has been dominating the charts and the internet. If it hasn’t totally wormed its way into your head just yet, don’t worry – it soon will.

What do you think of Crown The Empire’s cover of “Old Town Road?” Sound off in the comments below!

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