Local H & Juliana Hatfield’s “Winter Western” video pays tribute to ’70s PBS’ kids shows

Long-running group Local H released their ninth album, LIFERS, last year which they made with Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio studios and which features appearances by Juliana Hatfield and Deer Tick's John McCauley. The Juliana Hatfield collab, "Winter Western," is the kind of crunchy alt-rock ripper Local H do so well, and Hatfield's vocals add just a little extra fizz to the mix. "I’ve known Juliana for a long time and I finally got up the nerve to ask her to sing on one of our songs," says the band's Scott Lucas. "And of course, she knocked it out of the park. Her voice just sounds so cool. Juliana’s kind of the reason the record is called LIFERS. I just have so much respect for her and her work ethic — and her integrity. There’s really nobody quite like her."

They've just made a video for "Winter Western," which also features Hatfield and was directed by Rachel Lichtman, of Network 77, who specializes cool retro vibes, an aesthetic that comes in handy here. Folks of a certain age will recognize that the video is an homage to '70s-era PBS after school educational Electric Company which starred Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno and helped teach a lot of kids how to read. "Doing the Electric Company silhouette thing was a no brainer," Scott says, "and it’s totally in Rachel’s wheelhouse. She knew exactly how to pull it off."

The "Winter Western" video premieres in this post and you can watch that below.

Juliana Hatfield will release her 19th solo album, Blood, in May