Delta Rae: Dance In The Graveyards

Happy Día de los Muertos.

USA Today's Bryan Mansfield has written before about music that became more meaningful to him during his treatment for colon cancer. One of the songs that really stood out for him was Delta Rae's "Dance in the Graveyards." The North Carolina folk-rock ensemble just released a video for that song, and it's really great. Bryan writes:

The macabre but ultimately touching and lovely clip offers a twist on typical Halloween fare. Dressed in Day of the Dead costumes, the members of the group — which also consists of singer Elizabeth Hopkins, percussionist Mike McKee and bassist Grant Emerson — approach a cemetery and call forth the loved ones of those buried there.

Ian Holljes, who wrote the song, says that it was inspired by the deaths of a close friend and a mentor. "These people were wonderful parts of my life," says Holljes, who donned the top hat, dark garb and cane of Baron Samedi, a voodoo spirit of death and healing, for the clip. "For me, they're not resting in peace. They remain vivid, important influences in my life. They still move me, and, in so many ways, I'm still dancing with their spirits and the memories they left behind.

The song appears on the group's album, Carry the Fire, which came out in June.