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American rock icon Neil Young may be searching for a heart of gold, but for now he’s found his favorite folk rendition in a rich cover of ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ by the four piece band Profane Sass.

Profane Sass features mandolin, banjo, bass and viola. This cover was recorded while the band was touring in Canada. They were in Montreal at the time, riding along the CN and CP rail lines and hitchhiking the Trans Canada. The freight train noises heard in the opening were recorded on a bridge in Toronto.

Profane Sass, Winners of the Neil Young Creative Invite from Talenthouse on Vimeo.

Profane Sass will be awarded $1000 and have the track featured across Neil Young’s social media channels.

John Hughes and his band The Hollywood Liars picked up the honor of being the highest voted. They will receive $500 and a copy of ‘Americana’ by Neil Young. John is a Canadian musician and photographer who wrote his own lyrics in his recorded version of ‘Tom Dula’ to reflect the Hollywood film based on the folk song.

Neil invited musicians to submit their best take on a selection of American folk songs, all of which the former member of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills Nash & Young covers himself on his new album ‘Americana.’ The album released during the course of this Invite. Consequences of Sound wrote, “Americana’s greatest achievement lies in how effortlessly these early American songs become Young’s own.”

And of course, you can hear Neil’s own take on ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ on the album.

Thank you to all who submitted! We love your dedication, but hearing it in music is even better.