The other day, WFUV’s “Mixed Bag” host/longtime Mets fans Don McGee celebrated the return of baseball by playing “Stay at Home for the Ballgame.”
It’s a new song by Aztec Two-Step’s Rex Fowler and his wife, Dodie Pettit.
Though married only 2 years, they have known each other for decades. Nearly 40 years ago, she played guitar and sang on Aztec’s 5th album. Dodie went on to a long Broadway career.
She and Rex now perform as “Aztec Two-Step 2.0.”
I loved the COVID-safe message, and asked Dodie for a link to post on “06880.” The song is so new though, that none is yet available.
But there is other Aztec Two-Step news. “Words” — released in April — dates back to 2017. Rex started writing it after his musical partner Neal Shulman’s wife died of cancer.
During the COVID lockdown, Rex and Dodie finished it. They recorded it at their Westport home, with bandmates coming in individually (wearing masks).
Dodie Pettit and Rex Fowler perform together.
“We thought it would be a song of comfort,” Dodie says. She’s lived with her own tragedy: Her husband, Staples High School graduate and Broadway actor Kevin Gray, died of a heart attack in 2013 at age 55.
Dodie adds, “We wanted to do a real grown-up, thoughtful statement of how hard the aftermath is — without using any of the standard, patronizing fare.”
They’ve performed it on Facebook, for a traumatic brain injury group.
Their next song — a mash-up of Neil Young’s “Down by the River,” focused on Black Lives Matter — will be released soon.
Meanwhile, enjoy the “Words” video below.
And keep your ears open for “Stay at Home for the Ballgame.’
Oh my gosh! I used to go out the My Father’s Place in the 1970’s and see Aztec Two Step play there. Where does the time go…