Austin-based guitar great Eric Tessmer has teamed up with Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Nancy Wilson to record a genre-bending cover of Elbow’s Grounds for Divorce. Produced by David Rice, the track features drummer and A&F DrumCo founder Ramy Antoun and legendary bassist Tony Levin. The single was mixed by Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, David Bowie) and is live on Spotify, Apple Music, and other major streaming platforms now.

Tessmer — who Guitar World magazine ranks among its "best kept six string secrets" — first met Wilson after performing a private benefit show. "It was a mind-blowing, jaw-dropping thing to watch Eric for the first time," Wilson says. "Eric was tapping into a pure rock and roll thing I can really appreciate."

The pair immediately bonded, and after an impromptu all-night living room jam, Wilson and Tessmer vowed to stay in touch and explore doing a project together.

They were eager to get in the studio, but according to Tessmer "weren't interested in sending tracks back and forth or constructing a sound on a screen." Wilson puts it this way: "There's a more recent way of playing music, that's more like putting music together. It sounds compartmentalized," she explains. "That's why I had to come here — we've gotta be in the same room."

The opportunity came when Tessmer's manager Jen Ronan arranged for Wilson to join Eric at The Clubhouse, an Austin studio in the heart of South Congress. There in a one-room space they worked with producer/keyboardist David Rice to re-imagine an unexpected collection of covers. “My UK friend Neville Farmer was just wrapping up a visit when Eric and Nancy came to town,” says Rice. “It was his rather brilliant idea to pitch them on Grounds for Divorce.” Filmmaker Matt Hirst documented the process of arranging and recording the song in this behind-the-scenes video.

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