It’s always a cause for celebration to discover a really good cover of Stairway on YouTube. When that cover is performed by young people it makes the discovery all the more exciting. We encountered this one last year when it was first released, and when we decided to revisit it for this article we were blown away by how many views it had already received (currently sitting at 5.3 million). Featuring a young Canadian singer named Jadyn Rylee, and done in collaboration with Germany’s Sina on drums, and Romania’s Andrei Cerbu on lead guitar, this cover is proof that the spirit of rock ‘n roll, as embodied in Stairway, is in very capable young hands.
Sina and her father, (a German musician know professionally as Mike Wilbury) run YourSoundTube.com; specializing in creating backing tracks for young musicians looking to record covers and original content for their YouTube channels. Working in close collaboration with singers like Jadyn, they have been involved in lots of different projects with some great up and coming young artists. Their flair for production and the quality of their output is top shelf, and this cover of Stairway is no different.
Stairway is an incredibly difficult vocal for any singer, and Jadyn Rylee (who was eleven years old at the time) does an impressive job with it here. She covers Robert Plant’s considerable range, as well as the many textural and expressive nuances the song requires. Her delivery is both fearless and earnest, and her overall performance has a charming sense of fragility that is very engaging.
Young Andrei Cerbu has the confidence and bravado of a seasoned pro, and he brings his rock ‘n roll attitude to Jimmy Page’s guitar solo with a confidence that even the most experienced performers would be challenged to match. Andrei made his bones on Romania’s Got Talent and is a fan favourite there for his guitar playing, and his fun loving enthusiasm for all things rock ‘n roll.
Sina plays very well and it is clear that she’s a great technician on the drums. Her style is relaxed and precise, and she keeps the song moving forward without drawing too much attention to herself. This leaves lots of room for the vocals to be the feature. That kind of restraint can be really hard to master and it’s a tribute to Sina’s professionalism that she was able to bring that to the track.
Mike Wilbury (Sina’s Father) & and Rick Benbow, provide the bulk of the track’s instrumentation. Their decision to have the piano track be the primary instrument here (as opposed to acoustic guitars) was a good one – it pairs very well with the textures and colours of Jadyn’s voice, and allows her to remain centre stage in the performance where she belongs.
We’ve watched this video several times and our appreciation for the contribution each young artist makes to the track continues to grow. If you are interested in learning more about any of them, follow the links below to their personal websites where you’ll find more information about the various projects they have on the go which include lots of other videos and recordings.
Jadyn Rylee: https://www.jadynrylee.com/
Sina: https://girls-got-groove.com/
Andrei Cerbu: https://andreicerbu.com/
Photo Credits: Rock ‘n’ roll!! by Jimmy via Flickr by (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
