01/24/2026
https://youtu.be/nNhzxUQLRPs?si=TE7L8qvNJqwKzkhh While the title track “Fight For Your Freedom” was composed in 1985 it’s meaning has more significance in 2026 as our country is losing its way with atrocities performed by ice agents daily. Woman’s rights, healthcare, LGBTQ, veteran’s rights, civil rights and green energy are all targets of this administration. Our standing in the world is threatened on a daily basis as Trump seeks to change the world order with threats to our allies and NATO alliances that have held since the end of WW2. This remix and video hope to highlight these events. The intro of the video is a collage of battles from the revolutionary war, civil war and WW2. As the full band kicks in people protesting at varies events are featured including the Minnesota Music Resistance. It peaks into the solo section with atrocities that are happening as we speak. Please click a like and share this video! Resist!!
Originally released in 1985 under the title “Blackberry Way” The Idle Strands second album has been remixed by Michael Owens in 2025 @ Blackberry Way and Mastered by Frank Arkwright @ Abbey Road. Radio promotion by Tom Kay & Bobby Applegate garnered airplay around the country in 1985 along with rave reviews internationally including Nineteen Flights Rock Paris, Berlin City Magazine, Album Network, CMJ and The Mpls Star Tribune. The song "Tonight" appears in season two of Steven Soderbergh's "Red Oaks" on Amazon Prime TV.
Fight For Your Freedom, the 2nd album from Twin Cities trio The Idle Strand, is a feast of sound - killer, exuberant songs, expertly played and sung. Frontmen Michael Owens and Gary Menne sing nearly everything together and it’s their signature sound, brimming with melody and harmonies. Michael, Gary, and extraordinary drummer Kevin Glynn, write the stylistically varied material. First released in 1985, remixed in 2024, and mastered at Abbey Road. Catchy, thoughtful pop-rock that you won’t be able to get out of your head (the title song may actually resonate more in these confounding times than it did in its initial run).
-Peter Jesperson/Co-Founder Twin/Tone Records/A&R
The trio’s second album shows the players have a command of various styles of 60’s pop with an 80’s feel. The Idle Strand is on target with “Girl,” a dreamy number that evokes the Everly Brothers.- Jon Bream/ Mpls Star Tribune
“Good combination of X’s harmonies and the Smith’s guitar work…not to be missed.”- Rockpool Magazine
“Pop guitar band in the true sense of the word, merging the 60’s and the 80’s into one modern sound!” - Boston Rock Magazine
“Flirtations with Everly Brothers tributes and a range of styles from Fingerprints like takes to blues, surf licks and rockabilly-touched originals all from the endless corners of pop musicdom show they’ve got the chops to make the rock work on their own terms”- Martin Keller
BLACKBERRY WAY RECORDS adds another song to season 2 of Steven Soderbergh’s “Red Oaks” for Amazon TV. THE IDLE STRAND song “Tonight” appears in episode # 10. You can find some great reviews of the show below. We are proud to have currently placed 5 songs in this critically acclaimed TV show.
"The music really gives it a thing," "I thought it informed it so much." Says Paul Reiser who plays the character Getty a successful director and former Red Oaks member who also stared in Diner, Beverly Hills Cop and Aliens. One of the show's music supervisors, Devoe Yates, painstakingly dedicated himself to finding lost gems from the era that would evoke the early Eighties without relying too heavily on warhorse VH1 I Love the 80's staples. "I signed onto Billboard and went week by week through all the charts," he says. "I've been downloading all these soundtracks from the Eighties – Mannequin, Real Genius, Three O'Clock High. Some of them are hard to find." - Kory Grow/Rolling Stone Magazine
"A mash-up of The Graduate’s melancholy and Caddyshack’s teen hijinks" Steven Soderbergh Makes 80s Nostalgia Revolutionary"- Vanity Fair
"I was watching Red Oaks on Amazon Prime which takes place in the 80s. The soundtrack may be one of the greatest collection of 80s pop/rock ever in a TV show or movie. - Steve Hoffman Music Forums/Forgotten 70s/80s Rock/Pop
https://blackberrywayrecords.com/album/3388712/fight-for-your-freedom While the title track “Fight For Your Freedom” was composed in 1985 it’s meaning has mo...
