‘Dueling Violinists’ Play ‘Beat It’ All Around Boston
Rhett Price, the former Berklee College of Music violinist who took over the Internet with his renditions of Macklemore’s “Can’t Hold Us” and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble,” is back again, jamming out this time with a Vine superstar while covering Michael Jackson’s 1980’s jam “Beat It.”
“I chose ‘Beat It’ because it’s a badass song,” said Price. “That Van Halen guitar solo is insane, and I wanted to put my own spin on it—and it gave me a chance to shred a little bit.”
In the video, Price walks around with violinist DSharp, a well-known Vine and YouTube star, as they the duo checks out some of Price’s favorite Boston spots. For a majority of the video, Price and DSharp stand on the Mass. Ave. Bridge delivering solo performances as they duel using their respective instruments.
“We ended up having security kick us out of everywhere from the Christian Science building to the Top of the Hub,” said Price, adding that they spent six hours shooting the footage in one day. “My favorite part is that scene in the T with girls dancing while we played. [It] brought back a lot of fun memories from when I played in the T every day.”
Price, who started off making a living by performing on transit platforms in Boston and New York, has moved onto bigger things. For starters, he has a new album out called “Ke$ha’s Mom,” and has been poached by the likes of Lady Gaga, Rob Gronkowski, John Henry, and other big names to play shows. (The Lady Gaga thing didn’t work out in the end, but that’s a story for another day, Price told Boston).
But Price said his latest YouTube video, shot by Lauren Foley, he mixes up his usual performances by bringing in his special guest to battle it out with him.
“DSharp has been a friend of mine for a while and I think he’s one of the best contemporary violinists there is,” he said. “He has half-a-million Vine followers and is really making his mark in the [Electronic Dance Music] world. I could’ve reached out to someone else but it was a no-brainier, and he killed it!”
To hear more of Price’s music, fans can pre-order his album on iTunes.