Johnsonville Sausage TV Spot Song Intrigue Reveals The Brilliance of Composer Paul Bessenbacher

A nationwide commercial from Johnsonville Sausage that has been running for the past month or so has left plenty of people asking where they can get the song. So we did some digging and found the song is called “Roll On By” by OpusOrange, a music project by L.A. composer Paul Bessenbacher.

In an IRC exclusive, Bessenbacher has made the unreleased song available for the first time. “Roll On By” is a catchy summer pop song that had some people guessing it was a new song from Vampire Weekend. Even though the song may not qualify as ‘indie’ (it is used in an advertisement), it has that unforgettable pop song charm – like a one-hit wonder.

But what is even more exciting is that Bessenbacher, both in his professional career and with his band, has an entire array of impressive music to choose from. Bessenbacher has a unique talent for writing, composing and recording songs and music pieces that range from indie pop tunes to hypnotic film tracks.

“For me, music can be therapy, storytelling, a job, or just plain fun,” Bessenbacher said. “With all these, my work is destined to all sound different.”

Take for example the song “Surface” – a dreamy piano and percussion track that sounds like Pink Floyd blended with M. Ward. The song was featured in the indie short film David Shakes His Head by director Tamim Nashir. Another fine song, “Wait, Wait, Wait” (listen below), was recently used to promote the 2009 Stockholm Film Festival in Sweden. In addition to films and TV spots, Bessenbacher has also composed music for a number of television series including The Last Comic Standing, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and Stacked.

Bessenbacher’s musical background reaffirms his love of music and ability to wear many hats as a composer and musician. After graduating from Wheaton College Conservatory outside of Chicago, Bessenbacher returned to his native California and played live folk gigs with Waterworks, jazz romp with The David Yun Quartet and ska shows with Runforyerlife. He even opened for the popular band Skatalites.

“Roll On By” – OpusOrange (for Johnsonville Sausage)

“Surface” – Paul Bessenbacher for indie film “David Shakes His Head”

“Wait, Wait, Wait” – OpusOrange – premiered at 2009 Stockholm Film Festival

Update: Paul makes two more songs from OpusOrange available to Indie Rock Cafe exclusively.

Later this week, in the next summertime playlist mix, IRC will premiere a new single from OpusOrange that should get some people talking.

Check out OpusOrange.com for more.