North Huntingdon native and musician Johnathan Pushkar knows the value of inspiration.

Pushkar played drums with a Beatles tribute band, the Abbey Roadsters, more than seven years ago while he was a student at Greensburg Central Catholic High School.

In his most recent reconnection with the British musicians who inspired him, Pushkar, 25, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter and recording artist, cut a cover version of “Junior’s Farm.” That song was a 1974 hit for Wings, the band Paul McCartney led to worldwide success after the Beatles’ breakup.

Driving home that connection, Pushkar’s version, on his recently released sophomore album, “Compositions,” features the drummer who played on the original.

“What a thrill it was to revisit one of my favorite Paul McCartney songs,” Pushkar said. “It is a true honor to have the man who played drums on the original version, Geoff Britton, playing drums on my version.”

Pushkar, who played double bass in the Greensburg Central Catholic jazz band, focuses on vocals and 12-string guitar for his power pop and rock-flavored recordings and performances.

Dan Ealey, a fellow musician and friend in Nashville, played bass on Pushkar’s rendition of “Junior’s Farm” after he introduced him to Britton.

As Pushkar tells it, Ealey, a Tennessee native and McCartney fan, spent time with Britton and other members of Wings in ‘74, when Ealey bluffed his way onto the farm where the band was staying while recording in Nashville. Owned by hit country songwriter Claude “Curly” Putman Jr., that farm inspired the title and chorus of the single.

Ealey renewed ties with Britton when he tracked the drummer down at his home in Spain and invited him to return to Tennessee in 2019 — for a concert that marked the 45th anniversary of the original “Junior’s Farm.” Pushkar, who has a degree in public relations with a music business minor, was recruited to capture on video Ealey’s and Britton’s nostalgic visit to the late Putman’s farm.

Pushkar gave Britton an advance copy of his debut album, “Straighten Up,” the two bonded over mutual musical leanings and they discussed having Britton play on Pushkar’s next LP.

“My music is very rooted in ’50s and ’60s rock ‘n roll,” Pushkar said. “Between Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys and the Beatles, if you made a perfect triangle, I’d land somewhere in the middle on any given day.”

Pushkar initially committed his passion for the Fab Four to wax by playing and singing on two tracks — “I Call Your Name” and “(Just Like) Starting Over” — of a John Lennon tribute album released by JEM Records, the label for which he records.

Britton’s plans for a followup trip to America in 2020 were scuttled by the covid-19 pandemic. But Pushkar was able to complete his updated “Junior’s Farm” remotely.

“Thanks to technology, I was able to record tracks in Nashville and send them to where (Britton) lives in Spain,” Pushkar said. “He recorded the drums and then sent those back, and we pieced everything together.”

Along with the audio track, Pushkar released a “Junior’s Farm” video, available on his YouTube channel. It includes images of Pushkar, Britton and Ealey separately performing their parts — interspersed with photos of McCartney and other Wings members that Ealey snapped at the farm in 1974.

Britton is featured on other “Compositions” tracks, including Pushkar originals “Gonna Be Alright,” “Just Friends” and “Alexandra.” The latter track was released as the album’s first single.

Bringing his musical influences full circle, Pushkar returned to his high school this month for the first time since his 2014 graduation. He presented the school with a framed vinyl copy of “Compositions.”

Pushkar received important early support for his musical pursuits from Joette Salandro of Unity, who retired last year as a music and performing arts instructor at GCC but returned to the school for her former student’s visit.

“We had a group of teachers who would follow him around to see him play with his (tribute) band,” Salandro said. “He has such a passion for music. You only have to talk to him for about five minutes, and you know how creative and enthusiastic he is.”

Pushkar wants younger generations of GCC students to take encouragement from the display of his album at the school.

“I hope that it inspires another kid just like me somewhere down the line,” he said.

Pushkar’s album is available from online music sources or at his website: www.johnathanpushkar.com.

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