Fans of rock music and fans of fantasy literature, rejoice!

The Hold Steadywillfollow the National's leadand do a song for the upcoming third season of HBO's hit series "Game of Thrones,"Entertainment Weeklyreports. They'll perform a song called "The Bear and the Maiden Fair", with lyrics fromGame of Thronesauthor George R.R. Martin and music by Ramin Djawadi, who does the music for the show. The Hold Steady will release the song on a 7" on Record Store Day on April 20, backed by the new track "Criminal Fingers".

I've written here about the National before, and Eric Bugyis has written here about the Hold Steady. No one, to my knowledge, has written here about George R. R. Martin'sGame of Thrones. That's a shame, since Game of Thrones is probably the best fantasy series of the past 15 years or so (imagine Lord of the Rings crossed with House of Cards), and the HBO adaptation is enjoyable, if not quite as good as the books. The band and the show seem a perfect fit:

"We wanted our rendition [of 'The Bear and the Maiden Fair'] to be bawdy and a little sloppy-- drunken musicians getting up on the table and jamming while the rowdy party continues around them," showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss explained toEntertainment Weekly. "There was no one better for the job than the Hold Steady."