Cover Lay Down

One of the reasons I am so busy these days is that as a baritone, I am in high demand for local choirs and stage productions. It’s not just that I’m loud: As a trained vocalist, a stage actor, and a teacher, I pride myself in my control of tone and pitch and projected volume – all the subtle ways I have learned to shape sound to maximum effect in a variety of venues.

It’s part of my identity: a nurtured talent, grown and trusted. When it is tired, I can feel it; when it is under siege, from nasal drip and overuse, I feel depressed and impotent.

And if it ever went away, I’d feel the loss profoundly.

I have nightmares in which I lose my voice forever, and these fears are not unfounded: it happens. Feist, for example, lost her voice on the cusp of fame the first time around, belting it out as a member of a punk band in the early nineties before taking several years off due to vocal damage. Though she’s since turned the remaining fragile, burned-out whisper into an asset – admirably, instead of sinking into despair, she was able to find another sort of beauty in the torn remnants of what was once clear and sweet – the damage could not be undone.

I’m not so sure I could do what she has done. It takes a measure of humility which I do not possess, and cannot truly understand, to remake the voice like that.

And there’s no guarantee that I’d have the chance, either.

Sadly, though some singers, like Feist, have managed to turn vocal disaster into an asset, and others, like Adele, find that the damage they have done through an early career of belt and bellow vocal style is treatable and restorable, for many singers, such a middle ground is not possible. Despite recent reports of vocal restoration, there’s a difference between damage – which can often be fixed with care, and subsequently avoided through retraining – and the more extreme cases. When disease is the diagnosis, for many, it’s permanent.

And losing the voice permanently, or even semi-permanently, is like a little death, or a death sentence, for musicians. It’s not as uncommon as you think, and it can be caused by any one of a set of medical issues, from the lungs to throat to vocal chord: Mary Lou Lord, for example, a contemporary of the Boston grunge and busker scenes who trends towards punk folk in her better moments, lost hers to spasmodic dysphonia, and though she is currently recording a new covers album, putting her back on our radar, she still struggles with the disease, which has kept her off the scene for quite some time; the same disease also kept folk musician Linda Thompson from recording and touring in the early eighties, since which she has produced just two albums.

Joni Mitchell lost as much as two octaves, and her vocal purity, to years of smoking. Julie Andrews lost her singing voice permanently to surgery after developing nodules on her vocal chords through overuse in 1997 – a surprisingly common phenomenon in older singers of both genders. And Bridget Matros, who got a promising start in college with a debut recording alongside fellow students Josh Ritter and Guy Mendilow at Oberlin college in the late nineties, lost hers to acid reflux on the cusp of a promising career; though she did release a four track of abstract, layered vocal garageband experiments this year, they are more art than artifact.


And then there’s contemporary folk singer-songwriter Holly O’Reilly (formerly known as Holly Figueroa), who lost her voice on stage at the Northwest Folklife Festival in 2009, twelve years, two Grammy nominations, and several major label offers into a blossoming and determinedly indie career. A visit to a specialist resulted in a diagnosis of both rheumatiod arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, a pair of inflamatory diseases which ultimately affected both her voice and her hands, keeping her from singing and playing the guitar for a year – a great loss for O’Reilly, and for the folk community.

Sadly, though drugs ultimately soothed and restored that voice for a while, O’Reilly’s clock is ticking; according to her own bio and facebook feed, the massive doses of steroids she’s been ingesting were doing as much damage to her body as the disease itself. And so O’Reilly made the impossible choice: to give up her voice in order to live without pain, for her family’s sake and for her own. As Holly herself put it at the end of last year,

I am prepared to go off of prednisone completely and to lose my singing voice again. But I wanted to make some records before I did that. I made a live record in May 2010, am finishing up a covers record, and will start an originals record in the fall. And then, I’m probably done, unless my voice comes back spontaneously. (I waited for that for a long time. Not counting on it.)

In One, the covers record in question, O’Reilly is singing on borrowed time, and it shows: her voice changes subtly from track to track. But the songs are sweet nonetheless, and stunning, and poignant with her craft and talent as much as with her history. O’Reilly is strong, though she is clearly affected by her struggle and the ticking clock; all of this and more pours through even the most torn of tracks. And the song choices are inspired: every performance, from covers of REM, U2, Slipknot, Oasis, Paul Westerberg, Springsteen, Tom Petty and Joe Henry, speaks to a wellstorm of emotion, spoken clearly and eloquently, in an act of true song ownership.

Her cover of One Headlight, alone, dark and dirty with dobro, perfectly pitched in every tone, makes this quite possibly the best cover album of the year, a dark horse contender from all the way back in January. Her cover of Freedy Johnston’s This Perfect World is haunting. Her take on Wonderwall breathes a sort of broken life into the song, its slow build into broken hope a triumph of transformative song. Put them against her 2007 cover of Leonard Cohen’s Everybody Knows, recorded before she began her long journey through illness and loss, and – like every other song on this perfect collection – they grow all the more stark, all the more poignant, all the more potent, for the difference.

That these songs represent, in other words, the second act in a final play, the last farewell to a life lived in voice, is not where their strength lies. It is, instead, in the power of the musician, working with a tenacious instrument, and other people’s songs, to maximum effect.

Beauty and pain, and some bonus tracks from O’Reilly’s fellow sufferers, follow below. It’s how they wear their scars that make them beautiful.

• Holly Figueroa O’Reilly: One Headlight (orig. The Wallflowers)
• Holly Figueroa O’Reilly: This Perfect World (orig. Freedy Johnston)
• Holly Figueroa O’Reilly: One Step Up (orig. Bruce Springsteen)
  (from One, 2011)

• Holly Figueroa O’Reilly: Everybody Knows (orig. Leonard Cohen)
  (from Gifts and Burdens, 2007)

• Mary Lou Lord: Hard Road (orig. Lucinda Williams)
  (from Mary Lou Lord and Sean Na Nah [split EP, out of print], 2000)

• Mary Lou Lord: Thirteen (orig. Big Star)
  (from Live City Sounds, 2001)

• Mary Lou Lord: Jump (orig. Van Halen)
  (from Everybody Wants Some, 1997)

• Feist: Inside + Out (orig. The Bee Gees)
  (live from the BBC; released on Open Season (Remixes and Collaborations), 2005)

• Feist & Ben Gibbard: Train Song (orig. Vashti Bunyan)
  (from Dark Was The Night, 2009)

• Bridget Matros: Sweet Lorraine (orig. Patty Griffin)
• Bridget Matros & Josh Ritter: Angel From Montgomery (orig. John Prine)
  (from Voices From The Attic [out of print], 1999)

• Linda Thompson: Day After Tomorrow (orig. Tom Waits)
  (from Versatile Heart, 2007)

• Linda & Teddy Thompson: Evona Darling (orig. Lal Waterson)
  (from Fashionably Late, 2002)

It’s been a solid year for full-album coverage from single artists. Kris Delmhorst’s summery Cars tribute and Thea Gilmore’s transformative Dylan tribute alone held the line for excellence in the singer-songwriter categories. Eef Barzelay’s Journey project, which transformed my childhood poprock into poignant, soulful solo pieces, turned out to be a great success; so did Ralph McTell’s Dylan EP, duo Thomas Fox’ tradfolk release, Sara Lov’s full-album cover set, and Reid Jamieson’s birthday tribute to his wife through the songs of 1969, an unexpected March project which we presented as a free exclusive. And April brought a slew of strong contenders, enough to justify a four part Tribute and Cover Compilations Week: from Laura Cantrell’s countrified tribute to Kitty Wells to the bluegrass of Michael Daves and Chris Thile to the aforementioned disc from UK Gilmore, who is fast becoming a favorite voice among the multitudes.

And it’s shaping up to be a great year for multi-artist tribute albums, too. We’ve covered several of these, from Paint It Black, Jim Sampas’ well-curated alt-country tribute to the Rolling Stones, to last week’s amazing Vic Chesnutt tribute, Red House Records’ second Nod To Bob singer-songwriter tribute, which still lives in my car CD player months after its midsummer release, and the indiefolk Sufjan Stevens tribute project Seven Swans Reimagined. And we’ve mentioned more in passing: Herohill’s extended paean to Gordon Lightfoot, for example, never made it to these virtual pages, but I still have high hopes for a feature on the Canadian folksinger’s work in the near future built around those tracks and more.

There’s a few worthy but harder-edged discs receding into the near horizon, too: that indie Muppets thing, which featured an english-language version of the Andrew Bird’s take on Being Green, featured in our late-summer kidfolk tribute to the songs of Sesame Street, and Q Magazine’s new Achtung Baby tribute, which is pretty much all rock and high-energy alt-indie, save for this hauntingly delicate, soaring cover of One by Damien Rice which easily makes the shortlist for best coverage of the year.

But the year’s not over yet. This One’s For Him, a two-disc Guy Clark tribute, was apparently released this Thursday in CD form only (no digital) via the Icehouse Music website; we haven’t heard it yet, but the artist roster is quite impressive indeed, and we have high hopes for tracks from Shawn Colvin, Hayes Carll, Robert Earl Keene, Patty Griffin, Lyle Lovett and more among the rest of the multi-generational country-and-then-some balladry we’ve been promised. American Laundromat Records, whose kindie comp so tickled our fancy last year, will release Please Please Please, their long-awaited Smith’s tribute, on December 13, and here, too, the artist roster is quite promising, with many CLD faves – Dala, Elk City, William Fitzsimmons, Sara Lov and more – heading the bill. On the not-folk front, Sampas ends the year with a bang and an altrock/indie Nirvana tribute; the combination promises loud and squaly, but given the producer’s reputation, it should be great all the same.

And then there’s these tiny, precious darlings – two new EPs, a kindie record, and a collection of old blues standards which dropped into my lap just yesterday.

Chris Smither‘s new EP What I Learned In School was recorded plugged-in and in-studio on a lark during breaks from his next album, and I’m proud to be one of the first to mention it on the web: Smither, who first made his name via coverage and support from the likes of Bonnie Raitt in the seventies, is an amazing performer and a deeply empathic bluesman whose output continues to mature as he ages – his 2006 take on Dylan’s Visions of Johanna is one of the truly great covers of the last decade – and we’ve long admired his work here, ever since we first featured him back in 2007. The EP, which features six classic early Rock and Roll tracks from the likes of Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Hank Williams recast in Smithers’ inimitable high-tension vocals and folkblues fingerstyle, is only available at shows and direct from the label in simultaneous CD-and-digital form; I recommend the live show if you can find one, and the album either way.

• Chris Smither: Love’s Made A Fool Of You (orig. Buddy Holly)
  (from What I Learned In School, 2011)

On the other end of the folk spectrum, contemporary folkrock popstar and Paste magazine darling Lissie‘s newest EP Covered Up With Flowers is slight, at five tracks, and only partially new: her Lady Gaga and Kid Cuddy covers have been around for a year or more, though the latter is represented here with a fine new live recording which sweats and sways terrifically, and her Bad Romance certainly bears repeating. But the new tracks on the EP, which cover Metallica, Nick Cave, and Joe South, are equally unexpected, equally well-suited for the bright, shimmering urgency of Lissie’s voice, and worth the purchase price; I’ve chosen the slowest to feature, but definitely check out the full set for the full range of energy, and echoes of influence from Jefferson Airplane to June Tabor. As a bonus, the prolific up-and-comer has also just released a solid live CD/DVD recorded last year around the holidays; this unreleased encore from the concert in question, stripped from YouTube, says everything it needs to about that voice, that channeled emotion, that rise to fame.

• Lissie: Nothing Else Matters (orig. Metallica)
  (from Covered Up With Flowers, 2011)

• Lissie: 2000 Miles (orig. The Pretenders)
  (live from Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Dec. 2010)

Don’t let the haunting echo of the production on this first track below fool you: though she’s more popularly known for a decade of well-produced and well-crafted contemporary singer-songwriter work, Laura Viers knows her tradition, and her new kindie record Tumble Bee: Laura Veirs Sings Folk Songs for Children, released this week on her own private label and already topping the Children’s charts at iTunes and Amazon, joins classics like Guthrie’s Songs To Grow On For Mother and Child, Pete Seeger’s Birds, Beasts, Bugs & Fishes Little & Big: Animal Folk Songs, and Garcia and Grisman’s Not For Kids Only as a strong addition to the canon of joyous traditional kidfolk records bound to be beloved by generations to come. The sweet cowboy lilt of Prairie Lullaby and the sheer glee of the fiddle and jew’s harp accompaniment on Soldier’s Joy, a duet with Colin Meloy, provide ample evidence; the rest of the album yaws between the two extremes fluidly, offering nary a hiccup on its way to kid-friendly, adult-accessible tradfolk greatness.

• Laura Views: Prairie Lullaby (trad.)
• Laura Viers w/ Colin Meloy: Soldier’s Joy (trad.)
  (from Tumble Bee, 2011)

Released last year but only now picking up steam thanks to new promotional outreach from Hearth Music, Lay Down My Burden, the newest release from Seattle-based grandmaster 5-finger harmonica player Grant Dermody, is heavy with the blues, and no wonder: Dermody, who learned at the feet of acoustic blues greats from John Cephus to Honeyboy Edwards, and tours extensively with acoustic bluesfolk powerhouse Eric Bibb, lost his wife, both parents, and his friend and mentor John Cephus during the production of this excellent album. As a consequence, every song rings of an intimate knowledge of both the emotional intensity and the vast diversity found in blues music.

Lay Down My Burden isn’t technically all covers – it features four well-placed originals neatly tucked among the old blues standards and early americana – and the collection of old favorites isn’t perfect (Dermody’s voice, which features prominently in several cuts, is the weakest instrument in the mix). But the songs are crafted with care and authenticity, the diversity of guest artists and friends from Cephas to Bibb is applied quite effectively, and even as it covers a broad ground, the strong, mostly acoustic track list is powerful, indeed, whether it’s the sparse, field-recording feel Dermody brings to traditional and classic cuts such as Hard Time Killing Floor Blues and Twelve Gates To The City, the funkier, grittier barroom blues sound of Lay My Burden Down and acoustic swing number Evening Train, the squeezebox and fiddle of old-time tune David’s Cow, or the haunting mountain holler evoked by banjo, harmonica, and voice in the Dirk Powell cover below.

• Grant Dermody: Waterbound (orig. Dirk Powell)
• Grant Dermody ft. Louisiana Red: Where Is My Friends (orig. Louisiana Red)
  (from Lay Down My Burden, 2011)

And a bonus: it’s early to be thinking of Christmas, but there’s compilations being mixed out there as we speak. I’m especially keeping an eye on the 826NYC A Holiday Benefit MySpace site (which we mentioned in our subfeature on Bess Rogers) in the hopes of another great volume this year; here’s an especially irreverent track from that series from an artist we discovered just this year, and a tender trio of favorite tracks from Vol. 1 of For Folk’s Sake It’s Christmas, a fledgling series-to-be that’s promised a sequel for the coming season.

• Amber Rubarth: Christmas Carol (orig. Tom Lehrer)
  (from A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3, 2009)

• Emily and the Woods: O Little Town Of Bethlehem (trad.)
• Dear Winesburg: Cherry Tree Carol (trad.)
• Sam Airey: In The Bleak Midwinter / Lonely This Christmas (trad. / orig. Mud)
  (from For Folk’s Sake It’s Christmas, Vol. 1, 2010)

Cover Lay Down is back on track, with new features and coverage twice a week as the holiday season approaches.

Brooklyn-born (and now Boston-based) singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Kris Delmhorst first discovered The Cars in the summer of ’84; in both generational outlook and effect, the musical epiphany that followed seems to parallel my own entry into the wonders of music that speaks to heart and body. And though these days, Delmhorst is known for gentler, more literate songwriting and performance in the modern confessional vein, her new release, Cars – now available for “immediate digital delivery” pre-order at Signature Sounds – finds the forty year old new mother and celebrated singer-songwriter looking back to those heady days of her youth, making for an album which provides a strong bridge between the gleeful, heady emotions which first drew us to those songs and the deliberate craftsmanship which has long marked Delmhorst as a patient, careful artist well worth our ongoing celebration.

Taking on the Ric Ocasek canon is a lark, to be sure – and there’s plenty of play afoot here, as you’ll hear from the get-go. But Delmhorst does so with aplomb, offering a fluid mix of deconstructed deep cuts and relatively faithful (and danceable) interpretations of fan favorites. At its best, as with all great folk tributes, the album comes across as a loving offering to the world through exploration of the self in the familiar, a deeply personal project which exposes deeper truths in songs better known for their rhythm and hooks.


As the four tracks currently streaming at Delmhorst’s store indicate, Cars isn’t a perfect album. The songs with the richest genre hybridization can seem anomalous and oddly balanced – listen for how the synth bleeps, the plastic horns, the pennywhistle, and the punk banjo pull back for the verse couplets on Hello Again, as if to compensate for the conflict between layers – and though the production brings it forward, Delmhorst’s breathy, notably delicate alto is still slightly lost against the harder, poppier, almost country drumbeat edge and sharp bluegrassy fiddles of You Might Think, even as the song stands out as an inevitable single.

But that voice serves the vast majority of her song settings well, and the softer, gentler, more transformative tracks exceptionally. Magic, especially, with its subtle mandolins, soft arrangement, and sweet girl harmonies, is both a harbinger and revelation, a mark of what Kris can do at her best. And overall, Cars is a wonderful conceit, a love note to our secret pop hearts, an apt tribute to a generation’s shared adolescence, a summer folkpop masterpiece. You can practically hear Delmhorst’s wide smile throughout.

Make your summer complete. Get Cars here.

• Kris Delmhorst: Magic (orig. The Cars)
• Kris Delmhorst: You Might Think (orig. The Cars)
  (from Cars, 2011)

Bonus track: Kris Delmhorst and Session Americana cover The Cars’ Drive in a 2006 session.

Our week-long coverage of this Spring’s fine crop of tribute albums and cover compilations comes to a close today with a trio of albums that fall square on the line between country and folk music. Enjoy!


Sleep With One Eye Open, the collaboration with ex-Nickel Creek founder Chris Thile which Brooklyn-based bluegrass musician Michael Daves alluded to back in February during his appearance at the Joe Val Bluegrass Fest, hits the ground running May 10, and I haven’t been this excited for a bluegrass album in a long, long while.

Daves is one of the best guitarists and vocalists in the business, a constant tour companion with banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka and Roseanne Cash who channels the high tenor tones of his forebears with exquisite deliberation; mandolinist Thile has had no small success bringing bluegrass to a younger, more indie-minded audience, first with Nickel Creek, more recently with his newgrass band Punch Brothers. Unsurprisingly, the combination is gleefully potent, making this a project sure to please fans of multiple generations. And, says Michael, though the male voice mando-guitar duet form is a staple of the bluegrass sound, it was important for us…to get that brother duet thing, but with this Lower East Side punk energy. One of the most enjoyable things about this experience was to underline the slightly delinquent side of bluegrass.

The set, which is comprised entirely of “traditional” oldtimey tunes and bluegrass standards made popular by Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin, The Louvin Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs and other bluegrass legends was recorded in Jack White’s Third Man Studios, and will drop on Nonesuch Records on May 10; a single with two more songs – Man In The Mirror and Blue Night – will follow on the 24th. preorder the autographed CD here, or merely pass on your email address at their website, and you’ll be entered to win a Martin guitar…but to be fair, as the promo two-fer below makes clear, the chance to hear these two virtuosos at the top of their game should be more than enough incentive to buy the album.

• Michael Daves and Chris Thile: My Little Girl In Tennnessee (orig. Flatt & Scruggs)
  (from Sleep With One Eye Open, 2011; live video available here)

• Chris Thile & Michael Daves: You’re Running Wild (pop. The Louvin Brothers)
  
  

Laura Cantrell has long been a darling of the countryfolk set, with fans from NYC, where her Saturday-afternoon country show The Radio Thrift Shop became an institution, to Nashville, where she is known among the Grand Ol’ Opry crowd for both her deep, deceptively delicate songwriting and her refined ability to resurrect hidden gems from the early days of acoustic country, and transform more modern pieces from the popular canon in her inimitable singer-songwriter style. And the critics agree, with kudos from Paste to Rolling Stone; no less than UK tastemaker John Peel called her debut, Not The Tremblin’ Kind, his “favourite album of the last 10 years – and possibly my life”.

Her new tribute to country legend Kitty Wells is Cantrell’s most country album yet, with a vividly colorful cover shot reminiscent of the gingham-and-whiskey era which she is here to revive, and instrumentation that suits a modern interpretation of the canon of a long-gone, almost forgotten queen of early country. But folk fans with a penchant for the country side will still find much to love here, most especially in Cantrell’s voice, which remains as sweet as ever, in the gentle, classic slide-and-harmony driven country balladry which pours forth from the speakers, and in the love she brings to what is clearly a project for the ages.

Kitty Wells Dresses: Songs of the Queen of Country Music is already out in the UK, while Cantrell tours the country in the wake of the wedding of the century; it will go global on May 17, and can be pre-ordered at her website. The title-track single, a tribute to Kitty herself, is the sole original on the album, making it tough to justify inclusion here, but you can download it for an address at her website; I’ve included her take on Kitty Wells’ 1952 chart hit It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, and a few older, almost-as-countrified covers here, but encourage all to check out the album, and our 2008 feature on Laura Cantrell’s coverage, to see what makes this one worth pursuit.

• Laura Cantrell: It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (orig. Kitty Wells)
  (from Kitty Wells Dresses: Songs of the Queen of Country Music, 2011)

Bonus Tracks:

• Laura Cantrell: When The Roses Bloom Again (orig. A.P. Carter; arr. Wilco)
  (from When The Roses Bloom Again, 2002)

• Laura Cantrell: High On A Hilltop (pop. Buck Owens/Merle Haggard)
  (studio outtake from When The Roses Bloom Again, 2002)

• Laura Cantrell: Not The Tremblin’ Kind (orig. The Decoys; pop. Blue Rodeo)
  (from Not The Tremblin’ Kind, 2000)

• Laura Cantrell: Hong Kong Blues (orig. Hoagy Carmichael)
  (live from BBC radio, 2002)

Singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall’s children’s album Songs of Fox Hollow was released in 1974, just a year after I was, and to be honest, I’m surprised that I had never heard of it, having grown up in a home full of kidfolk. But that’s the whole point of I Love: Songs of Fox Hollow, an album tribute which aims to introduce a new generation to a gentle, playful kids’ album which was, apparently, born of Hall’s attempt to explain the working of his Kentucky farm to his two young nephews after a memorable summer spent together among the chicken coops, goat herds, and hayfields.

The songs, which speak of conservation and care, fit as neatly into the modern movement towards agro- and eco-sensitivity as they surely did in the seventies, and their reimagining here in the hands of Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Bobby Bare, Elizabeth Cook and others is sweet and gentle. The result is an album as accessible as it is unabashedly country-slash-Americana, simple and direct in language and rhyme, a perfect album for kids of all ages. It drops May 25, but can and should be streamed in its entirety at the project’s website.

• Patty Griffin: I Love (orig. Tom T. Hall)
  (from I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow, 2011)

Previously on Tributes and Cover Compilations Week:

• Covered in Alt-Country: Paint It Black
  …with TWO exclusive tracks from the impending Stones tribute

• Thea Gilmore Covers Dylan
  …plus more coverage from the heir apparent of British folk

• Tributes and Cover Compilations Week, Vol. 3:
  …The Watson Twins, Mundy, Sufjan’s Seven Swans, Madonna & more!

It’s shaping up to be a strong Spring in the world of tributes and cover albums, and good thing, too – though the single-shot covers continue to pour in daily, other than Reid Jamieson’s recent tribute to 1969, the Cowboy Junkies’ too-heavy-to-be-folk tribute to Vic Chesnutt, and a mid-February Sara Lov popfolk covers compilation, it’s been pretty dry at the album-length intersection of folk and coverage.

Today, we return to the shortform approach with a look at four more albums and EPs of folk, indiefolk, and folkpop coverage which have hit the ground running in the wake of a long, spare Winter.


Despite selling far fewer copies than the artist’s tributes to the states of Michigan and Illinois which came before and after it, Sufjan Stevens’ powerful, deeply Christian 2004 album Seven Swans served as such a powerful introduction to the one-time rising star for so many of his peers in the Indie world, it has taken only seven years for the album to be covered in full. But although it seems potentially risky to pay such thorough tribute to a single album so early in its history, there’s something quite deep about Seven Swans Reimagined, a focused indie tribute to the album which dropped at the end of March, the proceeds of which go to benefit for Komen for the Cure.

The roster features a veritable who’s who of the modern Indie movement, with many artists known for their appearance on other compilations, and though the album yaws through a fuller spectrum of the indie canon, with experimental arrangements which echo the originals, much of it is legitimately folk, thanks to generally acoustic, often hushed tones. In all cases, though, from the bouncy bells and flute of Half Handed Cloud’s gentle, pulsing neofolk to the frozen majesty of Unwed Sailor’s Sister to the plodding, echoey, psychedelic soundscape that transforms We Won’t Need Legs To Stand in the hands of Elin K. Smith, the songs maintain their humility and their spiritual edge effectively, even as their tones shift in new hands and mouths.

A few familiar faces, among them Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Joshua James, and Denison Witmer, will be a special delight those of an indiefolk bent; so will less well-known contributors, such as Shannon Stephens and Gregory Paul, whose harmonies make a gentle, almost Joni-esque acoustic slide ballad of Waste Of What Your Kids Won’t Have. And though it’s a bit more pop than folk, Wakey! Wakey! bring a delightfully rough, intimate edge to their majestic piano ballad take on A Size Too Small, taking what is perhaps my favorite song from the original album and turning it on its ear with aplomb. Stream, sample, and buy at Bandcamp – but first, here’s two streams to get you started.

• Joshua James: To Be Alone With You (orig. Sufjan Stevens)
  
  (from Seven Swans Reimagined, 2011)

• Shannon Stephens and Gregory Paul: Waste Of What Your Kids Won’t Have (orig. Sufjan Stevens)
  
  (from Seven Swans Reimagined, 2011)

Blogwatchers already know about The Watson Twins‘ new Night Covers EP, which has been out since mid-April; cover fans may recognize their name from their take on Neil Young’s Powderfinger which appeared on Cinnamon Girl, the all-female, all-indie American Laundromat Records double album which we called “the tribute album Neil Young has deserved for most of his long and prolific career” when it emerged in February of 2008.

But though those who have followed the indie tastemakers in the past few years know the pair for their sweet sister harmonies, and for their collaboration with Jenny Lewis on the well-received Rabbit Fur Coat, which took the critical world by storm in 2005, should know by now: The Watson Twins are much more than a pair of backup singers made good. And, with one EP and two full-length albums already under their belts, identical twins Chandra and Leigh have produced a fine addition to our Spring roundup.

The Night Covers has but six tracks, most of which teeter on the alt-slash-popfolk line, as so much of their work has before; the disk is a bit pricey, but it seems worth the dough, if only because of how effectively the twins pay upbeat, driving tribute to a well-selected collection of pop and soul-turned-indiefolk songs from The Eurythmics to Bill Withers to Sade, with a rock turn by way of the Black Keys and PJ Harvey. Cover Me has a review of more substance, and an interview; their take on Turtles hit You Showed Me, the single, is typical of the album’s sound and sensibility.

• The Watson Twins: You Showed Me (orig. The Turtles)
  (from Night Covers, 2011)

Bonus tracks:

• The Watson Twins: Powderfinger (orig. Neil Young)
  (from Cinnamon Girl: Women Artists’ Tribute to Neil Young, 2008)

• The Watson Twins: Just Like Heaven (orig. The Cure)
  (from Fire Songs, 2008)

• The Watson Twins: I Summon You (orig. Spoon)
  (live on KCRW, 2007)

I wasn’t sure if I should include this next album on our list. After all, like the members of their indie roster, most of Toronto-based Paper Bag Records’ Madonna album tribute True Blue isn’t folk, ranging instead from the glitchy, fuzzed-out, almost Clash-esque rock Born Ruffians bring to Madonna b-side Jimmy Jimmy, to the wailing full-press post-punk of PS I Love You’s Where’s The Party, to the surprisingly well-translated throwback pop-tronica of Woodhands (Papa Don’t Preach), Winter Gloves (True Blue), and You Say Party (Love Makes The World Go Around) which anchor the album.

But the collection is free, making it an easy path to entry for the strong indie stable which Paper Bag Records represents. And two standout tracks are decidedly folk music: Laura Barrett’s gently disjointed La Isla Bonita, and The Rural Alberta Advantage’s “We’re Scared Version” of Live To Tell, which applies gentle guitar, synth, and tambourine to create a delicate, sunny, decidedly retrofolk version of Madonna’s sappy 80′s hit.

• Laura Barrett: La Isla Bonita (orig. Madonna)
• The Rural Alberta Advantage: Live To Tell (orig. Madonna)
  (from True Blue, 2011)

Finally, on the horizon: 2 U I Bestow brings us news of an impending covers album from cheerful Emerald Isle singer-songwriter Mundy, whose song of the same name not only serves as namesake for the Irish-only folkblog, it also brought the artist a bit of fame back in 1996, when it was included on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet. The aptly titled Shuffle drops May 13 in US and UK markets; thanks to Mundy’s reps, I’ve had a chance to hear the whole thing, and found it warm, familiar, and quite worth the time – recommended, especially, for those who prefer their folk without the indie edge.

The set, a tribute to the Mundy’s favorite American “folk” influences – a list which includes alt-country, country, rock, and folk singer-songwriters, from Bob Dylan, John Prine, Paul Simon, and Warren Zevon to Parsons/Hillman, Emmylou Harris, and both Lucinda and Hank Williams – doesn’t dig terribly deep into the catalogs of the artists it honors, and the tracks tend to hew relatively close to their original genre. But the performances here are sincere and solid, transformative and truly listenable, fully fleshed out with contemporary radio-ready folk-rock production values and instrumentation: an apt introduction to a strong, well-produced performer sadly underrepresented and underappreciated on this side of the pond. Here’s the pre-release single – in stream-only form, as requested – and two older covers for reference.

• Mundy: It’s A Wonderful Lie (orig. Paul Westerberg)
  
  (from Shuffle, 2011)

Bonus tracks:

• Mundy: Wherever, Whenever (orig. Shakira)
  (from Even Better Than The Real Thing, 2001)

• Mundy w/ Shannon Shannon: Galway Girl (orig. Steve Earle)
  (from That’s Proper Folk, 1999)

Stay tuned, loyal readers! Cover Lay Down brings Tributes and Cover Compilations Week to a triumphant close this weekend with new tributes of and from Tom T. Hall, Laura Cantrell, and Chris Thile and Michael Daves!

Known for her interpretations of the songs of others as much as for her own firey, highly poetic lyrics and potent songcraft, British singer-songwriter Thea Gilmore has long been on my list as a potential feature subject here on Cover Lay Down – and sure enough, you’ll find an LP-length selection of her past coverage below, including takes on The Buzzcocks, The Clash, Elvis Costello, and more, which I hope will make a fan of those who have not heard her before.

But it’s Tributes and Cover Compilations week here on Cover Lay Down, and fittingly, though she’s been compared in her day to Sandy Denny, Beth Orton, Alanis Morisette, and Joni Mitchell, Thea’s newest effort is a tightly focused tribute to the man who – next to her husband, producer, guitarist and constant collaborator Nigel Stonier – is perhaps her strongest influence. And so we begin our feature with a comparative eye, enumerating the many connections between the 31 year old Gilmore and her musical ancestor and progenitor, Bob Dylan.

Thea Gilmore got an early start in the industry, working in a recording studio and recording her first album as a teenager, breaking into the charts at 23, and – as we saw in our recent feature on the songs of Bill Withers – working alongside such British folk rock icons as John Kirkpatrick (Steeleye Span) and Martin Allcock (Fairport Convention) before she hit her stride as a solo artist. Since then, in just 15 years, the prolific songstress has produced a dozen albums, each one a critic’s darling and a gem of distinction, and appeared on numerous collaborative efforts alongside some of the greats of modern folk music on both sides of the pond, including a star turn as Joan Baez’ hand-picked opener for her 2004 presidential election tour.

Though her voice is a beautiful, clear alto – a far cry from the signature rasp and whine which typifies Dylan’s performance – Thea Gilmore has often been compared to Bob Dylan, with whom she shares a disdain for genre convention, a penchant for obstinacy, a belief that audiences will reward “honest expression” over accessibility, and a preference for rushing to the studio to record songs while they are still in the formative stage. Even USA Today has seen it, saying that “Gilmore detangles sex, religion, and politics with a literate eloquence and defiance that recall the early poetic eruptions of Bob Dylan.”

But Gilmore’s connection to the defining icon of the sixties singer-songwriter movement is strong in other ways, too. She cites Dylan’s records, alongside The Beatles, Fairport Convention, and Elvis Costello, as early childhood influences. She even references Dylan’s canon in her bio, explaining the ways in which her writing has matured over time by suggesting that “You don’t have to be trying to write Masters Of War every time. You can write about your own decisions, turn small parts of your life into songs that people can relate to.”

Notably, she recorded I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine, her first Dylan cover, by request, for a Dylan covers CD solicited by Uncut Magazine in 2002; she later released the track again on Songs From The Gutter, a set recorded during that session, and thus originally conceived as a tribute to Dylan himself. The track struck a chord, and since then, the accolades have poured in, including one from Bruce Springsteen himself, who confronted Gilmore backstage at a 2008 concert to show his appreciation for the track, calling it “one of the great Dylan covers” – a sentiment with which we agree wholeheartedly.

Now, in the aftermath of strong performances of I Pity The Poor Immigrant and Masters of War alongside coverage from Laura Cantrell, Eddi Reader, Josh Rouse, Roseanne Cash and others at the Celtic Connections Festival’s 70th birthday tribute to Bob Dylan (recorded in January; now showing on Sky TV for those lucky enough to live in the UK), Gilmore has re-recorded the entirety of John Wesley Harding, Dylan’s seminal 1967 album – which the maturing British singer-songwriter cites as “his most sustained, satisfying record”, with characters that seem “unfathomably but implicitly linked”, and a startling “sense of earthiness and economy”.

The task took only seven days, according to the preamble to the video posted below, promising and delivering an urgency and situational energy which itself pays apt tribute to the master’s work and process. And though I’ve only heard only samples of most tracks so far, taken alongside Gilmore’s craft and reputation, the evidence they provide is undeniable: the result – a box set which includes the album itself, and postcards for each track – seems destined to be one for the ages.

Dylan’s original John Wesley Harding album marked a return to acoustic music and traditional roots after his mid-sixties foray into the possibilities of electric rock. But Thea has chosen to pour her love for the Dylan canon more broadly into this focused set of songs, making for a vast journey through influence and interpretation. The tracks on this new reinterpretation of John Wesley Harding run from fast-and-grungy, band-driven alt-country and rock (The Wicked Messenger, Drifter’s Escape) to bluesy piano-led balladry (Dear Landlord) to more typical folk and folk rock fare of multiple types and origins, offering a spectrum of that encompasses the very breadth of Dylan coverage in the world of music writ large, including an old-timey banjo touch on I Am A Lonesome Hobo that would sound perfectly at home on an Americana album, and one-two punch of an album kickoff comprised of a delightfully ukelele-led backporch bar band title track, and an utterly grand take on As I Went Out One Morning that rivals the best of June Tabor or Fairport Convention.

Thea’s John Wesley Harding box set drops May 23, but if you preorder on ebay, she’ll post your CD on the 3rd – leaving plenty of time for you to grow familiar with her take on Dylan’s work before Bob becomes a septuagenarian on the 24th, a day which Gilmore and friends will mark with a record release show at London’s Union Chapel. Here, as a teaser, is Gilmore’s celebrated version of I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine, the only previously-recorded track from what promises to be a stellar addition to the neverending canon of Dylan tributes, and a somewhat muddy but absolutely heartfelt fan recording of Thea and her band taking on album-closer I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight live at The Arches in Glasgow this past March. Listen, and then head over to eBay for more words and promises from the star herself.

• Thea Gilmore: I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (orig. Bob Dylan)
  (first released in Uncut Magazine, 2002; also on Songs From The Gutter (2002) and John Wesley Harding (2011))

• Thea Gilmore: I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (orig. Bob Dylan)
  
  

Looking for bonus tracks? Then oh, have we got a treat for you. As noted above, Thea Gilmore’s comfort with coverage runs far broader than her most significant influence, from a notable 2008 duet performance with Mike Cave to several one-shot folk-rock releases on other compilations to her edgy, sadly out-of-print 2004 covers album Loft Music. Here’s the set I would have posted, before Thea’s deep connection to Dylan became so apparent.

• Thea Gilmore: I’m Not Down (orig The Clash)
• Thea Gilmore: Cover Me (orig. Bruce Springsteen)
  (from Songs from the Gutter, 2002)

• Thea Gilmore: Ever Fallen In Love (orig. The Buzzcocks)
• Thea Gilmore: Bad Moon Rising (orig. Creedence Clearwater Revival)
  (from Loft Music, 2004)

• Thea Gilmore: I Want To Tell You (orig. The Beatles)
  (from Revolver Reloaded: A Mojo Magazine Compilation, July 2006)

• Thea Gilmore w/ Mike Cave: You Spin Me Right Round (orig. Dead Or Alive)
  (from Liejacker, 2008)

• Thea Gilmore: St. Stephen’s Day Murders (orig. Elvis Costello)
• Thea Gilmore: Listen, The Snow Is Falling (orig. Yoko Ono)
  (from Strange Communion, 2009)

• Reel & Soul Association ft. Thea Gilmore: Warm and Tender Love (orig. Percy Sledge)
• Reel & Soul Association ft. Thea Gilmore: When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (orig. Isaac Hayes)
  (from 50 US Cents, 2002)

Previously on Tribute and Cover Compilations week at Cover Lay Down:

It’s shaping up to be Tributes and Cover Compilations week here at Cover Lay Down, thanks to a wave of strong cover albums coming over the dam in the next few weeks. Today, we kick off our take on this delightful collection of new and impending coverage early with a look at the newest in Rolling Stones tributes – including two exclusive tracks never before heard outside the studio.

Tribute producer Jim Sampas, whose stellar indie covers collection Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute To Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home hit the ground running back in October, is at it again with Paint It Black: An Alt Country Tribute To The Rolling Stones, due to drop May 17th on his own Reimagine Music label. And though this time around we’re among the first to note its existence, this isn’t the last you’ll hear of it: the album features strong showings from some of our favorite acts on and around the folk/alt-country line – Cowboy Junkies, Hem, Over The Rhine, Great Lake Swimmers, The Handsome Family and more – and Jim’s reputation among both print press and in the blogosphere is top-notch, for good reason.

It’s daring to take on such a well-known canon – though there are surprisingly few tribute albums out there, as our June 2010 feature demonstrates aptly, the Rolling Stones have been covered almost as thoroughly in the last half century as Dylan himself. But as we noted previously, where too many cover albums drift aimlessly, trading off the strength of a few gems, Sampas – the guiding light behind two of the decade’s strongest album-centered tribute albums, turn-of-the-century alt-country-to-popfolk Springsteen tribute Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and 2005 indie Beatles tribute This Bird Has Flown – has made a name for himself curating genre-focused cover compilations which flow smoothly and successfully from one track to the next.

And Paint It Black is no exception – another great addition to the Sampas canon, chock full of slide guitars, harmonica, and brushed drumhead beats, its reinterpretations updated sparingly if at all with modern indiepop and country rock sensibilities. Each track is a gem, each transition another revelation: everything fits, and everything works. It’s like listening to your favorite late-night radio station when the DJ is in the perfect groove.


The song selection on Paint It Black is strong, too: the album contains a solid mix of popular hits and lesser known gems from the Stones’ catalog, in a sequence which neither features nor hides songs of either category.

But much of the success of this particular tribute is due to the collective efforts of the group of artists which appear on the album. Modern alt-country is a big tent, and Sampas’ hand-picked roster pushes against its boundaries by putting exceptional alt-country efforts from acts who generally self-identify as singer-songwriter, indie, and folk rock alongside pitch-perfect performances from more familiar members of the alt-country school.

The result is a broad, sprawling collection that works. Great Lake Swimmers kick things off with a gentle, summery indie breeze of Before They Make Me Run; from there, until Anders Parker’s scratchy, atmospheric Coming Down Again closes the record, the coverage bursts with diversity, running the gamut without skipping a beat.

Hem’s You Can’t Always Get What You Want is a triumphant ballad, sweet and honest, a sublime, well-orchestrated track reminiscent of the Band; Giant Sand’s Jumping Jack Flash, meanwhile, is sexy, dark and dirty, a low-key bass-and-piano barrelhouse with echoes of Nick Cave and Tom Waits. On the title cut, Brian Ritchey’s flowing strings and piano build majestically from aching gypsy balladry to classical seventies to guitar-smashing nineties rock and back again to rest. Boston-based Barbara Kessler’s lovely version of You Got The Silver swings smashing, slide-guitar-driven countryfolk. And the Handsome Family surprises us all with a true-blue half-spoken country tune, with a touch of modern cowboy punk that perfectly suits Faraway Eyes.

Elsewhere, Cowboy Junkies turn in a slow, sultry Moonlight Mile that takes a surprisingly grungy turn before pulling back towards sweetness. Over The Rhine’s piano, slide, and vocals drift etherial over Waiting On A Friend; Neal McCarthy and Ivo Matos channel Dr. John, John Prine, David Gray and Gram Parsons in a pitch-perfect, surprisingly novel turn on Wild Horses. Newly reunited alt-country mainstays Blue Mountain smash through Torn And Frayed like the SXSW-veteran country-roots bar band they are. And on the other end of the alt-country spectrum, the driving beats, tinkly synth patterns, anthemic electric guitar, and echoey vocals of Matthew Ryan’s take on Streets of Love owe as much to top 40 hits from U2, Coldplay, and Snow Patrol, and Springsteen’s highest-concept radiopop Streets of Philadelphia, as it does to the original.

Even those acts I had never heard of – Everest, who channels the Rolling Stones’ rollicking, ragged, acoustic hollers; The Bittersweets, whose deliberate, soaring vocals and slow ringing waves of sound on Loving Cup remind one of Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin- don’t fail to impress. And though I would have loved to hear Mary Gauthier solo here, Dear Doctor, which features Lee Harvey Osmond and Gauthier in harmony throughout, turns out to be a slow duet with harmonica and acoustic guitar, with back-porch vocals that channel Emmylou and Graham’s recognizable alt-country approach quite well, indeed.


As with Subterranean Homesick Blues, thanks to Jim, I’ve been given permission to drop a pair of tracks on you early, in anticipation of what is sure to be a strong wave of appreciation from coverbloggers and alt-country watchers alike once Paint It Black starts picking up steam. And as before, picking just two is a challenge, both because the album works so well as a start-to-finish alt-country journey through the Stones catalog, and because practically all of these cuts are strong enough to cut through the fog.

To be fair, it was tempting to pick tracks from those artists who would net us the most hits on the aggregators. But we’re audiophiles, not populists, here at Cover Lay Down – our goal, as always, is to ply coverage as a tool to introduce you to musicians you may not yet have grown to love. In this case, then, though I highly recommend the entire album from start to finish, I’ve merely aimed for a nod towards our mandate, and selected two delightful tracks from artists I’m still discovering myself: Neal McCarthy and Ivo Matos, whose dreamy Wild Horses is some of the best roots music I’ve heard in ages, and Hem, whose decision to turn The Rolling Stones’ sixties anthem You Can’t Always Get What You Want into a country waltz is a startlingly successful, absolutely irresistible proof of concept for the album itself. Enjoy.

• Neal McCarthy and Ivo Matos: Wild Horses (orig. Rolling Stones)
  
  (from Paint It Black: An Alt-Country Tribute to the Rolling Stones, 2011)

• Hem: You Can’t Always Get What You Want (orig. Rolling Stones)
  
  (from Paint It Black: An Alt-Country Tribute to the Rolling Stones, 2011)

Looking for some bonus tracks? It was tempting to close today’s feature with a smorgasbord of previous coverage of the Rolling Stones, but we’ve done it before. And as always, we’re here first and foremost to make the connection between folk artists and fan – and as with Jim Sampas’ previous project, this new tribute album is as much about the artists, and the producer and label-owner, who have come to the table with vision as it is about the songs themselves. So here’s an alt-country-and-beyond covers collection, featuring a few more artists featured on Paint It Black.

• Cowboy Junkies: Sweet Jane (orig. Velvet Underground)
  (from the Natural Born Killers soundtrack, 1992)

• Giant Sand: Iron Man (orig. Black Sabbath)
  (from Cover Magazine, 2002)

• Great Lake Swimmers: Don’t Cry No Tears (orig. Neil Young)
  (from Borrowed Tunes II: A Tribute to Neil Young, 2007)

• Over The Rhine: Orphan Girl (orig. Gillian Welch)
  (from Live From Nowhere, Vol. 2, 2008)

• Matthew Ryan: Something In The Night (orig. Bruce Springsteen)
  (from Light Of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen, 2003)

• Blue Mountain: Rain and Snow (trad.)
  (from Roots, 2002)

• Mary Gauthier: Your Sister Cried (orig. Fred Eaglesmith)
  (from Mercy Now, 2004)

As regular readers are surely aware, we tend to stay out of the ubiquitous year’s-end “best of” fray, leaving compilation to those blogs that focus on the ever-new. In part, that’s because we’re archivists and folklorists, not tastemakers, here at Cover Lay Down – which is to say, you’re just as likely to find a song from last decade as you are a release from last month being presented in our biweekly missives.

Too, as a matter of policy and preference, we prefer not to play favorites among the best players, believing that there is much to be said of and for the broad and vast diversity of successful songs and interpretations that comprise the threads of the modern folkways. Instead, we work hard only to bring you that which is worthy of pursuit, regardless of origin, as long as it fits into the intimate niche which we have carved out for ourselves.

But it’s hard to pretend that we haven’t trended towards the new a bit more this year than we had before – a fact that is driven as much by a renewed interest in the way that younger artists rise through the ranks, and in how older artists mature as they try to stay current and true to their own development, as it is by the fact that, after three and a half years on the circuit, we’ve featured a good many of my favorite artists in thorough detail by now. And as part of our ongoing focus on the everchanging world at the intersection of folk and coverage, we do try to keep tabs on the best tribute albums on a roughly quarterly basis throughout the year.

As always, we recommend all the songs and artists we tout here on these pages; those looking for something special for that special someone would be well advised to pick up pretty much any of the albums we’ve celebrated throughout 2010, or indeed, since our 2007 inception. But if you’ve scoured the archives, and are still stuck, here’s a few late-year releases and newly discovered collections which might make perfect stocking stuffers for the coverlover on your list.


Like the work of the artist it honors, Versions of Joanna is an eclectic, often strange mix of music, delicate and full of drones and creaky voices, typified by long narratives, pulsing instrumental swells and soaring melodic lines. But Joanna Newsom’s knack for abstract, often cryptic lyrics and fragile nufolk atmospheres translates well in the hands of this well-chosen collection of independent, often genre-bending artists – a list that includes M. Ward, Billy Bragg, Owen Pallette, and Ben Sollee, in addition to an international cadre of modern folk artists new to my ears but eminently worth watching.

At heart, though many of its songs are framed within production that pays apt tribute to Newsom’s frozen sonic landscapes, and though there are a few exceptions to the rule – like Joel Cathey’s amazing, upbeat harp-pop take on The Book Of Right-On, Versions is still mostly sparse singer-songwriter indiefolk, on piano and/or strings, with a few cello-and-bell exceptions. But it’s all beautiful, with a consistency that belies both its sonic diversity and the worrying first impression that it’s a bit early to do a tribute album for a living artist with only a few albums under her belt. The best part: sales from the 21-track digital album, which dropped just last week, will benefit Oxfam America’s Pakistan Floods Relief Fund, making your purchase a true gift in more ways than one.

Jennifer Schmidt: This Side Of The Blue (orig. Joanna Newsom)



Owen Pallett: Peach Plum Pear (orig. Joanna Newsom)



Rosa Hinksman: In California (orig. Joanna Newsom)

(from Versions of Joanna: A Tribute to Joanna Newsom, 2010)

We covered Boston-based altfolk siren Marissa Nadler way back in 2008 as a follow-up to our original freakfolk post, and again in May of 2009, in acknowledgement of the large-but-not-comprehensive bootleg collection of predominantly lo-fi covers which was floating around the webs at the time. But we seem to have missed the midsummer 2010 release of an untitled, “non-official” covers collection from Nadler herself, currently available via crafter’s website Etsy. The collection includes several songs which we already had – but who wants a downloadable set for gift-giving when for just 12 bucks, you can get a personalized collection of 17 favorites lovingly curated by the artist herself, burned on demand, and packaged in a delightful handmade cover with an original linotype designed by the artist herself.

Nadler is due to begin recording her next album in January, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign at the beginning of this month; in the meanwhile, here’s a few of my favorite covers from her past.

• Marissa Nadler: You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (orig. Bob Dylan)
• Marissa Nadler: Famous Blue Raincoat (orig. Leonard Cohen)
• Marissa Nadler: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (orig. The Shirelles)(various sources, re-released on Etsy, 2010)

Of course, holiday albums are an especially relevant treat this time of year, with inevitable nods to songs old and new, and we’ve featured several of this year’s best already, from the Indigo Girls multifaith collection to Sam Billen and Josh Atkinson’s newest kickstarter-driven freebie. Joel Rakes’ ongoing holiday EP project festive.mood.inducing.music is in rare form this year, with twangy, hook-laden indie pop production filling out the once-a-week-’til-Christmas tunes to great and catchy effect. And the aptly-named Merry Ellen Kirk, whose still, lovely Do You Hear What I Hear we featured last year, has added an yet another song to her own ongoing free holiday EP well worth including in the mix, as well.

Though we included a track from Christian singer-songwriter Sara Groves‘ O Holy Night Tour: The Prison Show, a raw, bluesy set of folkpop carols recorded in an Illinois women’s prison, on Sunday, the free digital-only album comes highly recommended, especially as a gift for the empowered women in your life. In fact, I’m so in love with this collection, I couldn’t help but share a second gem, which totally and delightfully transforms a familiar carol into something sweet, gentle, new, and eminently folk.

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention my new and growing affection for Dogs on Tour, a Chicago/Midwest based multi-musician collaborative, who forwarded me their second annual Christmas compilation just last week. Though it’s a cross-genre feast, as much a gorgeously experimental soundscape as a collection of discrete songs, there’s strong folk elements rounding out the mix, and like so much of the best of the season’s underground, it’s free, too, though you’re encouraged to donate a buck or two if you like the work. Plus, it comes with the best terms-of-use notice ever: “If downloaded you are agreeing to the terms of sharing it with everyone you possibly can, passing this link on to others all over the world, and having a Merry Christmas.” Done and done. Pass along the link, and the ones above, for a gift that costs nothing, yet means much.

• Joel Rakes: Hark, The Herald Angels Sing (trad.)
  (from festive.mood.inducing.music.vol.5, 2010)

• Merry Ellen Kirk: Christmastime Is Here (via A Charlie Brown Christmas)
  (from Do You Hear What I Hear, 2008-2010)

• Sarah Groves: O Holy Night (trad.)
  (from O Holy Night Tour: The Prison Show Live, 2010)

• Dogs On Tour: Happy Christmas (orig. John Lennon)
• Dogs On Tour: Jingle Bells (trad.)
  (from Music For Winter: Vol 2, 2010)

You may not recognize the name Jim Sampas, but true-blue coverfans know his work: as the guiding light behind two of the decade’s strongest album-centered tribute albums – turn-of-the-century alt-country-to-popfolk Springsteen tribute Badlands and 2005 indie Beatles tribute This Bird Has Flown – the producer has made an unparalleled mark on the evolving world of coverage. Recently, Sampas started new label ReImagine Music as a vehicle for his ongoing pursuit of all things coverage, and his first solo project, Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan’s ‘Bringing It All Back Home’, hit the ground running a few weeks ago with a bang, netting well-deserved, highly positive coverage in major print and web outlets from Rolling Stone and Paste to The Boston Globe and NPR.

Thanks to Jim, I managed to get my paws on the album a few weeks before its release, and though I’ve noted it in passing here, I haven’t really given it its due. Instead, I’ve been biding my time, working with Jim behind the scenes to net permission to post an exclusive track for our readership, and – not incidentally – forging a mutual appreciation society along the way, built on our common tastes, a shared love of coverage, and our strong support for indiefolk and alt-country artists.

Today, we present the fruits of that effort, and I think you’ll find that it’s been worth the wait. Because now, with both Jim and the Dylan folks fully on board, Cover Lay Down is proud as punch to present a close look at this stunning tribute and the artists it features, along with a track you’ll find nowhere else on the web.

Covering Dylan well enough to spark a coverlover’s interest is tougher than it looks. Truly, I have more Dylan covers than any other; to stand out in the crowd, any album which attempts to take on the works of this generation’s most defining musical poet is going to have to hit hard, and stay long.

Where the I’m Not There soundtrack – the second-most recent Dylan tribute on the market – aims for melodic success, the artists chosen for this October’s Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan’s “Bringing It All Back Home” take risks, pushing the original tunes farther, exploring their potential in new and nuanced ways, and the strategy pays off handsomely. The resulting collection yaws wider than most tributes, but it also delves deeper, making for an exceptional album worthy of every name involved.

The collection starts dark, with Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John taking on the tribute’s title track as a creaky, almost terrifying jaunt through dark Halloween streets. From there, it trends fluidly from technodreamy (The Castanets’ Maggie’s Farm; Asobi Sesku’s Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream) to majestic stripped-down singer-songwriter alt-country and indiefolk (Helio Sequence’s Mr. Tambourine Man, Sholi’s It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue), covering a full range of sunny-but-ragged retropop (Julie Doiron’s On The Road Again, DM Stith’s mariachi-tinged Gates of Eden), frantic alt-countrypunk (Franz Nicholay’s busy banjo-driven It’s Alright Ma), and more haunting, atmospheric songcraft (Mirah’s Love Minus Zero, Ane Brun’s slow, oddly synthesized She Belongs To Me, the etherial harmonies of The Morning Benders’ Outlaw Blues) along the way.

But although the 11 songs which Dylan originally selected for his seminal album make for a fine ride, as others have noted, it’s the bonus tracks here which will most effectively tempt the average folkfan. Five songs, from J. Tillman’s heartbreakingly slow alt-country ballad If You Gotta Go, Go Now to stunning treatments from Laura Viers and William Fitzsimmons, cap off the sequence; taken as an EP extra, the short set is quite possibly the best tribute album to come down the pike all year. And if you purchase from iTunes, you’ll find it followed by another trio of tunes, an iTunes exclusive set featuring tracks from Matthew Ryan, Graham Parker, and Bill Janovitz, which bring gravitas and grace to Forever Young, License To Kill, and Boots of Spanish Leather – making nineteen in all, and nary a dud among them.

The winding path makes for an exquisite journey, chock full of potent musicianship and transformative revisioning. These are artists I love, many of them at the top of their form as both interpreters and performers. And though I recognize the strong temptation to pick and choose from digital albums, the ebb and flow sequence is strong enough to recommend picking up the whole set.

And the track order is inspired, though it’s less important in a digital release; being a folkfan, I especially like the run in the middle of the album from Mirah to Doiron, and then at the end from Witmer to Fitzsimmons. But notably – and exceptionally rare, for a tribute album of this scope – even the songs I like least are worth listening to more than once. There’s an interesting urgency in Mr. Tamborine Man that I’ve never heard tried before – it’s quite evocative. And the way the Ane Brun cover slowly coalesces out of the disparate organ and tape hiss beat atmosphere is beautiful, though it’s not her best work by a long shot.

Sampas let me pick from the lot to feature here, and it speaks to the overall success of the set that selecting just one was an agonizing choice. The Morning Benders leaked Outlaw Blues early in October, free to download in return for the usual email address; I had high hopes to share the Fitzsimmons hushed version of Farewell Angelina, but it’s selling well, as it should, and I have no desire to undermine sales for this album. I almost went for the Viers at the last minute, too, and highly recommend the Mirah and J. Tillman tracks, especially, for those whose tastes trend towards the acoustic.

But truly, though there’s so many sensational tracks on this tribute, I’m thrilled to be given the choice to present the album’s sweet take on I’ll Keep It With Mine, one of my favorite Dylan compositions. Denison Witmer’s ringing, maudlin tones are transformative – perhaps in a more subtle manner than some others on the album, but subtle is an easily overlooked virtue in the world of coverage. And Cover Lay Down shares a special bond with Witmer, continuing to serve as the only artist-authorized place on the web where you can find his five-song set of lo-fi folk covers produced to help promote 2008 release Carry The Weight.

So here’s our exclusive teaser, plus that free download of Outlaw Blues, in hopes that you, too, will follow its path to both album and artists. Enjoy, and remember: you heard it here first.

• Denison Witmer: I’ll Keep It With Mine (orig. Bob Dylan)
  
  (from Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Dylan’s ‘Bringing It All Back Home’, 2010)

Looking for more? I was tempted to follow this week’s exclusive track with a set of more Dylan coverage, but truly, this album is as much about the artists, and the producer and label-owner, who have come to the table with vision as it is about the songs themselves. So here’s a split list: some earlier covers from more artists featured on Subterranean Homesick Blues, followed by a bonus triplet of tasteful and tasty favorites from Sampas’ previous projects.

• J. Tillman: My Proud Mountains (orig. Townes Van Zandt)
  (from Introducing Townes Van Zandt Via The Great Unknown, 2009)

• DM Stith: A Soft Seduction (orig. David Byrne)
  (from Thanksgiving Moon, 2009)

• Julie Doiron: Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard (orig. Paul Simon)
  (live in Minneapolis, 2002)

• Peter Bjorn and John: Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard (ibid.)
  (live on KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic, 2007)

• Ane Brun: True Colors (orig. Cyndi Lauper)
  (from Changing of the Seasons [bonus track], 2008)

• The Morning Benders: Dreams (orig. Fleetwood Mac)
  (from The Bedroom Covers, 2007)

• William Fitzsimmons: I Kissed A Girl (orig. Kate Perry)
  (from Derivatives, 2010)

• Matthew Ryan: Something In The Night (orig. Bruce Springsteen)
  (from Light Of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen, 2003)

• Mirah & The Black Cat Orchestra: Dear Landlord (orig. Bob Dylan)
  (from To All We Stretch The Open Arm, 2003)

Bonus Jim Sampas-produced tracks:

• Damien Jurado and Rosie Thomas: Wages of Sin (orig. Bruce Springsteen)
  (from Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, 2000)

• Mindy Smith: The Word (orig. The Beatles)
  (from This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, 2005)

• Bill Janovitz: Woman (orig. The Beatles [unreleased])
  (from From A Window: The Lost Songs of Lennon & McCartney, 2003)

Cover Lay Down presents new coverfolk features and songsets twice weekly. So bookmark us, or add us to your feedreader, to keep tabs on the world of coverfolk – what’s new, what’s worth revisiting, and what’s coming down the pike – including future notice of ReImagine Music’s next project, an alt-country tribute to the Rolling Stones starring Great Lake Swimmers, Cowboy Junkies, Handsome Family and more!

As predicted, it’s been a strong year for tributes and cover compilations; here we are only halfway into summer, and already we’re looking at our second full feature post on the topic, not to mention recent note of tributes to Shel Silverstein, John Hartford, Graham Nash, Robbie Basho, and several others that have found their way here in the intervening months.

Cover albums can go either way, of course – as can any cover – but there’s plenty of cream in this particular crop: the coverlover’s bread and butter is a fattening bounty, and we’re thrilled once again to bring you the newest and most noteworthy from all corners of the folkworld. Enjoy!

New folk supergroup Red Horse comes with a lot of baggage for old folkies like myself. With three fast-folk-era singer-songwriters turned modern mainstage mainstays coming together, the record would have to be nearly perfect to hit the high bar. And while Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson – both of whom we’ve revisited within recent memory – remain high on my list of eternal favorites, when last we wrote about John Gorka way back in March of 2008, I noted that his aging voice and his growing tendencies towards overlong instrumental lead-ins and song-suffocating contemporary folk production settings had resulted in several recent “uneasy listening” records, leaving me longing for his earlier days.

Happily, the trio redeems themselves here by staying sparse, letting the settings support instead of overwhelm, staying true to the songs they visit by hewing to strong lead voices and simple instrumentation, on piano or guitar in turn. Gorka’s gentle voice is back on target, for the most part; Eliza and Lucy sound as sweet as ever, and the three friends retain an appropriately light touch on the harmonies. As a result, the songs sound fresh and new, the voices renewed and deliberate; I’m relieved to find the trio overcoming the temptation of mere fan familiarity and recoverage to carry their album’s weight, and eager to recommend the July 13 release to anyone.

But though the songs here are rejuvenated, at heart, this is a covers album, with a playlist dominated by songs originally recorded by one or another of the group, now taken on by different lead voices. And this turns out to be a wonderful thing. Hearing Eliza take on Kaplansky’s Promise Me is worth the price of the record alone. Lucy’s clear, sweet voice singing lead on Eliza’s Sanctuary is utterly transformative, unveiling new triumph and hope in the tune; her turn on Gorka fave Blue Chalk is strong, too. Even Gorka’s gentle, wry way with Lucy’s Don’t Mind Me, although pitched high enough for Gorka’s voice to show a strain, is still a solid track on an excellent album.

It’s not perfect, but all in all, listening to Red Horse is like being privy to the perfect songcircle: intimate, confident, and glistening with the love the performers share for each other, and for the songs they have chosen to take on. Here’s one of several favorites from the new self-titled Red Horse record – now available for pre-order from Red House Records along with a free download of Don’t Mind Me – plus tracks and links to past features on Gorka, Kaplansky, and Gilkyson, to keep you in the mood over the weekend.

• Red Horse: Sanctuary (orig. Eliza Gilkyson)
  (from Red Horse, 2010)

Bonus Tracks:

• Lucy Kaplansky: Goodnight My Angel (orig. Billy Joel)
  (previously featured here)

• Eliza Gilkyson: Is It Like Today (orig. World Party)
  (previously featured here)

• John Gorka: The Lock Keeper (orig. Stan Rogers)
  (previously featured here)

From way on the other end of the ever-expanding singer-songwriter tent comes Eric Bachman, one-time frontman for indie-rockers Archers of Loaf, who since the turn of the century has been performing and recording under the name Crooked Fingers both with and without a rotating cast of fellow indie sidemen. Genre classification comes hard for such a project – Bachman’s most familiar indie hit, 2005 sleeper Sleep All Summer, mixed his signature Neil Diamond-esque vocals with a slow and languid brush-and-guitarwail, his last full-length Forfeit/Fortune featured a brassy, heavily layered sound that wandered from poppy eighties-beat tunes to busy latino-tinged rockers, and his first covers EP, 2002 release Reservoir Songs, was a banjo-driven set of mellow-yet-grungy poprockers and ballads taken right from the Billboard charts.

But Bachman and friends pull back for their newest EP, a fan-funded second round of coverage aptly titled Reservoir Songs II, going deeper into the well for song sources and choosing a more atmospheric, intimate indiefolk setting overall. The resulting disc remains diverse, tackling Moby Grape, Thin Lizzy, The Kinks and Merle Haggard with equal aplomb, moving from both alt- and lo-key Americana to a bluesy yet true-blue folk take on John Hartford’s Gentle On My Mind. And the Kickstarter fundraiser went so far over the mark, Crooked Fingers is now back in the studio, recording yet another full-length. Bonus, indeed.

• Crooked Fingers: Gentle On My Mind (orig. John Hartford)
• Crooked Fingers: I Am Not Willing (orig. Moby Grape)
  (from Reservoir Songs II, 2010)

Bonus Track:

• Crooked Fingers: Solitary Man (orig. Neil Diamond)
  (from Reservoir Songs, 2002)

The diverse world beat flavor that so epitomizes world music label Putumayo‘s output generally appeals to contemporary folk audiences, which would be enough to justify its inclusion here in a pinch. But it’s also true that in and among the globally-sourced gentle jazz sambas, upbeat poptunes, true blue reggae cuts, South African rhythm delights, and other songs on the wonderful collection on Putumayo’s new Bob Marley tribute Tribute To A Reggae Legend – which, like Red Horse, drops on July 13th – are several lighter, acoustic takes on the Marley songbook, including this delightful Hawaiian interpretation of fan favorite Is This Love, and a gorgeous grassy favorite from Northern Lights featuring Jonathan Edwards originally released in 2008.

• 3 Plus: Is This Love (orig. Bob Marley)
• Northern Lights ft. Jonathan Edwards: Waiting In Vain (orig. Bob Marley)
  (from Tribute To A Reggae Legend, 2010)

Finally, though it’s been out for a few months, I was reminded recently during a drive from Boston that popular Celtic band Solas is back with The Turning Tide, their 10th album, and as always, they’ve chosen to take on the canon, moving fluidly from traditional irish reels and ballads to a handful of more popular sources, including Richard Thompson, Josh Ritter, and Bruce Springsteen. The underlying theme that ties this newest crop of songs together is social justice, and the resulting collection, while diverse in sources, is a cohesive and eminently positive experience.

This is Solas’ second album with current lead singer Máiréad Phelan, whose breathy voice is a bit of a change from previous lead vocalists, but as Fiddlefreak noted way back in February, she’s hit her stride; the siren song at the fore works well as a whisper, whether before a ballad, a lilting melody, or a whirling reel, and the instrumentation behind her is as crisp and lively as ever. Their recent Mountain Stage show, still available for streaming at NPR, was amazing, and included live takes on both the covers below, but if you’re not already a Solas collector, The Turning Tide is an equally fine place to start working your way backwards through the canon.

• Solas: A Girl In The War (orig. Josh Ritter)
• Solas: The Ditching Boy (orig. Richard Thompson)
  (from The Turning Tide, 2010)

Ad-free, fan-funded, and artist-focused, Cover Lay Down posts new coverfolk features and songsets twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Sundays at a minimum. Like what you hear? Help support our server fees with a small donation and receive a seventeen song set of privately recorded covers from last year’s summer festivals with our gratitude!