(Re)Covered VII: More covers of Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Britney Spears

We're in an indiefolk mood today, thanks to an increasingly large pile of new material flowing in from fan recommendations, the labels, and the blogosphere at large. As such, there's nothing particularly rare here today, just a bunch of great web-scavenged covers, most of which had their coming out party long after we originally featured the songwriters that first made them famous -- making them a perfect fit for yet another long-awaited edition of our longstanding (Re)Covered series here on Cover Lay Down.

At the height of her popularity, Cyndi Lauper's strength was in powerful yet simply-stated melody and lyric; in simplicity, however, a song's flexibility is limited, so it was a nice surprise to find not one but two great new covers coming out over the past few months, especially after finding so many covers of so few different tunes for our May feature on the songs of Cyndi Lauper.

This cover from Canadian indiefolkers The Acorn has been making the blogrounds since at least June, most recently ending up on This Morning I Am Born Again, but it bears repeating for the way it transforms what was once a bouncy throw-away theme for the kid-friendly underground pirate adventure flick The Goonies, turning a cinematic bit of eighties cheese into something lo-fi and fragile, full of string undertones and indie half-tension, the post-millenium's high-culture equivalent of the exotic comfort of a warm goat-cheese brie.

Meanwhile, alt-folk trio Girlyman gives a chilling, harmony-rich rendition of Lauper ballad All Through the Night, proving once again that good songwriting will out, even through the worst sappiest power ballad production (see also: Supertramp covers). I posted Girlyman's wonderful version of George Harrison's My Sweet Lord last year as part of a megapost on the solo work of the post-Beatles Fab Four; I certainly would have shared this perfect live cut when we featured Cyndi Lauper songs last month if I had known about it, but the hype for their gigantic live album Somewhere Different Now, also released in May, seems to have gotten lost in the sea of late spring releases and a recent label change-over for the intrepid and outed members of Girlyman. Special thanks, then, to the anonymous tipster who prompted me to track this song down, which in turn led me to an album which perfectly captures the sweet harmonies and raw yet intimate presence that typifies a small-venue Girlyman show.

• The Acorn: Good Enough (orig. Cyndi Lauper)
  
• Girlyman: All Through The Night (orig. Cyndi Lauper)

Our original exploration of the Paul Simon songbook was large enough to separate into two posts: one on his solo work, and one on his work with that Art guy. But, as I mentioned back then, Simon's influence on music is immense; as such, as musicians new and rising continue to mine the cultural jetsam for songs that have some personal resonance, coverage of Paul Simon's vast catalogue remains vast and evergrowing.

From the recently "released" Bedroom Covers album from The Morning Benders, with its wonderfully hushed and lo-fi versions of many favorite and respectable pop tunes, comes an echoey take on Mother and Child Reunion with shades of Iron and Wine, only played out at a tenor's 45 rpm; Bedroom Covers is a total freebie, and it rocks: we'll surely come back to it down the road for upcoming Covered in Folk features (we're way overdue for a Fleetwood Mac set). Plus two versions of what may well be my favorite Paul Simon composition of all time: a pensive yet hopeful bedroom cover from the recently-featured Mark Erelli, and -- for those who lean that way -- a great countrygrass cover from Darrell Scott's very promising all-covers "acoustic folk" album Modern Hymns, released just yesterday on the highly credible folklabel Appleseed Recordings, via blazing newcomer blog A Fifty Cent Lighter & A Whiskey Buzz, who also offers up Scott's solid take on oft-covered Joni Mitchell favorite Urge for Going.

• Darrell Scott: American Tune (orig. Paul Simon)
  
• Mark Erelli: American Tune (ibid.)
  
• The Morning Benders: Mother and Child Reunion (orig. Paul Simon)

Finally: the "Britney Spears takes over culture" thing is pretty much over, but even after both an All Folked Up feature and a (Re)Covered revisit, her songs continue to crop up everywhere that indie hipsters crave irony. Today's evidence comes from The Portland Cello Project, which finally hit stores this week after months of slow-burning hype. I'm by no means the first to notice The Portland Cello Project, and technically, they're not folk, either -- critics are calling the guest-vocalist-with-multiple-cello sound chamber pop; their myspace page lists them as indie/classical/rock. Listen through their whole self-titled debut, though, and you may think you've discovered yet another new folk, akin to the experimentation of, say, Abigail Washburn's Sparrow Quartet project (which also features cellist Ben Sollee).

The album tracks each feature collaboration from the Pacific Northwest indiefolk crowd, including star turns from Loch Lomond's Ritchie Young and indiefolk darling Laura Gibson; I especially like the delicate indietune Under Glass, and Stay, a wonderful, plucked-sting acoustic waltz with guest Anna Fritz. Captain Obvious gets cred for picking the Gibson and Under Glass for sampling. And PCP gets TOTAL bonus points here for a secret, hidden covertrack, which sets the Mario Brothers theme song to a classical ensemble sound, and then slowly buries it in a faux-military drumroll -- that no other blogger has mentioned that says what it needs to about how most critics listen to label freebies, sadly.

Whatever you call it, this is surprisingly solid, listenable music, covering a huge range of pleasurable soundscape; though it's among the more upbeat and fun songs on the album, their version of Toxic still comes across as authentic, not just some marching band cover. And since the Britney covers always bring a smile, and given the increasing prevalence of cello in folk music, I'll allow it just this once. With a few other recent Britney covers scavenged from the webs that fall on the edge of folk: Sia's delicate acoustic version of Gimmie More, and French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim's ubiquitous pop-folktronic Toxic, just in case you haven't heard it. And so the trend continues.

• Portland Cello Project: Toxic (orig. Britney Spears)
  
• Yael Naim: Toxic (orig. Britney Spears)
  
• Sia: Gimmie More (orig. Britney Spears)

(Re)Covered VI: More Covers of and from Freak Folk, Gillian Welch, James Taylor, and Boxing Songs

A long weekend of solo parenting while my wife headed off to Sonoma County for a long-overdue vacation has left me too exhausted for deep thought. Happily, thanks to reader emails, new releases and new discoveries, I've got plenty of material for yet another installment of our popular (Re)Covered series, wherein we recover songs that dropped through the cracks too late to make it into the posts where they belonged.


A few weeks back, when my laptop went kablooie, Jamie -- host of the ever-miraculous coverblog Fong Songs -- stepped in to save the day with a fascinating guest themepost on Boxing coversongs. Jamie is one of the good guys, and he's been a great friend since we started Cover Lay Down, giving me an open invitation to share the occasional non-folk set of covers over at his place, and even encouraging his own readers to take advantage of our great promotion for artist-friendly music source Amie Street. So I was thrilled when his guest post turned out to be one of the most popular posts we've had here at Cover Lay Down. You guys have good taste.

As a tip of the hat to this fine coverblogging peer, here's two more covers of that most obvious Simon and Garfunkel classic from a few great women on the edge of the folkworld: the slow but bright post-country popfolk of Deana Carter (with vocals from Paul Simon's eldest son), and a surprisingly old-timey take from Emmylou Harris just dripping with tight countryfolk harmony.

• Deana Carter w/ Harper Simon, The Boxer (orig. Simon and Garfunkel)
  
• Emmylou Harris, The Boxer (ibid.)

Though our Subgenre Coverfolk feature on Freak Folk is long past, I continue to struggle with Freak Folk and its relationship to folk music writ large. I called it a subgenre when I blogged about it, but the lines around it remain fuzzy, and the question of whether this counts as folk or not remains too entwined with the new indie usurpation of the term "folk" for me to feel totally confident, even now, that I got it right.

Looking back, I think I agree that Iron and Wine probably doesn't belong in the roster, despite critical clumping, though I continue to believe that Sufjan shares more sensibility with Devendra Banhart, both as a performer and as a composer, than, say, Vetiver, who tend towards the electronic end of things. But looking at my ever-growing roster of song, I would have no problem including both "chamber pop" singer Antony and the Johnsons and "dream-folk" singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler in any feature on Freak Folk as a subgenre of folk music if I was to post it today. In addition to sharing Banhart's peculiar wavery lyrical delicacy, both go for a swim of sound which is mystical and grand and personal all at once. It's eminently folk, and eminently authentic. Freak Folk may be hard to describe, but this music matches my sense of what it is.

• Antony and the Johnsons, Knockin' On Heaven's Door (orig. Bob Dylan)
  
• Marissa Nadler, Famous Blue Raincoat (orig. Leonard Cohen)
  
• Marissa Nadler, Cortez the Killer (orig. Neil Young)

In the comments section of what was otherwise a pretty thorough exploration-through-covers of the songs of Gillian Welch way back in January, several folks mentioned that Over the Rhine covers Orphan Girl live in concert. Having just become a fan of these post-folkers after hearing (and reviewing) their holiday album, I spent the next few months gathering in bootlegs, and -- though the piano is a little heavy in spots -- have come to the conclusion that the "official" version from their Live from Nowhere, Vol. 2 album remains the best recording of a great, fleshed-out anthemic approach to this song.

While we're on the subject, how about another couple of covers of and from the mistress of the new "American Primitive" movement? It's a little to the left of center, as folk goes, but I just love this americana/ alt-country cover of Look at Miss Ohio from newcomers The New Frontiers. And I've been looking for an excuse to post Welch's dreamy cover of Townes Van Zandt's Pancho and Lefty for ages, since it combines one of my favorite songs with one of my absolute famous performers. (PS: Gillian Welch's entire catalog is newly available at Amie Street, too...)

• Over The Rhine, Orphan Girl (orig. Gillian Welch)
  
• The New Frontiers, Look at Miss Ohio (ibid.)
  
• Gillian Welch, Pancho and Lefty (orig. Townes van Zandt)

Finally, we've been slamming the feedreaders this week over at collaborative music blog Star Maker Machine with our Fifty States theme: I missed the Massachusetts connection, but was happy to provide a few great songs (originals and covers) for the likes of Rhode Island (Erin McKeown, Blossom Dearie, Jennifer O'Connor), North Dakota (Lyle Lovett), New Jersey (John Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt), and Virginia (Johnny Cash, Dave Alvin, and Crooked Still).

The planning process took me back to our Carolina Coverfolk series week; while I was there, I found I had missed a few great songs. I ended up choosing a favorite John Hartford song about North Carolina for Star Maker Machine. But since we're looking back, here's an old kidsong from North Carolina tradsong savior Doc Watson, and one more Sam Cooke cover from North Carolina emigrant James Taylor, that really shouldn't have been missed....plus a bonus pair: local singer-songwriter and labor activist Tom Juravich with a true campfire folk cover of James Taylor's Millworker, and a cover of Fire and Rain by alt-rock/pop/folk artist Dido, just because it made me totally rethink her musicianship.

• Doc Watson, My Grandfather's Clock (trad.)
  
• James Taylor, Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha (orig. Sam Cooke)
  
  
• Dido, Fire and Rain (orig. James Taylor)
  
• Tom Juravich, Millworker (ibid.)

Cover Lay Down is proud to support music through raising awareness, but musicians can't eat awareness. As such, all artist links above lead to websites and stores where you can buy music without having to support corporate cash cows that pay suits better than musicians. And if you're planning on going digital, remember, folks: Amie Street is not only cheaper than most download sources, it gives back 70% of all profits to artists. Use the code coverlaydown when you sign up for Amie Street, and you'll get three bucks towards your music purchase absolutely free!

Coming soon on Cover Lay Down: more folk covers of plenty more popstars, a tribute to my elder child (who turns six in a week and a half), something vaguely patriotic, and a few more single-track cover featurettes from some great new albums and artists which I just can't seem to shake, and wouldn't want to. And it's only two more weeks until Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival!

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Still here? Then P.S. and FYI, coverfans:

1. I don't usually promote upcoming radio shows/podcasts, but the folks at The Waiting Room, a radio show out of Cardiff, Wales (UK), will feature three hours of Tom Waits covers on tonight's broadcast. Their Drunk Covers series is generally good, with vast genre influences, and there's been a spate of Waits covers around this year...so expect to hear some Tom Waits covertracks you've heard here in the last few months...and a whole bunch more you haven't. The show is broadcast on ErrorFM, which can be heard everywhere; podcast available here on Thursday!
   
   
2. If you haven't been to Covering the Mouse recently, now's the time: friend and occasional reciprocal guest-poster Kurtis will be celebrating his one year bloggiversary this month, and to honor the occasion, he's collecting votes on your favorite past posts for a midsummer review of the best and worst Disney covers. Make your mark: vote now!
   
   
3. I'm not thrilled about Doveman's cover of the entire soundtrack to Footloose, but My Old Kentucky Blog seems okay with it. Maybe you'll like it. It's free...

(Re)Covered V: More Covers of and from Richard Shindell, Cindy Kallet, Doc Watson, James Taylor

News, new releases, and new discoveries leave us no choice but to bring you yet another long-overdue installment of our popular (Re)Covered series, wherein we recover songs that dropped through the cracks too late to make it into the posts where they belonged.

A huge news trifecta this week from Cover Lay Down inaugural-post favorite Richard Shindell: he's started a blog, he's decided to reopen sales of his recent live album as a digital download, and he's decided to try financing his next record by offering every single one of us the chance to become a producer.

Shindell's blog is already proving to be a vibrant space for thoughtful, well-written treatises on the world and how it is changing, though we'd expect nothing less from this articulate singer-songwriter's singer-songwriter; the first two entries offer a short journalistic report from his adopted homeland of Argentina, and an artist's-eye reflection on how changes in the music industry have altered the relationship between musicians and fans, primarily for the better. And the news that others will soon be able to order his well-produced and wonderfully organic live album, which I wrote about in our six-month anniversary post, is just plain great.

But I'm especially excited to see Shindell join the growing ranks of folk artists who are not only embracing the new, digital world, but tapping into its fullest potential. Album microfinancing through the fanbase is a gutsy move, but it is a viable one, as singer-songwriters Kris Delmhorst and Jill Sobule have successfully demonstrated; the multi-tiered approach Shindell is using to finance his new work seems creative, and offers real return for investors: at the entry level, you're basically buying the album in advance; from there, investment return climbs all the way up to house concerts and housepainting.

As Richard points out in his most recent blog entry, working with "big music" and the RIAA has its costs, and often require that artists work in ways which are not consistent with their own value systems. But the file-sharing landscape offers new opportunities which greatly improve the potential for the relationship between artists and fans. Fan financing is just one example of this; a second is Shindell's creation of an open guitar case, where those who have downloaded his work for free, or just appreciate it, can choose to stop by and support Shindell directly. Here's hoping that this is only the tip of a very big iceberg.

Please join me in supporting the creation of Richard's new album, and celebrating yet one more musician who has decided to leave behind the crumbling, artist-unfriendly industry. Even if you aren't interested in purchasing a full album, or participating in microfinancing at this time, if you like the songs I've included here, or enjoyed previously-posted covers from Richard Shindell, including songs by Springsteen and Ritter, Leonard Cohen, and Jeffrey Foucault and Dar Williams, please consider donating to Shindell via his open guitar case.

• Richard Shindell, Mercy Street (orig. Peter Gabriel)
  
• Richard Shindell, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy (orig. Pete Seeger)
  
• Richard Shindell, I'll Be Here In The Morning / Sing Me Back Home (origs. Townes Van Zandt / Merle Haggard)

In other (Re)Covered-worthy news, I just recieved my review copy of Heart Walk, the new album from the trio of Cindy Kallet, Ellen Epstein, and Michael Cicone. As expected, it's a beautful work, full of robust harmony and sincere emotion, primarily comprised of coversongs of underappreciated folk artists who share the same social and ecological sensibilities of Kallet and co. Like the trio's previous two albums, which I wrote about in our previous feature on Cindy Kallet, Heart Walk is both an especially powerful musical experience, and a great and loving introduction to the work of other folk musicians you may not have heard of, but should. Kudos, all around.

Order Heart Walk and hear samples here; if you live in the Boston area, come join me at First Parish Church in Watertown on May 17th for the Kallet, Epstein, and Cicone CD release party, a rare opportunity to see the trio (and friends) perform live. In the meantime, these two covertracks from the new album -- a cover of an old Judy Collins tune, and an absolutely stunning cover of Peter Mayer's Holy Now featuring Michael's warm, clear lead vocals -- are a great way to whet the appetite.

• Kallet, Epstein, Cicone, Holy Now (orig. Peter Mayer)
  
• Kallet, Epstein, Cicone, Since You Asked (orig. Judy Collins)

Our recent vacation to North Carolina was lots of fun, but being without the bulk of my music collection meant a relative dearth of music availability for the posts I produced while on the road. Happily, since my return, my continued search for songs from fathers to daughters and more old folk song covers from Doc Watson led me to Daddies Sing Good Night, a decade-old compilation from bluegrass label Sugar Hill records. This great coveralbum, which turned up in my daughter's vanity, was the source for the Seldom Scene cover of Sweet Baby James I included in our recent James Taylor coversongs megapost; it also includes these two great father-to-son cuts from Doc Watson.

• Doc Watson, Prairie Lullaby (orig. Billy Hill)
  
• Doc Watson, My Little Buckaroo (pop. Eddie Arnold)

And finally, speaking of ol' JT: thanks to all my readers, especially long-time reader and fan Carol, for the many songs and suggestions that poured in after the aforementioned James Taylor megapost. Though I'm saving most of my newly-embiggened collection of Taylor covers ever-hopefully for a future post on other members of the mightily talented Taylor Family, here's that Alison Krauss and James Taylor cover of the Louvin Brothers I'd been looking for -- it's even better than I hoped it would be.

• James Taylor and Alison Krauss, How's The World Treating You (orig. Louvin Brothers)

Looking Back, Looking Forward: On Half a Year of CLD plus more covers of and from your favorites and mine

Six months ago today I jumped into the world of music blogging with both feet and no expectations. Since then, Cover Lay Down has become many things to many people.

To me, Cover Lay Down is sometimes a haven, often a playspace, always a way to try to put into words why I love what I love. But even though it is work, it is never a burden. And it is a place I am proud to call my home on the web.

But as a home is nothing without a constant stream of dinner companions, houseguests and couchcrashers, a blog is nothing without its readership. Though I only hear from a tiny percentage of the thousand or so of you who visit on an average day, it is clear from those who do share thoughts and songs that Cover Lay Down has served you well. The outpouring of interest, support, and kind words has been validating. I treasure every comment and email, and consider many of you friends.

More surprising has been the relatively recent recognition by promoters, labels, and artists themselves. It has always been my aim to support artists first and foremost, as organically as possible, but as a cover blogger, I never expected to hit the radar. Thanks to every promoter that reaches out to me, to every small label that works with me to keep the focus on artists and songs, and especially, to every artist who has not only shared their gifts, but more and more often, their words of encouragement.

It is a rare privilege to serve as a bridge between the music I love and the community I cherish. Thank you, all, for your trust, your recommendations, and your encouragement. Together, we really are making a difference.

For those who are curious about what this place looks like behind the scenes, it's worth noting that careful hit-tracking shows a steady rise in readership pushed by periodic blips of discovery from the blogosphere and web-based press. It is neat to be noticed, and I really appreciate recent mentions from the likes of Muruch, Berkeley Place, Copy, Right via WFMU's Beware the Blog, and many others I truly respect. I owe these folks, too, and am proud to consider them mentors and peers.

But even if not all posts make The Houston Chronicle, Weblog Wannabe, or what appears to be the German version of MTV, or garner notice on those carefully selected linklists of incredible folk and coverblogs you see to the right, I am proud that such recognition keeps driving the average size of our readership ever upwards. I may be wrong, but I'd like to think our growth after each blip underscores the fact that so many who find this place come back on their own -- which in turn validates the continued good balance we've managed to create between featuring songs and songwriters, and the performers that cover them.

I enjoy writing them all, though I am proudest of the continued work trying to define the myriad ways and means of folk itself -- a thread that wends its way through every post, whether it explores the possibility of a single subgenre or song, or focuses on a given singer or songwriter. And, now that labels and artists have begun sending me their work, I am increasingly excited about the unique opportunity to use cover songs as a vehicle for audiences like yourselves to find new artists.

But today is as much about looking back as looking ahead, and we meet here for the music more than anything. So enough about us -- let's get to the coversongs, shall we? Today, a very special installment of our (Re)Covered series, wherein we revisit the past, and add new value to older posts. After all, isn't building bridges between the past and the now, too, what folk is all about?


One of the reasons I started this blog was that I was so blown away by South of Delia, the new cover album by singer-songwriter Richard Shindell, that I needed to share it with the world. Since then, I keep coming back to that amazing album, and to the artist who recorded it, who recently released the first in what promises to be a wonderful series of live concert recordings. It seems especially fitting to look back to that first post today, for a deeper look at Richard Shindell, plus young folk group We're About 9 with an a capella cover of one of his most poignant songs.

Richard Shindell, Lawrence, KS (orig. Josh Ritter)

Richard Shindell, Fourth of July, Asbury Park (orig. Bruce Springsteen)

Richard Shindell, Darkness, Darkness (orig. Jesse Colin Young)

We're About 9, Money For Floods (orig. Richard Shindell)


Most of our first few months we were seriously under the radar. Though my early look at Britney Spears -- a post originally intended as a Halloween "mask" -- brought some recognition, it says something that even as family friend Sam Amidon garners mention in Rolling Stone and Spin, and even though my look at him was more exhaustive than any I have read, no one seems to remember that we, too, did a feature on Sam Amidon way back in November of last year, before many of the big guns spotted him. Here's a trifecta of Amidon covers I originally posted way back when, one each from his new work and his two previous albums; pick up a bunch more of his cuts at that original post.

Sam Amidon, Head Over Heels (orig. Tears for Fears)

Sam Amidon, Louis Collins (orig. Mississippi John Hurt)

Sam Amidon, Little Johnny Brown (trad./ arr. Ella Jenkins)


Just before the momentum really started to build, I put up a gigantic but generally unnoticed post about local folkfaves Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, and mentioned I hadn't yet heard their newest album Big Old Life. Since then, I've made friends with the folks at Signature Sounds, a wonderful label/studio who first produced the work of Josh Ritter and Lori McKenna, and currently work with folkblog fave Eilen Jewell and previously-covered Jeffrey Foucault and Caroline Herring; they sent me a copy of Big Old Life, and I'm happy to report it was all I had hoped for: fun, quirky, and full of surprises. Rani deserves a real shot at my current audience, so here's two of my favorite tracks; the Dylan, especially, is both wonderful and awesomely odd.

Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, Farewell, Angelina (orig. Bob Dylan)

Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, Heart with No Compassion (orig. Leonard Cohen)


Speaking of Leonard Cohen: if email responses were the best measure of success, our Single Song Sundays would hands down be counted as our most popular entries. In almost every case, from features on tradfolk songs like House Carpenter and Amazing Grace to heavily covered singer-songwriter cuts like Joni Mitchell's River and Dylan's Girl of the North Country, posting multiple versions of a song has brought in choice submissions from fans and artists alike. I truly appreciate these emails, and love learning about new artists this way. Here's the best of what came in after my most recent post on Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat, with much thanks to two new e-friends for introducing me to Antje Duvekot and Karen Jo Fields, two singer-songwriters I'll be listening to over the next few months.

Antje Duvekot, Famous Blue Raincoat (orig. Leonard Cohen)

Karen Jo Fields, Famous Blue Raincoat (ibid.)


What's next on Cover Lay Down? Plenty. I'm working with several artists I love to bring forward some great covers they've done over the years, and anxiously awaiting word on a few "in the works" cover projects from folksters new and old. With the folk festival season soon upon us, I expect to be more in tune with what's new in the folkworld, and hope, as well, to be able to renew and strengthen connections with artists, fans, and promoters.

In other words, much of what you'll continue to see here is that which we do best, only deeper. But even that is not static. Folk is culture, so as culture changes, folk changes, too. As long as new gems and rising stars shine among the new and unheard CDs that clutter my desktop, it is my hope to add more short features on newer artists still below the radar. I'll have an experiment of sorts in that vein coming along later this week. But to the extent that we can say so, I think the model we've created together is largely a success. Expect more of the same as we go forward.

One last word before I go. In the end, the purpose of this blog truly is to best support folk music, and the artists who make it. Regular visitors may have noticed that we disdain mass market commercial sources for music here wherever possible. My recent connections with artists and labels has only strengthened my belief that the best way to support the music we love is not just to buy it, it is to buy it through the artists themselves, at shows, on artist websites, and through distribution centers like CD Baby -- sources which genuinely send the bulk of the profit back to the artist herself.

Please, folks: if you like what you hear, buy, and buy local. Else one day, there might be nothing left for us to talk about except the oldies. And if I could ask for anything back from all of you, it would not be words. It would be that this community, this scene, this sound is still vibrant a hundred years from now, for our children and theirs.

Thanks for staying with me for so long, both tonight and since you found this place. We'll be back Wednesday, and again on Sunday, ad infinitum. But come back any time you like. For you, the door is always open.

(Re)Covered IV: More Covers of and from Sam Amidon, Lucy Kaplansky, Eliza Gilkyson, and House Carpenter

Thanks to email submissions, new releases and discoveries, and a newly-purchased CD repair kit, it's time for yet another edition of (Re)Covered, a monthly feature here on Cover Lay Down in which we recover a few songs that dropped through the cracks just a little too late to make it into the posts where they belonged.

I saw Lucy Kaplansky last month at the UnCommon Coffeehouse with my father; as always, she turned in a wonderful, intimate set, including great covers of The Beatles' Hey Jude, Robin Batteau's Guinevere, Ron Sexsmith's Speaking with the Angel, and my own request: Cowboy Singer, a Dave Carter tune which she seemed genuinely pleased to play. If you ever get a chance to see Lucy, drop everything and go.

We covered the works of Lucy Kaplansky in our first month here at Cover Lay Down, and posted Cowboy Singer last week in our feature on folk covers of cowboy songs. But I just can't get enough of this sweet-voiced urbanite. So here's Guinevere, which Lucy cites as her most requested song, plus a gorgeous Billy Joel lullaby from 2007 release Down at the Sea Hotel, a mostly-stellar album of dreamy kidsong covers from the Red House Records stable.

Lucy Kaplansky, Goodnight, My Angel (orig. Billy Joel)

Lucy Kaplansky, Guinevere (orig. Robin Batteau)

Oh, and a bonus cover of Nanci Griffith's Midnight in Missoula, one of two great Eliza Gilkyson cuts from that same kids album. We did a feature on Eliza Gilkyson's coverwork a long while back, too. Worth revisiting.

Eliza Gilkyson, Midnight in Missoula (orig. Nanci Griffith)

Since our Single Song Sunday megapost on House Carpenter, a couple of especially solid folkversions came in from the ether. Thanks to my readers for Dylan and live Aussie slidemaster Jeff Lang takes on this truly traditional English country ballad. The Pentangle version, off 1969 release Basket of Light, holds truer to the "original" lyrics than most modern covers but layers those lyrics over a truly psychadelic sixties instrumentation; the CD is out of print, so this cut comes to us courtesy of our local library system.

Bob Dylan, House Carpenter (trad.)

Jeff Lang, House Carpenter (ibid.)

Pentangle, House Carpenter (ibid.)

And speaking of tradfolk: Sam Amidon's incredible new album All Is Well, which I wrote about several months ago in our post on Sam Amidon's coversong career, finally dropped earlier this week. Here's hoping the slight blogbuzz that accompanied the original hint of this moody all-tradsong indiefolk release turns into a mighty roar as it finally comes to the air. These two further cuts off the upcoming album, plus Sam's own video for Saro, should whet your appetite enough to get in on ordering All Is Well.

Sam Amidon, Wild Bill Jones (trad.)

Sam Amidon, Wedding Dress (trad.)

VIDEO: Sam Amidon, Saro

As always, links above and in the original posts whisk you off to label- and musician-preferred purchase sites. Support artists best by buying direct: it's just that simple.

Elseblog, New and (Re)Covered: Folk Covers of The Smiths Here, Pop Punk Covers of Folk Songs at Fong Songs

I'm guest hosting over at Fong Songs again today, throwing down a feature on Pop Punk covers of folk songs while Fong heads off to Las Vegas for some culture. (I'd say more, but you know what they say about what happens in Vegas.) If your ears can take the hard stuff, join me at Fong Songs for the sweet non-folk sounds of The Lemonheads, Sonic Youth, P.J. Harvey, Dinosaur Jr., and a bunch of other 80s alt-punk rockers.

Before you go, here's some earcandy, a half-pint (Re)Covered set of folk covers of songs by seminal 80s alt-pop band The Smiths and their lead singer Morrissey, collected on the blogosphere and unearthed while digging through the tracks for last week's post on Billy Bragg. Regular readers will remember that my first guest post over at Fong Songs was a feature on Smiths coversongs, too. And so the world comes full-circle.

From Sandie Shaw's solo acoustic punk folk to Scott Matthews's rich-toned atmospheric indiefolk, the below tracks are worth a second listen. Also included: Decemberist Colin Meloy's solo-with-harmonies cover of two Morrissey tunes, and Joshua Radin's amazing Girlfriend in a Coma, which hit the Fong Songs post late in the game.

• Sandie Shaw, Jeane (orig. The Smiths)
  
• Scott Matthews, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (orig. The Smiths)
  
• Joshua Radin, Girlfriend In A Coma (orig. The Smiths)
  
• Colin Meloy, Jack The Ripper (orig. Morrissey)
  
• Colin Meloy, Everyday Is Like Sunday (orig. Morrissey)

Enjoy the music, both here and elseblog. And remember to click on artist names to learn more and purchase music if you like what you hear.

(Re)Covered III: More Coverfolk From...Moxy Fruvous, Billy Bragg, Brooks Williams, Zydeco

Songsources are ever pouring forth new and unearthed sounds: the forgotten track, the new release, your own wonderful recommendations via email or post comments. Sometimes the perfect folksong pops onto the radar (or hits the blogosphere) and demands to be shared, no matter how after-the-fact.

Today, our third installment of (Re)Covered, a regular feature in which we recover a few songs that dropped through the cracks just a little too late to make it into the posts where they belonged. Better late than never, I say. Thanks to all who share music, that we might revisit, and rejoice.

Ever wake up in the middle of the night feeling like you missed something? These Moxy Fruvous kidsongs truly belonged at the core of last month's post on silly songs and dancearounds for cool moms and dads. Canadian eco-political folk rockers Moxy Fruvous used to rock the house at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival each year, but they could also play a college student center lounge like nobody's business; their take on the Talking Heads isn't technically kids music, but it seemed right for the occasion. Their "cover" of seminal kidlit text Green Eggs and Ham is not just hilarious, it's quite possibly the best folk rap song you'll ever hear.

• Moxy Fruvous, Green Eggs and Ham (orig. Dr. Seuss)
  
• Moxy Fruvous, Spiderman (TV theme song)
  
• Moxy Fruvous, Psycho Killer (orig. Talking Heads)

Researching those kidfolk posts has brought me new appreciation for the kids CD rack at our local library; here's a fun little Marley cover I found on Putumayo's Carribean Playground that would have been perfect for our Subgenre Coverfolk feature on Zydeco music. The first few bars suffer from some cheesy electronic keyboards, but they get swallowed by the great Zydeco sound quick enough. Also included: Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys with a houserockin' version of traditional proto-Cajun tune La Danse De Mardi Gras. Coming eventually: a full post on folk covers of Bob Marley songs.

• Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band, Three Little Birds (orig. Bob Marley)
  
• Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys, La Danse De Mardi Gras (trad.)

A few bonus Brooks Williams coversongs got stuck in my head after our feature on this incredible singer-songwriting guitar wizard. You probably know Angie as a Simon and Garfunkel tune off Sounds of Silence, though folk-rocker Davey Graham gave it first voice; Brooks Williams and Jim Henry's deceptively simple instrumental version is crisp and reinvigorating. Their gleeful cover of Stefane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt string-jazz tune Minor Swing was too tempting to leave out.

• Brooks Williams + Jim Henry, Angie (orig. Davey Graham)
  
• Brooks Williams + Jim Henry, Minor Swing (orig. Grappelli/Reinhardt)

Finally, I'm still kicking myself for not including kidsong I Was Born in last week's post on Billy Bragg, cover artist. Like his other work with Wilco and Natalie Merchant, the song is a half-cover -- lyrics by Guthrie, music by Bragg -- but it captures the Guthrie sensibility so well, you'd think they were channeling the old folkie. His Dylan and Tim Hardin covers are similarly authentic; you probably know the latter as a Rod Stewart piece, but this is a thousand times more real.

• Billy Bragg, Positively 4th Street (orig. Bob Dylan)
  
• Billy Bragg, Reason to Believe (orig. Tim Hardin)
  
• Bragg/Merchant/Wilco, I Was Born (orig. Guthrie/Bragg)

Don't forget to come back on Friday, when I'll be doing double duty: a few choice folk covers of songs by 80s alternative rock band The Smiths here at Cover Lay Down, and a guest post on the Pop Punk movement over at Fong Songs.

(Re)Covered: More of and from...Cat Stevens, Neil Finn, The Wainwright Family, and Bill Morrissey

I certainly wasn't planning to post four times this week. But I've unearthed some great-but-late cuts that just begged to be passed along. And this past holiday weekend left me feeling thankful for all those who write and say such nice things about Cover Lay Down. Guess the urge to keep giving was just too much to bear.

Today, the second installment in our (Re)Covered series, wherein we recover songs that dropped through the cracks too late to make it into the posts where they belonged. Enjoy!

I've had several requests for the popcovers I mentioned in last week's Cat Stevens post -- they're not folk, but Stevens is, and both Natalie Merchant and Sheryl Crow have folk cred (the former from her recent solo work, the latter from her early pre-stardom days). So here are Peace Train and The First Cut Is The Deepest. Along with a sweet, ragged, just-unearthed version of Wild World by antipopsters The Format. Plus Australian indiefolkers New Buffalo's slow, grungy acoustic take on that Nina Simone song that Yusuf covers, just for comparison's sake. Oh, and a wonderful, sparse, sleepytime Here Comes My Baby cover from previously featured kidfolk songstress Elizabeth Mitchell. Ask, and ye shall receive, and then some.

• 10,000 Maniacs, Peace Train
  
• Sheryl Crow, The First Cut Is The Deepest
  
• The Format, Wild World
  
• Elizabeth Mitchell, Here Comes My Baby
  
• New Buffalo, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (orig. Nina Simone)

I also picked up a few wonderful solo acoustic covers from Neil Finn last week that I couldn't resist passing along; they would have been great bonus songs from our October feature on the songs of Neil and Tim Finn, if I'd had 'em, but that's what our (Re)Covered feature is for. He's not folk, and neither are the original artists of these two pop songs, but the brightly optimistic singer-songwriter treatment Finn gives these two pop songs would be perfectly appropriate on any folk festival stage in the country.

• Neil Finn, Billie Jean (orig. Michael Jackson)
  
• Neil Finn, Sexual Healing (orig. Marvin Gaye)

Lest we lose sight of our core mission, here's some folk covering folk: a wonderful Bill Morrissey and Greg Brown cover of Hang Me, Oh Hang Me I rediscovered just after posting Bill Morrissey's tribute to Mississippi John Hurt. It's a traditional folksong you might recognize as covered by the Grateful Dead under the alternate title Been All Around This World; I'm saving that for a long-overdue Garcia and Grisman feature, but in the meantime, here's another sweet version of the same song by new neotraditionalist Canadian alt-folkies The Deep Dark Woods.

• Bill Morrissey w/ Greg Brown, Hang Me, Oh Hang Me
  
• The Deep Dark Woods, Hang Me, Oh Hang Me

And finally, not one but two beautiful songs which really speak to the whole twisted family dynamic of the Wainwrights, who we featured in our first Folk Family Friday. First, in a burst of typical irony, Rufus and Martha cover father Loudon Wainwright III's One Man Guy, then -- just to show there's no hard feelings -- Kate and Anna McGarrigle once again bring together family friend Emmylou Harris and ex-spouse Loudon for a jangly take on the traditional Green, Green Rocky Road.

• Rufus Wainwright w/ Martha Wainwright, One Man Guy
  
• The McGarrigles, Green, Green Rocky Road

As always, all artist links here on Cover Lay Down go directly to the artists' preferred source for purchasing music. Please, folks: if you like what you hear, both here and out there in the wild world, buy the music, and support the continued production of incredible sound from those who eschew the easy top 40 route to fame and fortune.

(Re)Covered: More folk covers of Britney, Lou Reed, Chris Smither, Amazing Grace

In order to maintain quality over quantity, this is our last regular Friday post here at Cover Lay Down; from now on, you'll still get ten or more carefully vetted songs a week, but with a few notable exceptions (holidays, the occasional Folk Family Friday), posts will appear on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Today, for a "final" Friday post, we recover a few songs that dropped through the cracks just a little too late to make it into the posts where they belonged. Ladies and Gentlemen: our last regular Friday, our first (Re)Covered.


My Halloween post on Britney Spears folk-covers seems to have started a trend: if you haven't already, head on over to Cover Freak and new blog Cover Me for a whole mess o' popcovers from across the musical spectrum. Especially recommended for folkfans: Shawn Colvin's cover of Gnarls Barkley summersong Crazy, Matt Weddle's reinterpretation of Outcast hit Hey Ya, the term "Pop Tart" to describe a certain type of female pop singer. Not recommended: Nickel Creek's cover of Toxic, which I download and delete every few months -- it was probably hilariously wonderful in concert, but the recording suffers from some abysmal recording quality.

But the popcover flood isn't over yet: in addition to sparking a coverblog meme, my own post brought several direct submissions out of the ether. You'll see a few of these in future posts; in the meantime, here's a few of the best Britney Spears covers I received in the past few days:

• Irish folkrocker Glen Hansard of the Frames covers Britney's Everytime (Thanks, Rose!)
  
• Another chilling version of Toxic from Dutch folkgoddess Stevie Ann, this one in-studio and sans sax (Thanks, the_red_shoes!)
  
• More from Guuzbourg:
  • a light sweet version of Toxic from the Chapin Sisters
  • a Klezmer-esque Toxic from Global Kryner.

In other news, I also found a great "bonus" for last week's Lou Reed folk coverpost while flipping through some old entries in retropsychadeliablog Garden of Delights. June Tabor and The Oyster Band's 1990 version of Velvet Underground classic All Tomorrow's Parties has strong ties to the traditional Irish/British countrysongs at the core of folk rock as first defined by Pentangle, Donovan, and Steeleye Span in the 1970s.

• June Tabor and The Oyster Band, All Tomorrow's Parties

After weeks of scouring local public libraries, I finally found Bonnie Raitt's absolutely marvelous cover of Chris Smither's I Feel The Same and the produced version of his Love Me Like A Man on her 1990 retrospective The Bonnie Raitt Collection. I've loved this pair of covers ever since I was a kid; listening to them again brings me right back to the hardwood floor in front of my father's stereo, carefully sliding records out of their sleeves. I posted a live version of the latter last week, but the produced versions are better.

• Bonnie Raitt, I Feel The Same
  
• Bonnie Raitt, Love Me Like A Man

Had I began researching this week's post on folksong lullabies earlier, I would have discovered classicalfolk guitarist and composer John T. La Barbera's version of Who's Goin' To Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot in time to include it in my post on Amazing Grace and the folk/gospel tradition. They're not the same song, but the music is almost identical; for the first half a minute, La Barbera's soft, gorgeously lush instrumental could be either.

• John La Barbera, Who's Goin' To Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot (trad.)

Finally, thanks to all who send, tout, and post music -- keep those afterpost suggestions coming in, folks! And don't forget to come back on Sunday for a very special ten-song feature on the folkier side of Beck!