Cover Lay Down

A coverblogger’s inbox is always full, and though much of what we receive is off-genre or original, following the threads of inspiration is often a fruitful pursuit. But regardless of source or format, inevitably, the ongoing collection reaches a critical mass. And when it does, it becomes imperative to share, lest we find ourselves unable to move on for fear of losing track of the good stuff.

Today, then, we return to the mailbag to spread the word on the best song interpretations we’ve received from fellow bloggers, artists, managers, promotional folks and fans in a particularly generous span of weeks. Recorded in living room sessions, live spaces, and studios, each track has impressed us enough to be worthy of not just pass-along, but promotion; as such, as always, if you like what you hear, don’t forget to follow links to explore more original works from the artists we celebrate.

While our ongoing exploration of new and emerging artists often dovetails with our mailbox occasionals – most of the entries herein, for example, come from young folks whose appearance here represents early notice of rising adeptness – the latter conceit remains necessary, in part, in order to acknowledge long-standing artists whose recent coverage sparked our interest. This week’s case in point: Dave Crossland, a maturing artist of no small stature whose credits include years of work with mentor and Kingston Trio founder John Stewart and bill-sharing with the likes of Roseanne Cash, Shawn Colvin, and Lindsey Buckingham.

Crossland, a self-proclaimed “road monkey” with four studio albums under his belt, would have likely remained on the periphery of our ongoing exploration of the singer-songwriter movement, too, were it not for his brand-new, fondly funereal take on Stewart-penned Monkees classic Daydream Believer, which Crossland himself seems to have leaked to the web last week in honor of the recent passing of Monkees member Davey Jones. The track will appear on his upcoming album Mother Country, a long-overdue tribute to the Stewart songbook; the microfinanced labor of love is currently less than a thousand dollars away from pressing, so definitely head on over to the Mother Country project page to help speed the process along with a donation if you can.

• Dave Crossland: Daydream Believer (orig. The Monkees)
  (from Mother Country, 2012)

We’ve posted plenty about the scene at Boston’s Berklee College in the past few years, but this newest step forward is something special indeed: Under The Influence, the brand new twelve-track product from student-run label (and full-credit music business/management course) Heavy Rotation Records, features a pair of covers each from six incredible student and recent alumni musical acts, each a cross-genre tribute to the influences that brought the artists to the table in the first place, and the absolutely stunning sum total says more about the twinned talent and tenacity of the Berklee program than anything we’ve managed to put together in the past, for sure.

It’s not all folk here, though it’s all good: Pinn Panelle’s screaming guitar-and-organ-driven cover of R.E.M. classic Radio Free Europe is a madcap jam-metal screamer, like a Phish and Duncan Sheik mashup on speed; pop-driven loop artist Julia Easterlin’s work is reminiscent of Ingrid Michaeleson and Imogen Heap’s best; the Berklee String Metal Ensemble’s Smashing Pumpkins cover sounds just like what would happen if you gave Fugazi and Megadeth a set of mandolins and taught ‘em to use ‘em. But singer-songwriter David Pramik’s U2 cover is a tender wail over a pulsing contemporary folk atmosphere, and The Boston Boys and Emily Elbert, both of whom I’ve seen and loved separately before, come together for a smashing indie-grass take on a Green Day obscurity sure to please fans of Punch Brothers, Nickel Creek, and Leftover Salmon. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, folks; head over to the HRR bandcamp page to read more, and stream the rest of the project.

• The Boston Boys w/ Emily Elbert: Welcome To Paradise (orig. Green Day)
• David Pramik: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (orig. U2)
  (from Under The Influence, 2012)

When I first found young Yorkshire-born singer-songwriter Jason Steel on late 2011 release The Rough Guide to English Folk, I was struck by how impossibly American he sounded; his cover of tradfolk ballad The False Bride on that compilation is a mellow, creak-voiced dream that speaks as much to Leadbelly, and to other, older and more earthbound fingerpickers from the blues and mountain traditions, as it does to compatriots Sam Amidon, Nick Drake, and John Fahey. But pursuing the threads here was well worth the effort: Steel’s jagged take on bawdy folk ballad The Bonny Black Hare, which seems to have been recorded in a live session, is vastly distinct, yet equally coherent and beautiful, echoing an unusual combination of Appalachian, Tin Pan Alley, and tradfolk elements, hewing a space between and around the various threads of folk which push and pull across the oceans between us.

• Jason Steel: The False Bride (trad.)
  (from The Rough Guide To English Folk, 2011)

• Jason Steel: The Bonny Black Hare (trad.)
  (unknown source)

Lost Leaders is a duo comprised of Ollabelle / Levon Helm Band member Byron Isaacs and Peter Cole, both of whom are, apparently, fans of the blog; though their output thus far is slim, they’ve just finished recording their first record up at Levon’s barn in Woodstock, and their summer 2011 gig opening Levon’s infamous Midnight Ramble is nothing to sneeze at. But those looking for an indicator of their potential need look no farther than the first two releases in their live video series, a living room covers project that has caused a sort of mutual admiration society to emerge among us. Their hypnotic dual electric/acoustic guitars and sweet harmony vocals are right up our alley, and their choices of coverage inspired; if the two tracks below tickle your fancy, too, don’t forget to bookmark the Lost Leaders YouTube page and website for more as their debut album’s release date gets closer.

• Lost Leaders: Nobody’s Fault But My Own (orig. Beck)

• Lost Leaders: Climb That Hill (orig. Tom Petty)

We don’t often get submissions from indie actors, but we’ll make a major exception for PigPen Theater Co., a group of recent Carnegie Mellon University graduates who “started a theater company in school, kind of by accident”, and subsequently won the NYC Fringe Festival’s top award two years running for plays and performances built around original folk tales and folk music. According to the email they sent, the young folks in question are branching out in support of a debut Kickstarter-driven indie-folk album project even as they continue to work on a new play and an animated short film; they now have a series of “about 7″ cover videos planned, with songs chosen by project donors, and if the first two are typical, theirs is just the kind of gently ragged, harmony-driven, footstomping, banjo-and-bass-drum, neo-traditional sound that drives us wild here at Cover Lay Down – leaving us eager to hear more coverage, and the debut album that will follow.

• PigPen Theater Co.: Hey Ya (orig. Outkast)

• PigPen Theater Co.: Someone Like You (orig. Adele)

Sometimes, the covers we get from the mailbag are just a bit too far over the line into other genres to feel right for us. But when we reluctantly decided that The Giving Tree Band’s cover of Brown Eyed Women, recently recorded for the aforementioned and ongoing Dead Covers Project over at Dead.net, was a crystal clear, beautifully layered, humdinger of a tribute – tight, nuanced, and goddamn sweet as sin – that nonetheless didn’t really seem folk enough, the guys in the band, who sport adept chops directly inherited from the Allman Brothers, The Band, and other country rock influences, were happy to oblige with something a bit more folky upon request. So check out their impromptu acoustic cover of George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass below, recorded just last week in honor of Harrison’s birthday, and then feel free to backtrack via the link above for a Dead cover that truly does Jerry and the gang justice.

• The Giving Tree Band: All Things Must Pass (orig. George Harrison)

We close our video coverage today with a one-shot from Vancouver rising star duo The River And The Road – a pass-along which comes, unusually enough, from one of the members’ brothers, who is such a fan, he couldn’t resist sending us their take on Gillian Welch classic Look At Miss Ohio. What can we say: the guys are clearly on their way somewhere good; we love the song, and we love the way it sounds in a stairwell, with banjo, guitar, and dual male voices. For fans of the Avett Brothers and Old Crow, especially; it’s that kind of bearded folk, after all.

• The River And The Road: Look At Miss Ohio (orig. Gillian Welch)

Pssst! Looking for an ongoing stream of coverfolk videos and streams throughout the week? Head over to the Cover Lay Down Facebook page for more, including a tinkly piano and muffled drumkit Dylan cover, a Billy Bragg-alike cover of a cut from the brand new Damien Jurado album, and more “facebook only” bonus tracks from the mailbag!