Jamie Fong

Jamie Fong wrote for Cover Me from October - December 2010. Jamie Fong is a longtime cover song enthusiast who blogged about covers and other musical preoccupations on his own music blog Fong Songs starting in 2005. Originally hailing from Edmonton, Alberta (Go Oilers!), he has a BA in Film Studies and is currently pursuing his Master's in Library & Information Studies at the University of British Columbia. He started working at the public library in grade 10 and after years of denial gave in to the fact that he was a lifer. If pressed, Jamie would name his favorite artists as The White Stripes, Ben Folds, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin. He once watched a movie with Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge. That is to say, all three were sitting behind him in the movie theatre. His favorite cover band is the PoZitive Orchestra and his favorite all-time cover song is Danny Michel's "Young Americans."

Nelly Furtado Gets the Brett Domino Treatment

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Nov 082010
 
Brett Domino performs Nelly Furtado medley

A pen banging against a wine bottle; a box of candy; a handful of coins; an aerosol can; a shower nozzle. These are some of the more unusual sounds that populate Brett Domino‘s virtuoso cover medley of Nelly Furtado hits. Filling out the cast of eclectic instruments: a stylophone, an accordion, a ukulele, a kazoo, the mighty keytar, and even an iPhone xylophone. You’ve never heard Nelly Furtado quite like this!

Part Pomplamoose videosong, part Napoleon Dynamite celebration of geekiness, Brett Domino racked up millions of YouTube views with similarly geektastic covers of Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, and Michael Jackson. Last year, he and his trio appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, winning over the crowd and judges (minus a completely bewildered Simon Cowell). Don’t be fooled by the deadpan awkwardness on display; he’s got the musical chops too. Behind the Brett Domino persona lurks 27-year-old Rob J. Madin, a graduate in Music Production from Leeds College of Music. Continue reading »

Download This: Strangefolk Create Fake Band to Cover Zeppelin, Raconteurs, and Dead

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Nov 042010
 

Download This! scours the web’s dark corners for cool cover freebies. View past installments.

Formed in 1991 at the University of Vermont, Strangefolk has released five studio albums, a few live ones, and hosted their own annual music festival. Their music falls in the realm of rock, blues, folk, and bluegrass…okay, fine, they’re a jam band. They have a strong and loyal following that has spawned the charitable organization Strangers Helping Strangers, which collects non-perishable food items at their concerts and donates them to local food banks. For over 10 years, the volunteer-run organization has been aiding communities and their work has extended beyond Strangefolk gigs, partnering with dozens of other bands to achieve their goals. Busy guys.

At their own Garden of Eden festival in 2006, Strangefolk first performed a full set of Led Zeppelin covers under the moniker The Tells. The Tells have popped up a few times since to perform all-cover sets of Zeppelin (again), The Raconteurs (with a couple bonus covers of The White Stripes), and the Grateful Dead. Even under their own name, Strangefolk have no qualms about pulling out a cover or two during their live sets. Continue reading »

Under the Radar: Sheezer

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Oct 272010
 

Under the Radar shines a light on lesser-known cover artists. If you’re not listening to these folks, you should. Catch up on past installments here.

Sheezer (Blue Album)

What do you call an all-female Weezer tribute band? Sheezer, obviously. They already knew they had the perfect name, but when Rivers Cuomo tweeted their existence to his followers before the band had even played their first show last New Year’s Eve, that’s when they knew that maybe it was time to put in some practice. Classically trained pianist and kalimba extraordinaire Laura Barrett (check out her kalimba cover of Weird Al’s “Smells Like Nirvana”) found herself having to suddenly learn how to play the bass. Not that the girls were not already accomplished in their own right, being made up of members from Toronto’s indie rock scene. The group consists of Barrett (The Hidden Cameras), Dana Snell (The Bicycles), Magali Meagher (The Phonemes), Robin Hatch (Sports: The Band), and “shreddingest awesome lead guitarist” Alysha Haugen. Continue reading »