Mike Tobyn, Author at Cover Me

Mike Tobyn

Mike Tobyn is a Scottish Scientist, and lapsed Pharmacist. Brought up, along with Aztec Camera and The Jesus and Mary Chain, in the New Town of East Kilbride near Glasgow he has lived and worked near Liverpool for the past 20 years. He has recently returned to writing about music when he was reminded that the follies of one’s youth need not be abandoned forever, although the golfball type IBM typewriter he used then could be.

The Last Dinner Party Pay Homage to Art-Rock Forebears Sparks with “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us”

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Sep 052024

The Last Dinner Party spent their pupal years in the pandemic. Their years behind a mask, or a veil, were spent honing their aural and visual craft. In 2023, they burst from their chrysalis as a fully conceived, fully formed, art-rock entity. They have spent this year barnstorming across sell-out tours and festival appearances. In March we praised their live cover of Sparks’ “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For the Both of Us.” Now, in preparation for a new album release in October, featuring several covers, they have released a pro recording of the Sparks tune with a video covering their performances of the classic over Brat summer. Continue reading »

Delicate Steve Welcomes You Into “These Arms of Mine”

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Aug 262024

Steve Marion lends his considerable guitar skills to artists who need virtuosity tinged with eccentricity. Over the years, artists such as Paul Simon, The Black Keys and Miley Cyrus have utilized those skills. As Delicate Steve, he leads his own muse, and band, which occasionally ventures into covers, including his amazing “Hallelujah” that we covered a few years ago. His new album Delicate Steve Sings subversively does not contain vocals, while packaged as a classic standards album from the likes of Chet Baker or Willie Nelson. Where Frank Sinatra used his voice as an instrument, Marion uses his instrument as a voice. The album includes a version of Otis Redding’s “These Arms of Mine.”
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Willie Nelson Prepares “Last Leaf” for a Fall Release

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Aug 232024

In November Willie Nelson will release Last Leaf on the Tree, his 76th studio album and his second of the year. The record will be the first to be curated and produced by Nelson’s “Particle Kid,” Micah (who also did the cover art), and will feature many covers. The first single from the album is the title track, a version of Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf.”
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Alex Warren Takes a Different Look at Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club”

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Aug 162024

Singer-songwriter Alex Warren’s many followers on social media appreciate his honesty about his past, optimism about his future, and ability to capture it all in song. In his latest outing in his partnership with Sirius XM, he has added a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” to his repertoire.
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Parlor Greens Produce Succulent Cover of “My Sweet Lord”

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Aug 082024

The arrival of a funky Hammond Organ-based trio is always a cause for celebration. Colemine Records recently brought together a powerhouse in that field, with their sessions being released as Parlor Greens’ new album, In Green/We Dream. In addition to some incredibly lithe, funky, psychedelic callbacks to the R&B of days gone by, it contains a new version of “My Sweet Lord.”

The band, consisting of Jimmy James on guitars, Adam Scone on Hammond B3, and bluesman Tim Carman on drums, have said that their touchstone was not the original version, but a more obscure one by Leonard Caston. The God Squad’s (featuring Caston) devotional album Jesus Christ Greatest Hits does indeed feature an organ, but it stops short of something that Parlor Greens wants to achieve, as it had some vocal harmonies. They long for the day when Grant Green produced fully instrumental versions of hits. However, in doing so they face a huge challenge. Religious or spiritual songs often aim to provide certainty via the words in their lyrics. If someone is inspired to write one it is because they Believe with a capital B, and they want others to, and the lyrics reflect this.
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O.A.R. Pay Tribute to NYC Persistence With Cover of Billy Joel’s “Miami 2017”

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Aug 062024

New York City persists and prevails. At the end of July, Billy Joel started his victory lap in the final show of his record-breaking 104-gig Madison Square Garden residency in Midtown with a version of his classic “Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out on Broadway).” Meanwhile in Downtown, near the Battery of the song, veteran rockers O.A.R. were building their sold-out show on Pier 17 to a crescendo using the same song. The latter version is now online.
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