Peter inhabits Oakland, CA with his three boys and wife. The first half of his life was spent on the east coast in the Philly/NJ/NY area, making the move west in '89 a week before the big earthquake! At age 11 in 1977 he saw his first concert, KISS at the Philadelphia Spectrum and his life was never the same. A deep love and passion for live music began decades of concert going, working for promoters and bands, putting on events, collecting live music, writing a cover-a day blog on MOG and most recently producing an indie benefit covers album for Oxfam America of Joanna Newsom covers, Versions of Joanna.
This was the first year that the free, three-day music festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was without it’s founder Warren Hellman. Warren passed late last year and left a San Francisco tradition that is being faithfully carried out by an army of music lovers, bigger and better than ever. This year’s festival in Golden Gate Park featured 6 stages, a crowd of 600,000 and 88 acts with a variety of artists like Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, The Lumineers, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Conor Oberst, The Civil Wars, Son Volt, Ralph Stanley, Nick Lowe and many more. Check out a handful of the many covers from the weekend below!Continue reading »
Earlier this year we featured five of the best covers, so far, of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know”. Of course the first video that went uber-viral and helped ignite interest in this year-old song was the five-on-one guitar cover by Walk Off the Earth. Since then hundreds of covers, parodies and remixes of this hit have flooded the YouTubes. You are in luck, as I have spent far too much time listening to the already overexposed song to pull out a few covers that either rival or surpass the original. In no particular order, here are ten more versions for your enjoyment.
1) Karmin– a Cover Me regular from YouTube that has gone on to appear on Saturday Night Live. Watch Amy and Nick do their pop thing on SiriusXM Hits.
2) Kelly Clarkson – The original American Idol performs live at Jones Beach, NY on August 21, 2012.
3) Netherlands Radio Choir – The 74 person ensemble does the song to raise funds to help save the choir.
4) fun. featuring Hayley Williams – fun, performs live on BBC 1 Radio’s Live Lounge alongside a recording of the Paramore singer.
5) Rita Ora – The UK singer, songwriter and actress drops an R&B take on Radio 1’s Live Lounge
6) Cast of Glee – “They did such a faithful arrangement of the instruments but the vocals were that pop ‘Glee’ style, ultra dry, sounded pretty tuned and the rock has no real sense, like it’s playing to you from a cardboard box,” Gotye told the Sunday Mail of Darren Criss and Matt Bomer’s rendition of his song.
7) Noah featuring Christina Grimmie – The incredibly talented, deep voiced Noah Guthrie keeps the YouTube cover hits coming.
8) Old School Computer Remix – With an HP Scanjet 3C as the vocals. An Amiga 600 as Bass on left audio output and Guitar on right audio output. Harddrives as the drums and cymbal and a PIC16F84A microcontroller, this digital ditty is pretty amazing.
9) “The Star Wars That I Used To Know” – A Parody with new music and original lyrics. It’s a story of heartbreak to which Star Wars fans everywhere can relate. A shot at the movie remakes, new CGi effects and George Lucas. Easily the best video.
10) Two Kids in a Car – I know this isn’t a cover, but these two six year old friends who love this song are serious stars in the making. How can you not love this?
In the promo video for Traveler, Jerry Douglas tells the story: “I was in London walking to the Royal Festival Hall over the Thames and talking to Marcus Mumford on the phone and he said what about “The Boxer”? I told him I love the Boxer! I met Mumford & Sons and we just glommed on to each other. They are like sons to me at this point, but we have a lot of fun. The respect goes both ways. They come over to our house and hang out with our kids.” The 13 time Grammy winner and dobro master’s latest album also features performances by Alison Krauss & Union Station, Paul Simon, Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, Dr. John, Eric Clapton, Keb’ Mo, Marc Cohn, Omar Hakim, Sam Bush, Viktor Krauss, and others.Continue reading »
Singer-songwriter and musician Rickie Lee Jones has spent nearly 35 years carving a unique path that has blended rock, pop, blues, R&B, and jazz. From her early success with the hit 1979 song “Chuck E’s in Love” to the 2000s where she experimented with beats, loops and spoken word, Jones is the embodiment of the evolving artist. Her latest effort, The Devil You Know is a collection of covers of classic rock tracks that read as a greatest hits list.Continue reading »
Gossip (formerly known as The Gossip) is an indie punk- rock band that formed 13 years ago in Olympia, Washington. Singer Beth Ditto, guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie make up the powerful three-piece act. Last month while ending up a tour down under featuring an appearance at Splendour In The Grass festival, the band stop by radio station Triple J. As part of the station’s “Like a Version” live cover series, Gossip performed a tune they have played in their live sets, “What’s Love Got To Do With It.Continue reading »
Billed as “a festival unlike any other in a place like no other”, Festival No.6 is set in the magical village of Portmeirion, in North Wales, UK. The location is a stunning backdrop featuring venues like the historic town hall and Bristol colonnade. You can even stay in a castle or in the village over the three days of music. Headliners feature New Order, Spiritualized and Primal Scream.Continue reading »
