Jan 272025
 
jrad laura palmer's theme

When Joe Rosso’s Almost Dead took the stage in Port Chester, NY on Friday, January 17th, they not only paid tribute to the Grateful Dead, as they usually do, but they also paid tribute to David Lynch.

The group, formed as a Grateful Dead tribute band, played a show filled with Dead songs and traditional covers, but for the encore they added a cover of Angelo Badalamenti’s “Laura Palmer’s Theme.” The song, was part of the soundtrack for the 1990’s cult hit TV show Twin Peaks, which Lynch co-created. The multi-hyphenate artist died on January 15th at age 78.

This cover was performed solo by keyboardist Marco Benevento. However, the group did also work the theme into their last song, the Dead classic, “Eyes of the World.” (The video below is labeled as “Eyes,” but includes “Laura Palmer’s Theme.”

JRAD is next scheduled to play in Atlanta, GA in mid-February, before a stand at Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas, NC in April.

Dec 202024
 

Follow all our Best of 2024 coverage (along with previous year-end lists) here.

best cover songs of 2024

Welcome to the 50 Best Tom Petty Covers of 2024!

We kid, of course. But for whatever reason, this year’s big trend in covers was: Tom Petty. At one point there were something like 20 Petty covers on our longlist. Many came from two all-star tribute albums that dropped, entirely coincidentally, the same year (they both made our Best Albums list). We narrowed it down, of course. Three Petty covers ended up in this Top 50, one not even from those albums. Then, just this week, another high-profile Petty cover dropped: Snoop and Jelly Roll reworking “Last Dance for Mary Jane”! Suffice to say that one wouldn’t have been a contender even if it hadn’t arrived too late.

That was the big surprise trend in 2024 covers. The less-surprising trend you could have called from a mile out: The new wave of young pop divas—Chappell, Sabrina, Charli—got covered a lot. We could have done an entire 50-song list of their covers, too (the “Good Luck Babe”s alone!). But, if we had, we would have missed out on gospel R.E.M. and country The Weeknd and electropop Mott the Hoople and soul Green Day and… you know what, just read the list.

(Moo-chas gracias and Deng-ke schoen to Hope Silverman for this year’s tiny-hippo art.)

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Nov 012024
 

In Memoriam pays tribute to those who have left this world, and the songs they left us to remember them by.

It seems only fitting that a band known as the Grateful Dead would have so many songs about death. In fact, whenever a member of the Dead universe passes, there’s no shortage of songs to pay tribute to the one newly departed.

Such was the case with the passing of Phil Lesh on October 25, 2024. In the hours and days afterwards, many bands took to the stage with heartfelt tributes to the Dead’s bass player. Perhaps most notable was the jamband Phish, who, that same night, performed a cover of “Box of Rain,” a song co-written by Lesh and Robert Hunter.

The song holds the distinction of being the last track the Grateful Dead ever performed live before the passing of Jerry Garcia. Lesh added it to the band’s July 9, 1995 setlist at Soldier’s Field because he felt the song “Black Muddy River,” another song about death, was too melancholy to end the show and the tour on.

While Lesh will first and foremost always be remembered for his time in the Dead as one of the most innovative rock n’ roll bass players of all time, it’s what he did in the 29 years after Jerry’s passing that might be his greatest legacy.

Lesh kept the spirit of the Dead’s music alive by playing and collaborating with multiple generations of musicians. He helped ensure that not only would the Dead’s music live on, but that there would be many great musicians to play the music in the band’s open-ended style.

“I continue to seek out multiple musical partners, in a quest for that elusive chemistry that comes and goes as it wishes,” Lesh wrote in his 2005 memoir. “Sometimes ‘it’ happens onstage, or sometimes in rehearsal, but it always leaves me breathless and wonder-struck.”

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Jul 312024
 

Welcome to Cover Me Q&A, where we take your questions about cover songs and answer them to the best of our ability.

cover of instrumental

Here at Cover Me Q&A, we’ll be taking questions about cover songs and giving as many different answers as we can. This will give us a chance to hold forth on covers we might not otherwise get to talk about, to give Cover Me readers a chance to learn more about individual staffers’ tastes and writing styles, and to provide an opportunity for some back-and-forth, as we’ll be taking requests (learn how to do so at feature’s end).

Today’s question comes from one of our readers, Micah Goldfus. He wants to know:

What’s your cringiest cover song?

You’ll find his answer below, along with plenty more from the Cover Me gang…
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Mar 152024
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

John Scofield

Guitar great John Scofield values the art of improvisation and seeks those moments of inspiration when an individual or band achieve moments of transcendence. Historically he has tried to do this during 150 gigs a year, in all sorts of settings.  Even if a small fraction of that work is laid down, Scofield also has a huge catalogue of recorded work. He has put out work under his own name, or that of one of his bands, every year for over 40 years and is a valued sideman, collaborator, and mentor for many others.

Jazz is an obvious format for improvisation, and Scofield describes himself as a jazz guitarist. Someone who studied at the Berklee School of Music and has worked with Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and a host of modern greats is certainly entitled to describe himself any way that he wishes. Certainly you should not go into his music if you have a distaste or disdain for the “only truly original American art form.”

Scofield can nevertheless thrive in other environments. Phil Lesh has made him a vital collaborator in his Phil Lesh and Friends project, improvising around the Grateful Dead canon. Indeed, jam bands in general view him as an inspiration and touchstone, and he has worked with Lesh, The Allman Brothers and Trey Anastasio, amongst others. When beloved covers band Scary Pockets wanted to develop their own funky music, as Scary Goldings, they put him on the roster. He takes, and brings, his inspiration wherever he finds it.
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Mar 012024
 
best cover songs february 2024
Annie Lennox — Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince/Sinéad O’Connor cover)

The emotional highpoint of the Grammys—well, other than Tracy Chapman’s return (covers-adjacent!)–was Annie Lennox’s tribute to Sinéad O’Connor during the In Memoriam. Bonus points because she was backed by two longtime bandmembers of Prince (who, of course, wrote the song), Wendy and Lisa. The teardrop on Lennox’s eye was very Prince, and the political statement at the end was very Sinéad. Continue reading »