R.E.M.’s Peter Buck teamed up with a few other musician friends to cover a song from the 1968 film, Wild in the Streets, to raise money for one of his favorite podcasts. Continue reading »
Jan 172025
Jan 132025
Actor Michael Shannon and musician Jason Narducy took to the stage of The Tonight Show to perform a cover of R.E.M.’s “Driver 8,” in advance of their upcoming tour, covering the group’s 3rd album, Fables of the Reconstruction in full. Continue reading »
Nov 272024
The Reverend Al Green is offering up a new cover of R.E.M.’s modern classic, “Everybody Hurts.”
“Recording “Everybody Hurts,” said Green, “I could really feel the heaviness of the song and I wanted to inject a little touch of hope and light into it.” And, because he’s Al Green, he did just that. The song still has the melancholy that seeps through the original, but the final chorus reaches another level of redemption, courtesy Green.
Playing on the track includes some heavy hitters, including Reverend Charles Hodge on keyboards, Texas guitar legend Will Sexton, and Steve Potts from Booker T and the MG’s on drums.
Speaking on behalf of his former bandmates, Michael Stipe said, “We could not be more honored, more flattered and more humbled. This is an epic moment for us.”
Green’s last release was in 2023 and was a cover of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day.”
Oct 292024
The link between Jason Isbell and R.E.M. is pretty well known. He included his take on their “Nightswimming” and “Driver 8” on his cover album Georgia Blue. In June of this year, Isbell inducted R.E.M. into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Earlier this month, he performed with Michael Stipe at a Harris/Walz rally. And during his annual run of shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the lovefest continued. Continue reading »
Oct 082024
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!
I volunteered to write this piece a few years ago, but never got around to it. When I offered to actually finish it, our features editor reminded me that he had written a Spotlight piece on The Feelies back in February. But he was game to let me write this, if there was no overlap. Remarkably, no overlap was actually planned. So, here we go, with a second Spotlight piece in a year about a band of, at best, limited popularity. Or, if you prefer, a cult favorite.
Continue reading »
Feb 132024
The End of the Road Festival is an annual festival at Larmer Tree Gardens in southern England. As part of the promotion for the festival, magazine Best Fit does “secret sessions.” For one of this year’s, Runnner, aka Noah Weinman performed a solo show. During the show he covered “Driver 8.”
“Driver 8” was REM‘s seventh single and second biggest hit when it was released in 1985. Very much a classic ’80s REM song, it’s about a train and fully embodies their jangly, folk-tinged college rock aesthetic from that period of their career.
Weinman plays the opening riff pretty much as written, though on a regular 6-string acoustic it sounds considerably less jangly. It sounds to me like he’s playing it slightly slower than the original. He otherwise sticks to the form and pace of the song. Stripped of all the original’s ornamentation though – including the harmonica that echoes a train whistle – the song sounds considerably more traditional. The original has a classic college rock sound and Weinman has stripped all of that away. His delivery feels more plaintive even if it may not be, just because it’s him and his guitar alone on stage.
It’s faithful and earnest and a nice version of the song. Check it out below.