Though Bob Dylan moved away from his role as a ‘protest singer’ long ago — we saw Another Side by his fourth album — his name will forever be associated with social activism. The international human rights organization Amnesty International rose out of the same turbulent era as Dylan, forming in 1961, the year Dylan recorded his first album. Fitting, then, that in celebration of their 50th birthday, Amnesty would call on artists to contribute their Dylan covers to the massive four disc set Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Continue reading »
This week, Cover Me celebrates Freddie Mercury 20 years after his passing. Read Part 1 here.

On April 20, 1992, one of the most impressive collections of musicians ever assembled for one show gathered together to pay tribute to Farrokh Bulsara, better known to the world as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who had passed away due to complications from AIDS some six months before. Today, as we approach the 20th anniversary of his passing, Cover Me looks back at this monumental concert event, a celebration of covers and of one of the most unique talents ever to grace the performing arts. Continue reading »

Sporting a name that inevitably reminds me of condiments, Mustered Courage are Australia’s answer to the recent “newgrass” movement, claiming on their Myspace to be “born to bridge a gap between traditional bluegrass music and the Australian alternative music scene.” Following in the footsteps of string-heavy groups like the Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons, M.C. eschews a drummer and prominently features traditional country instruments like the mandolin and banjo, with the latter of these doing some of the heavy lifting in the band’s cover of Seal‘s hit “Kiss from a Rose.” Continue reading »

After their breakout album, Odd Blood, we’ve all come to associate Yeasayer with lots of synths and other electronics. Songs like “O.N.E.” and “Ambling Alp” proved their love of ’80s and early ’90s sounds. So in some sense, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they’d take on Seal‘s song “Crazy.” On Australia’s Triple J radio, they stripped down the song to nothing but vocals, acoustic guitar, tambourine, and a couple of drums. Continue reading »