When Ethan Gold began recording cover songs in his bedroom closet, they were more than his tributes to artists that mattered to him – they were therapy. Gold had sustained a head injury in a warehouse accident that left him unable to speak, let alone do the complex sound engineering his work required. He had also just been forced to leave the condemned residence that inspired his previous album, Songs from a Toxic Apartment. So these covers, one-take performances filmed for YouTube, were Gold’s road to recovery. Now they’ve been compiled and released as a digital-only album, Live Undead Bedroom Closet Covers, and it’s a pleasure to see that his recovery is complete.
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Welcome to Cover Me Q&A, where we take your questions about cover songs and answer them to the best of our ability.

Angela Hughey is the newest addition to the Cover Me staff, joining us earlier this year. She lives, writes, and performs in Portland, Oregon.
What an awesome time we live in for music. We have hundreds of years of inspiration to draw from and so many choices to make as artists. Create something new or put our own stamp on a piece of music history? If we choose the latter, do we interpret the song verbatim, or do something entirely unexpected? My list of covers that matter to me range from near identical to near unrecognizable remakes of excellent songs. The list kicks off with songs from a few of my favorite movies…
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Festivals often entice artists to perform covers. What better way to convert the uninitiated than by drawing them in with a song they know and then (ideally) hooking them by transforming it into your sound? This past weekend’s Lollapalooza, though, seemed to offer even more cover performances than usual. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune even christened Saturday “#80snight” to keep track of all the ‘80s covers performed. Continue reading »

Since releasing their debut album in 2006, ambient rockers The Coral Sea have kept busy: crafting the follow-up Firelight, appearing not once but twice on Grey’s Anatomy, and heading on tour with The Walkmen and Silversun Pickups. They have also found the time to offer a pair of covers as free downloads, drawing inspiration from two very different places. Continue reading »

Not too long ago, we brought you Ellie Goulding’s covers of Elton John’s “Your Song” and Rihanna’s “Only Girl.” This week, the British singer/songwriter appeared on BBC ‘s Live Lounge and performed the Knife’s 2003 song “Heartbeats.” Like Goulding, “Heartbeats” is no stranger to covers. José González’s soft acoustic version has been cropping up on TV and in movies since he recorded it in 2006. Continue reading »