One of the highlights of every edition of the Bonnaroo music festival is the Superjam, which brings a unique group of artists together to play together, do some covers and generally have a fun, loose, good time. This year’s version of the Superjam was curated by Kesha and presented under the headline of “Kesha Presents: Superjam Esoterica: The Alchemy of Pop.” Continue reading »
I am not sure how much traction (The) Sam Chase elicits in his home state of California, but over here in Blighty, courtesy a magnificent little festival called Maverick, he is always guaranteed a welcome. He, and his band, The Untraditional, cut quite the rug with his hoarse holler, belting out songs of a country hue, a punk attitude and a sometimes chamber-folk setting. This all makes for a beguiling combination, a rich mix of sandpaper and silk. Over the years he has worked solo, as a trio and now with his a 7 piece band behind him. That’s a lot, but, with cello, violin and trumpet, augmenting the more familiar guitar, keys, bass and drums, flickering remembrances of Van Morrison’s Caledonia Soul Orchestra wouldn’t be that far off point. And, yes, all seem present for Covered:, endeavoring to both compete with and comfort his foghorn fusillade.
To be fair, Chase’s voice gets dialed down a tad across most the selections here, culled from a bevy of the usual suspects: a Dylan, a Prine, a couple of Waits, balanced with CCR, Nirvana and one from the pirate cabaret of The Crux. The overall effect is strangely chameleonic, as he affects to occupy the persona of each individual singer, in character if not always sound. The difference comes largely from the arrangements, which tend toward the dusty roadhouse of amplified acoustica with drums. This renders a fluency to the flow of Covered:, a congruency that makes for a set that is all his own, however familiar the songs may or may not be.
Continue reading »
One Great Cover looks at the greatest cover songs ever, and how they got to be that way.
In the documentary It Might Get Loud, Jack White is shown putting a record on a turntable. He sits, listening intently, as we hear Son House’s “Grinnin’ in Your Face.” After a few bars the camera zooms in on the record cover and we hear Jack’s voiceover: “By the time I was about 18, somebody played me Son House. That was it for me.”
He elaborates that the song has been his favorite since the first time he heard it, and he was taken in by the simplicity of the music. “I didn’t know that you could do that, just singing and clapping.” Continue reading »
Jack White ended his March 15th show in Tokyo by bringing out Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder to help him cover the Neil Young classic, “Rockin in the Free World.” Continue reading »
Welcome to Cover Me Q&A, where we take your questions about cover songs and answer them to the best of our ability.
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 staff member Tom McDonald:
What’s your favorite cover of a traditional song?
Fresh off his psychedelic soul cover of grunge standard “Black Hole Sun,” Aloe Blacc is back with another transformative cover of a massive hit. This time he’s taking on one of the biggest songs of the aughts, The White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army” – a song so big it has joined the canon of sports arena staples along with “Sandstorm” and that dance remix of “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” Continue reading »