A new Bob Dylan cover group made its debut at the Eaux Claires Festival in Wisconsin, and it’s leader is a recognizable face. Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver, appeared as “Bon Dylan” at the festival he started with The National‘s Aaron Dessner. With a band made up of guitar, bass, two drummers and harmonica, the 16 song set featured a wide array of Dylan songs from all aspects of his career. Continue reading »
The talk of Coachella this year was Justin Bieber—specifically, his controversial headlining set that featured, in part, him singing along karaoke-style to videos of himself he pulled up on YouTube. Plus, Geese debuted their old “Baby” cover live (while Sabrina Carpenter watched sidestage no less). But maybe the best Bieber happening this month was this great lo-fi cover by Arlo Parks.
Merle Haggard’s birthday saw two new covers drop. One’s in the next section. This first one’s even better though. Country singer Jamey Johnson dug deep—and late—for this pick. The song comes off one of Haggard’s final albums, 2010’s I Am What I Am. This is the same album that included “Bad Actor,” which Bob Dylan covered in concert a couple years ago. The album’s seemingly on its way to be the country version of Blackstar or You Want It Darker, a late-in-life masterpiece for the true heads. Continue reading »
MJ Lenderman‘s recent appearance on the Adam Friedland Show began with his cover of Warren Zevon‘s classic, “The French Inhaler.” Lenderman stripped the song down to just vocals and a guitar, allowing the listener to focus on the lyrics, always a good idea with Zevon songs. Continue reading »
MJ Lenderman and his band The Wind played a Friday night slot at Wilco‘s “Sky Blue Sky” festival in Mexico, and brought a few covers to his set.
Lenderman invited J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr to join him on a cover of Neil Young‘s “Lotta Love.” The song, which comes from Young’s 1978 album Comes a Time, originally ran 2:37. However, in Lenderman and Mascis’ hands, the song ran for over 8 minutes and featured both trading off leads. It is as much fun to watch as that sounds. (You can catch the whole thing below.) Continue reading »
Waxahatchee (aka Katie Crutchfield) is an admitted Taylor Swift fan who has in the past covered Swift’s “But Daddy, I Love Him” in concert. And a few weeks ago in Kansas City, Crutchfield took to the stage as part of Jason Sudeikis’ Thundergong! benefit. Continue reading »
Mavis Staples has released the title track of her upcoming album, a cover of a Sparklehorse song. Staples’ cover of “Sad and Beautiful World” is subdued, and features more instrumentation than the Mark Linkous original. Her version includes a pedal steel and horns on top of a steady drum beat. That said, the somber, reflective mood of the song remains, and both versions are incredibly effective. Continue reading »