It’s worth noting here that although bandwidth costs rise with each new tier in popularity, we are probably one a very few blogs to make it that high on the list without advertising. Before summer ends, I hope to have a very special announcement involving an exclusive quarterly podcast subscription give-away for those who choose to donate. In the meantime, feel free to click on that little donate tab above, or not, without pressure, in anticipation of such gift-giving. Come fund drive time, early adopters will be remembered.


In the meanwhile, our thoughts turn to another top 100: Folk Alley’s 100 Most Essential Folk Songs of all time, as voted on by their readership, reported on just a few weeks ago on NPR, and currently playing in random order over at Folk Alley, the 24/7 online stream from WKSU.

It’s an interesting list, with few surprises, and plenty of beloved covers and originals; it’s especially pleasing to run down towards the end of the list and recognize songs I hold dear, but which I had not realized were as well recognized by the community, such as Dougie MacLean’s Caledonia (#74), Cheryl Wheeler’s Arrow (#76), John Gorka’s Love is Our Cross to Bear (#92), and more.

Many of these songs are covers as we count them — which is to say, the list is peppered with both traditional songs and standards — and it is interesting to me to find, say, John Denver’s original version of Leaving on a Jet Plane (#100) chosen over the Peter Paul and Mary classic, or the Martin Carthy Scarborough Fair (#35) instead of, say, popularists Simon and Garfunkel, alongside Doc and Richard Watson’s take on tradsong House of the Rising Sun (#53) and Tom Rush’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s Urge for Going (#94). Most, though, are the “right” covers, from Seeger’s multiple entries to The Byrds’ Turn Turn Turn (#22) to Fairport Convention’s definitive versions of trad-tunes Matty Groves (#29) and Tam Lin (#89).

Still, there are a very small few in this seminal set which I have come to love through coverage — songs for which I respect in the original, but would defend to the death in the interpretation. Here’s the subjective rarities: my better versions, the internal and eternal wind of change against the canon, the tunes I hear in my head when I read their titles. After all, as much as it is about the communal, in the end, all music is deep, and personal, and private.

• Cry, Cry, Cry: Cold Missouri Waters (orig. James Keeleghan)
  (from Cry, Cry, Cry, 1998)

• Ruth Notman: Caledonia (orig. Dougie MacLean)
  (from Threads, 2007)

• Be Good Tanyas: House of the Rising Sun (trad.)
  (from Chinatown, 2003)

or

• Grisman, Garcia, and Rice: House of the Rising Sun (trad.)
  (from The Pizza Tapes, 1993)

• Nanci Griffith w/ Emmylou Harris: Across the Great Divide (orig. Kate Wolf)
  (from Other Voices, Other Rooms, 1993)

• Solas: Pastures of Plenty (orig. Woody Guthrie)
  (from The Words That Remain, 1998)

• Donovan: Universal Soldier (orig. Buffy Sainte-Marie)
  (from Fairytale, 1965)

• Gillian Welch: Pancho and Lefty (orig. Townes Van Zandt)
  (live bootleg, circa 1997)

• Eva Cassidy: American Tune (orig. Paul Simon)
  (from American Tune, 2003)

• The Seldom Scene: City of New Orleans (orig. Steve Goodman)
  (from Act I, 1972)

• Lucinda Williams w/ David Crosby: Return of the Grievous Angel (orig. Gram Parsons)
  (from Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons, 1999)

or

• Lucy Kaplansky w/ John Gorka: Return of the Grievous Angel (orig. Gram Parsons)
  (from Flesh and Bone, 1996)

Cover Lay Down is proud to be your favorite coverfolk blog.

But first, thanks to other blogs, artists and label notices, fan submissions, and other agents of serendipitous universe, here’s the scoop on some new songs, new takes, and new discoveries.

We made a case for Beck-as-folksinger way back in the early weeks of Cover Lay Down; as I suggested at the time, the stripped-down, almost funereal acoustic side of the popular genre-pushing artist is closer to his heart and history than most popular music fans realize.

Since then, Beck has continued to ride the line between hiccuping electronic pop and the more pensive works which have wormed their way into the heart of grungefolk audiophiles everywhere, though it’s hard to justify his most recent compilation appearance, a beat-heavy, fuzzed out rock cover of Dylan’s Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat which appeared on recent indierock compilation War Child: Heroes, as anything but the radio-oriented track it is intended to be.

But in the last few weeks, news of a new project has hit the blogs, sure to appeal to fans of his weary troubadour sound: Beck has grand plans to record a series of one-shot in-studio sessions covering classics with a host of well-seasoned friends and fellow musicians, releasing them through his website as Beck’s Record Club, and if the three retro-grungy Velvet Underground covers which already grace beck.com are any indication, the project is well worth watching. Here’s the first taste, plus a favorite older cover for continuity’s sake:

• Beck: Sunday Morning (orig. Velvet Underground w/ Nico)
• Beck: True Love Will Find You In The End (orig. Daniel Johnston)

• Bonus Beck cover: banjo iconoclast Danny Barnes covers Beck’s radio hit Loser

We closed out last summer with a feature on The Kinks, and the subject proved popular: In the days that followed, I received plenty of encouragement, and a handful of tracks from readers. Most were on the syrupy side — I’m not sure why Ray Davies’ songwriting lends itself so well to torch songs. But a few were keepers.

Here’s a trio of vastly different but equally summery Kinks covers which have come to my ears since then, and stuck: a delicate solo uke version of Victoria from Ema and the Ghosts, a lighthearted retro-rocker from Holly Golightly, and an older typically british folkrock take on Days from Kirsty MacColl.

• Ema and the Ghosts: Victoria
• Kirsty MacColl: Days
• Holly Golightly: Tell Me Now So I Know

We featured Sam Jacobs, who fronts the loose collaboration of friends now performing under the moniker The Flying Change, way back in our very first New Artists, Old Songs post, and a few Wilco covers when ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett passed a few months ago. Now, thanks to Sam himself, we bring this exclusive, endearingly lo-fi take on Wilco’s Pieholden Suite, recorded live with full band, including oboe and sax. It’s not exactly folk, but it starts off that way, and stays pretty mellow throughout. Great stuff from a maturing artist.

I’ve also included Jacobs’ wonderfully Cohen-esque cover of Tom Petty’s Yer So Bad, recorded under the name Lipstik, which we first posted back in April of 2008, and a great ragged Daniel Johnston bonus cover from Bennett’s last album, which is available for free download here.

• The Flying Change: Pieholden Suite (orig. Wilco)
• Lipstik: Yer So Bad (orig. Tom Petty)

• Bonus cover: Jay Bennett covers Daniel Johnston’s Wicked World

Finally, our very first annual Cover Lay Down contest week has been quite the adventure. But since geography, availability, and other factors seem to be keeping most folks from entering our two festival-related contests, to make it easier, I’m making each prize for those contests available separately. In other words: EACH contest includes at least one highly-recommended CD, and each CD can be won without stress or commitment.

Here’s the list, with linkbacks good until midnight Monday; click on each for contest entry details. If you’re only in it for the CDs, make sure to include the phrase “CD ONLY” in your entry.


Contest #1: Win 26-song all-covers indiefolk CD sampler Before the Goldrush

Contest #2: Day passes for both Friday and Saturday at Grey Fox Bluegrass Fest, July 16-19, PLUS new CDs from both newgrass angel Sarah Jarosz and cajun & swing combo Red Stick Ramblers

Contest #3: Two four day camping passes to Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 23-26 PLUS Susan Werner’s most recent all-covers chamberfolk CD Classics


Cover Lay Down posts new coverfolk features each Wednesday, Sunday, and the occasional otherday. Coming up later this week: Cover Lay Down hits the Hype Machine top 100 pop charts, and we use the occasion to ponder the definitive nature of popular folk songs.

But wait! Today, Cover Lay Down CONTEST WEEK comes to a head with an amazing chance to win two four-day camping passes for Falcon Ridge Folk Festival! Read on for details…


My love for the Berkshire-based Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is unabashed and longstanding; it is my happy place, and the community which forms around it each year my home away from home. Last month’s Falcon Ridge Preview post featured plenty of music from the likes of Amy Speace, Cliff Eberhardt, Girlyman, Kathy Mattea and more, and glowing praise for a holy host of festival returnees from Susan Werner to The Nields to Janis Ian to Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, and now, as the festival grows close, I can feel the excitement growing.

This year’s roster of performers is stellar as always, and the festival is within easy driving distance of all places New York and New England. But even if it’s a bit of a drive for you, never fear: thanks to the festival organizers, we are proud to offer an incredible final Contest Week prize of two full camping passes to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, which will allow you and a guest to stay on site 24/7 for the full four days, taking advantage of the best this community has to offer. And one lucky runner up will receive a copy of Susan Werner’s Classics*

To enter, leave a comment below OR send an email letting me know who you are most excited to see at this year’s Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Please make sure to include your email address in all correspondence!


There’s plenty of samples at our original post, but here’s a few more to whet your whistle for the best darn festival around!

• Susan Werner: Mercy Mercy Me (orig. Marvin Gaye)
  (from Classics)
• Cliff Eberhardt: Romeo & Juliet (orig. Dire Straits)
  (from Mona Lisa Cafe)
• Gandalf Muphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams: Like a Rolling Stone (orig. Bob Dylan)
  (live; more Gandalf Murphy et. al.)
• Jim Henry & Tracy Grammer: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (orig. Richard Thompson)
  (from King of Hearts)
• Janis Ian: Who Killed Norma Jean (orig. Pete Seeger)
  (from Seeds: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 3; more Janis)

*The small print: If you’re not local enough to make Grey Fox (Contest #2) or Falcon Ridge (Contest #3), you can enter to win CD prizes only; to do so, just remember to include the words CD ONLY in your email or comment. ALL contests will close at midnight on Monday, July 6. Good luck!

The Northeast’s preeminent bluegrass fest kicks off two weeks from tomorrow, so clear the calendars, make some room in the CD changer, and read on for details and tunes.

As I predicted last year, the 2008 relocation of the long-standing Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival to a new festival site on the edge of the Catskills proved to be a stunning success. Now, like most bluegrass fans in the NY/New England area, I’m itching to get back to the laid-back community, with its multiple stages, idyllic country setting, and powerhouse acts from the broad reaches of the bluegrass world.

Of course, much of my excitement springs from the fact that some of my favorite artists will return this year, from the chilling Kentucky-based blues-driven Steeldrivers to newgrass folk quintet Crooked Still. Old-timer Del McCoury will be back, as will Claire Lynch, Peter Rowan, David Bromberg, and Tim O’Brien; those names alone represent a huge part of the modern bluegrass canon, and each is worth seeing more than once in a lifetime.

Add Ricky Skaggs, The Gibson Brothers, The Waybacks, and the easygoing stories and song of long-time festival hosts Dry Branch Fire Squad to the list, throw in dance tent favorites like old-school cajun & western stringband Red Stick Ramblers, and you’ve got a veritable who’s who of modern bluegrass, from high energy countrygrass and old-timey performers to old-school newgrass balladeers and singer-songwriters.


I’m constantly on the lookout for rising stars, too, and as always, Grey Fox has young talent aplenty. Rising sensation and freshly-minted high school graduate Sarah Jarosz, who we featured here in April in anticipation of the release of her debut CD Song Up In Her Head, will be doing a main stage set sure to please. So will new Berklee barnburners The Boston Boys, who I celebrated here after seeing them tear up a small church basement back in May.

I’m especially eager to hear more from Brooklyn-based post-traditional stringband King Wilkie. I just received their new album King Wilkie Presents: The Wilkie Family Singers, which frames itself as the product of music therapy session of a fictional musical family not unlike a dysfunctional Carter Family come to life; the conceit seems odd on the screen, but in the ears, the album is a masterwork from start to finish, rich enough in talent and style to rival such lofty predecessors. And it boasts plenty of talent, from the band members themselves to special guests Robyn Hitchcock, banjo experimentalist Abigail Washburn, and long-standing masters Bromberg and Rowan.


Overall, this year’s Grey Fox promises to be one of the best regional events in ages. And to help you get there, in body and in spirit, thanks to the ever-generous Grey Fox folks and their sponsor, long-standing go-to bluegrass label Sugar Hill Records, we’re giving away an unprecedented set of FOUR separate prizes:

1. A pair of day passes for Friday
2. A pair of day passes for Saturday
3. A copy of the new Sarah Jarosz CD Song Up In Her Head
4. A copy of the new Red Stick Ramblers CD My Suitcase Is Always Packed

To enter, merely leave a comment OR send an email with the subject line GREY FOX CONTEST letting me know who your favorite bluegrass artist is. FOUR lucky winners will each get a taste of the best ‘grass around; two will get to bring a friend. If you’ve got a preference, or you just can’t make it this year, make sure you let me know whether you’d prefer tickets, a CD, or whatever you can get your grubby hands on.


For the lucky ones, and for the rest of us, here’s a short set of sample tunes to whet your appetite for Grey Fox. Together, they define the extraordinary breadth and talent we’ve come to expect from a great festival.

• Tim O’Brien & Rob Ickes: Can’t Find My Way Home (orig. Blind Faith)
• Claire Lynch: If Wishes Were Horses (orig. Gretchen Peters)
• Peter Rowan & Tony Rice: Shady Grove (trad.)
• The Chieftains and the Del McCoury Band: Rain and Snow (trad.)
• Red Stick Ramblers: Some of These Days (orig. Clifton Chenier)
• Sarah Jarosz: Shankill Butchers (orig. The Decemberists)
• The Waybacks w/ John Cowan: Ramble On (orig. Led Zeppelin)
• Crooked Still: Orphan Girl (orig. Gillian Welch)
• The Gibson Brothers: Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go (orig. Buddy and Julie Miller)
• Dry Branch Fire Squad: Bring It On Home To Me (orig. Sam Cooke)
• David Bromberg: It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (orig. Bob Dylan)

• Bonus live video sample: King Wilkie covers old bluegrass standard Dear Old Southern Home

Whether you can make it, or you’re just in it for the tunes, don’t forget to check out artist links above to support the folks that make our heads nod and our hearts sing. And if you’re in the region, or ready to head out to the fields, pitch a tent, and stick around for the whole weekend, check out the Grey Fox Festival site for tickets, directions, and more. See you on the hill July 16-19!


PS: Don’t forget to come back later this week for the final installment of Cover Lay Down’s CONTEST WEEK. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this one!

Today’s kick-off contest comes courtesy of A Nest of Eggs, who has partnered with Teach for America to create Before the Goldrush, an incredible 26 track tribute to the singer-songwriters of the sixties and seventies.





Our original review of Before the Goldrush, first posted way back in January, is thorough and complimentary, but it’s worth noting that this incredible next-generation tribute album is still on rotation in my living room. And in a blogger’s household, it’s the very rare disk that sticks.

But Before the Goldrush is one of those albums all folk fans and coverlovers should own. From acoustic singer-songwriter folk to gentle indiepop and mellow alt-rock, the covers are almost universally perfect, treating old cultural standards inventively, respectfully, and with tenderness in turn. Just check out the tracklist:

My favorite part of the project? All proceeds go to Teach for America, an organization which recruits teachers from and to urban and rural areas in order to eliminate educational inequity. As a high school teacher in the inner city schools, I cannot think of a more appropriate way to kick off our contest week.

In the interests of supporting Teach for America, instead of sharing any more songs from the album, here’s a few non-album tracks from three of my favorite artists on Before the Goldrush:

• Pieta, Zoe, and Constance Brown: Ella Mae (orig. Greg Brown)
  (from Going Driftless: A Tribute to Greg Brown, 2002)
• Ana Egge: In the Backseat (orig. Arcade Fire)
  (from Lazy Days, 2007)
• William Fitzsimmons: King of Wishful Thinking (orig. Go West)
  (live; more William Fitzsimmons)

Before the Goldrush is only available in digital-download format, but we’ve been given permission to give away a rare copy of the press-only CD — containing all mp3s and files for the project, plus beautiful cover art and liner notes.

For a chance to win this jewel-case promo copy of Before the Goldrush, leave a comment OR send an email with the subject “Before the Goldrush contest” letting me know which original song on this album has had the strongest impact on you.

We’ll pick winners for ALL contests at the end of the week.

But now that the internet has recovered a bit from the news of MJ’s passing, thanks to an extraordinarily generous donation of covers from the Queen of Fragrance, without intending it, I find myself awash in both memory and material. And to my immense surprise, some of these donations, along with some of the covers I’ve been hoarding against time and inclination, have not yet saturated the blogs.

Far be it from me to ignore my readership, or the unparalleled significance Michael Jackson had on the evolution of both my own taste and that of a generation of artists who I love. After all, Michael Jackson’s Thriller was the very first album I bought new. I know the words to almost every song on the record by heart. And as a culture vulture, and a serious student and teacher of the media age, I cannot help but acknowledge, as so many have before me, the very real loss that Michael Jackson’s death represents.

For an end of an era, then: The best and the rest of a thousand covers, and more. May the world continue to struggle with fame and fortune, and the premature loss of childhood which Jackson indicted and bemoaned with every song. MJ, though we hardly knew ye, perhaps in your memory, we can learn to take better care of all our children.

• Neil Finn: Billie Jean
  (live from The Andrew Denton Musical Challenge; more Finn)
• Chris Cornell: Billie Jean
  (live; more Chris Cornell)
• Alex Cornell: Billie Jean
  (from www.alexcornell.com)
• The Lost Fingers: Billie Jean
  (from Lost In The 80s)
• Jason Mraz w/ Nikki Kerkhof: Billie Jean
  (Live at Giel 3FM; more Mraz)
• Caetano Veloso: Billie Jean/Eleanor Rigby
  (live; more Caetano)
• Pauline Easy: Billie Jean
  (from Pauline Easy Plays Uke)

• Glenn Case: Human Nature
  (recorded for a Yacht Rock Coverfight; more Case)

• Shivaree: Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
  (from Tainted Love: Mating Calls And Fight Songs)

• Neja: Man in the Mirror
  (from Acousticlub; more Neja)

• KT Tunstall: I Want You Back
  (from The Saturday Sessions on Dermot O’Leary; more KT)

• Kesang Marstrand: Say Say Say
  (from Bodega Rose)

• Hej!: Beat It
  (from the web; more Hej!)

• Robbie Fulks: Black and White
  (live; more Fulks)

For more tributes and covers, see these coverblogs and coverlovers:

• Cover Me’s full album tribute to Michael Jackson’s Thriller with amazing covers by Craig David and more. NOTE: These files will go down on Wednesday, so act now!
• 40 Michael Jackson remixes and mashups from Puritan Blister
• A full set of covers from our sole female coverblogger compatriot over at Blowin’ Your Cover, including an alternate live take of KT Tunstall’s I Want You Back, and a lovely if fuzzily recorded solo version of Beat It from pianofolk deconstructionist Emm Gryner.
• A diverse set of Michael Jackson covers from coverblog newcomer Grand Passion
• A couple of live MJ covers from I Guess I’m Floating’s Thursdays and Covers tribute, including Ben Gibbard’s classic ironic take on Thriller
• Covers and remixes from Canadian coverblog extraordinaire Fong Songs, including my very favorite cover of Billie Jean from Crowded House founder Neil Finn
• Song By Toad finds three covers, too; the speed metal Alien Ant Farm version of Smooth Criminal is as far as it gets from folk, but it’s long been a guilty pleasure.

Of course, it’s worth noting that, as a coverblogger, I’m somewhat of an anomaly. The community of coverbloggers is a small one, and it tends to focus on interpretation and transformation; as far as I can tell, I’m the only one who sticks to a genre.

But it’s no secret that many of you come for the covers. Still, if you’re a regular reader of the coverblogs listed there on the sidebar, you might have noticed that, unlike those recycled-pop blogs working to bring you the next greatest thing — you know, the ones who all post the same label-sanctioned track the week the album hits the streets — mostly, there is honor among our small and hardy band. We who mine the past through those who would reinvent it respect each other’s primacy, and pride ourselves on providing something unique — an ironic turn indeed, for a group so interested in performances of familiar song.

Which is all to say: generally, when a coverblogger comes out with a solid bunch of covers of a single artist or theme which I, myself, have been collecting for, I celebrate it. Even when it means that a post subject I have been carefully preparing for must fall to the wayside, merely because some other coverblogger got to it first.


But in the case of Sting, I think I can make an exception to this unspoken community policy. Because, as I noted in the comments to Ray’s mid-May post over at Cover Me, a typically diverse compendium of covers of The Police, folk artists tend towards the obscure, and the solo, as much as they do his early work. And because Sting went solo more than half a career ago, that leaves plenty of potential for our very own exploration.

You don’t need me to tell you who Sting is. I will only note that, at least until he drifted into the pop vocals section of my local library, and decided to appeal primarily to middle-aged women, his evolution as an artist — first as a member of The Police, and then as a softer, more pensive solo artist circa …Nothing Like The Sun and Dream of the Blue Turtles — has perfectly paralleled my own evolution and interest as an audiophile, albeit just a few years out of sync.

So without apology, and with less explanation than usual, here’s a few of my favorite folky covers of the Sting songbook, written both before and after his break toward solo stardom. If you’re already a regular reader over at Cover Me, consider this a companion piece to last month’s post. If not, and you, too, are a Sting fan or cover fan, don’t forget to drop in on Ray for highly recommended covers by Alanis Morissette, Uncle Earl, David Lamotte and more.

• Shawn Colvin: Every Little Thing (He) Does is Magic

• Johnny Cash: Hung My Head

• The Duhks: Love is the Seventh Wave

• K.J. Denhert: Message in a Bottle
• John Mayer: Message in a Bottle

• Lucy Kaplansky: Secret Journey

• Toshi Reagon: Walking In Your Footsteps

• Gabriela Kulka: Russians

• Reid Jamieson: Fields of Gold
• Mary Black: Fields of Gold
• Eva Cassidy: Fields of Gold

No purchase links today, folks: most of these are reposts, and after all, the point of this entry is to tout my fellow coverbloggers. Special thanks to Coverville for making me feel at home by hosting a few of us way back in the day when I was first starting out, and a hearty (albeit premature) welcome back to Liza of Copy, Right? who has recently emerged after a long hiatus. For more coverblogs of exquisite taste, check out the sidebar to the right.

Cover Lay Down posts new coverfolk features every Wednesday and Sunday. Coming soon: more new and back-catalog folkcovers from the mailbag, and a very special look at one of the world’s late great troubadours of the road.

In real life, of course, I awoke to another rainy day on the first day of summer, my body weary and cramped from joyous dancing and stage-shifting in the Clearwater rain. The girls are still asleep as I write this, but I can hear their beds creaking as they stir; in moments, they will pour down the stairs like rain in the gutterspouts to fling their arms around me and beg me to open their father’s day present.

The skies may be dark, but my heart is light. The world is full of the things I love best: music, family, and all the time in the world. Summer is here again. Let the games begin.

• Ana Egge: Summer Wastin’ (orig. Belle & Sebastian)
  (airy folkpop from Lazy Days, 2007)
• Custom Kings: Boys of Summer (orig. Don Henley)
  (tinkly acoustic jazzfolk from Triple J’s Like a Version, Vol. 3; more Custom Kings here)
• Gillian Welch: Summer Evening (orig. Greg Brown)
  (languid dustbowl countryfolk from Going Driftless: A Tribute to Greg Brown, 2002; more Gillian here)
• Greg Brown and Bill Morrissey: Summer Wages (orig. Ian Tyson)
  (ragged coffeehouse folk from Friend of Mine, 1993)
• June Tabor & Oysterband: Mississippi Summer (orig. Si Kahn)
  (mystical British folk rock from Freedom and Rain, 1990)
• St. Vincent & The National: Sleep All Summer (orig. Crooked Fingers)
  (high-concept indie folkpop from Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers, 2009; more St. Vincent here; more of The National here)
• Mark Kozelek: Celebrated Summer (orig. Husker Du)
  (stunning echofolk from The Finally LP, 2009)
• UNPOC: Summer Song (orig. James Yorkston)
  (pulsing lo-fi bedroomfolk from the sold-out covers companion to When The Haar Rolls In, 2008; more UNPOC here)
• Sara Watkins: Long Hot Summer Days (orig. John Hartford)
  (sparse popgrass from Sara Watkins, 2009)

In the interest of time and temerity, I’m hoarding covers of that old familiar Gershwin tune for a future Single Song Sunday post; come back some other warm summer day for Dave Grisman, Eva Cassidy, John Fahey, and others.

In the meantime, as always, eschew the mass market commodifiers of culture, who would sell you packaged, plastic summer in a second. Instead, play, wander, and buy local. You can start by clicking on artist and album links above to support the artists that work hard to provide the soundtracks to all our seasons.

Oh, and Happy Fathers Day to all. Whether you celebrate or are celebrated today, may summer be just one of your many blessings.

Cover Lay Down publishes new coverfolk features Sundays, Wednesdays, and the occasional otherday.

Notice arrived just today that Sam Amdion will be performing in his hometown of Brattleboro, VT this Friday evening at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in a last-minute show sandwiched between NYC gigs. Sam has moved on to bigger pastures since he struck it big with the delicate, deconstructed, mystical-meets-oldtimey folk of 2008 release All Is Well, which we featured way back in November of 2007, but hometown shows of any type are notoriously special, and the scale here is nothing to sneeze at, especially when it features one of the most talented and noteworthy reimaginers of traditional folk canon on the scene today.

The best part? Friday’s show, which features accompaniment from experimental multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily — who has previously played with the likes of Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, and Tom Waits — nets you three hours of music for three bucks. And, of course, since Sam’s parents, and his percussionist brother Stephen, of new Signature Sounds signees The Sweetback Sisters, both run folk-ready, there’s always the possibility that a special guest or two might show up on stage.

I’ve nothing new from Sam, but our older feature is long out of date; here’s some still-fond favorites well worth reposting.

• Sam Amidon: Wedding Dress (trad.)
• Sam Amidon: O, Death (trad.)
  (from All Is Well, 2007)

• Sam Amidon: Louis Collins (orig. Mississippi John Hurt)
  (from But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted, 2005)

• Sam Amidon: Head Over Heels (orig. Tears for Fears)
  (from Jamais Vu, circa 2006)

• Sam Amidon: Kedron (trad.)
  (from Help Me to Sing: Songs of The Sacred Harp, 2008)

Bonus points: it appears Brattleboro is the place to be this Friday. Friend Peter Siegel, who we’ve featured here recently for his kicking cover of traditional folk tune The Golden Vanity, will ALSO be playing a show with his new stringband Housetop, inaugurating a new venue just up the street from BMAC. Details are on Peter’s website; see if you can make it to both shows.

• Peter Siegel: Power and Glory (orig. Phil Ochs)
• Peter Siegel: L&N Rag (trad.)
  (from The Show, 2004)

In equally immediate news, for those in the NYC area, I see that the line-up for this weekend’s Clearwater Festival includes festival founder and primary patron Pete Seeger, his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, plus Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Jay’s daughter Ruthy, and her husband Mike Merenda.

With the exception of Mike and Ruthy, who play as a married duo, and who we have featured here several times, the acts are all billed separately. But those in the know may notice that Ruth, Mike, and Tao make up a majority of the founding members of now-defunct folk-rock stringband quintet The Mammals, and knowing how festival stage-sharing tends to work, I’d say there’s a good bet that there will be a mini-reunion somewhere around the festival grounds this Saturday or Sunday. Here’s a bonus hint: watch the workshop stage, which is known for featuring a Pete Seeger sing-a-long and hootenanny on the last afternoon of the fest.

• The Mammals: Chan Chan (orig. Compay Segundo)
  (from Rock That Babe, 2004)

• The Mammals: Fall on my Knees (trad.)
• The Mammals: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (orig. Richard Thompson)
  (from Evolver, 2002)

• The Mammals: Satisfied Mind (arr. Bob Dylan)
  (from Born Live, 2001)

Bonus indiefolk note: Though built on the backs of the Seeger generation, Clearwater is casting a wide net this year, hoping to attract those of us who are equally enamored of the newest generation of indiefolk. In addition to the aforementioned families, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Dr. Dog, A.C. Newman, and Elvis Perkins in Dearland will all be performing, too. Kidfolk fans should absolutely make it to see Cover Lay Down favorite Elizabeth Mitchell in the ever-popular kid’s tent; neo-trad fans will not want to miss the Old Crow Medicine Show, and roots/blues fans should catch Alejandro Escovedo and Susan Tedeschi sets on the main stage.

Heck, I was going to mow the lawn, but just listing the names is pushing me to drive across state lines come Saturday morning. Perhaps I’ll see you there. In the meantime, here’s a pair of select bonus cuts to whet your New York whistle.

• Elizabeth Mitchell: Winter’s Come and Gone (orig. Gillian Welch)
  (from You Are My Little Bird, 2006)
• Old Crow Medicine Show: Wagon Wheel (arr. Bob Dylan)
  (from O.C.M.S., 2004)

Cover Lay Down posts new coverfolk features on Wednesdays, Sundays, and the occasional otherday.

But though Joni Mitchell’s emergence is often lumped in with the transformation of folk into a mass and popular musical form in the American seventies, her impact on what folk music would become is more than just that of the crowd. For while traditional folk songs generally tell third-persona narratives, and though earlier singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan or Sandy Denny often use the self as a narrator and observer of the universe, it is Joni who is generally thought of as introducing feelings themselves as the primary subject in song.

Whether or not she was truly the first to take this approach, Joni’s establishment of the confessional in folk music is unparalleled. Her explicit exploration of the inner emotional core — those conflicted, inward-looking lyrics, so powerful that they seem to be constantly on the verge of overwhelming the singer’s soft, soaring vocalization of them — did more to create the sense of modern folk music as intimately about the self, longing and faults and all. And the universalization of those emotions defined new ways in which folk music could connect artists and the cultures which they spoke to. Where previous folk music had evoked through narrative and metaphor, Joni’s music strung a direct line from emotional core to emotional core, from her lips to our hearts.


If Joni is over-covered — and certainly her songs are at least as familiar in the mouths and hands of other artists as any female singer-songwriter I can think of — it is because her deceptively plain lyrical poetry has resonated with subsequent generations of musicians struggling with their own voices and emotions, just as it has with her fans. And as singer-songwriter folk music has continued to trend towards the confessional and the local since Joni’s best-known albums have become such staples of the folk canon — the folk imagery and narrative of Clouds, the starkly personal inner darkness and jazztones of Blue, the almost cheerful pop voices of acceptance and celebration in Court and Spark — the covers just keep coming.

I’ve long been a fan of Joni’s — in fact, one of our very first Single Song Sundays here at Cover Lay Down featured an exploration of River, which has become a part of the melancholy side of the holiday canon. Today, we take a broader look at her influence, through some sweet, mostly lesser-known tributes to the seminal singer-songwriter who helped us see that folk doesn’t need to dance around the inner truth to reach every heart and soul.

• Natalie Merchant: All I Want
  (from the Wonder UK single, 1995; more Natalie here)

• Angus Stone: River
  (from No Man’s Woman, 2007; more Angus here)

• Mark Erelli: A Case of You
  (live, via Mark Erelli’s Mp3 of the Month series)
• k.d. lang: A Case of You
  (from Hymns of the 49th Parallel, 2004)

• Cyndi Lauper: Carey
  (from a live Joni Mitchell tribute, 2000; more Cyndi here)

• Alicia Wiley: Little Green
  (from Before the Goldrush, 2008; more Alicia here)

• Cat Power: Blue
  (from Jukebox, 2008)

• Kristen Vigard: Man from Mars
  (from the Grace Of My Heart soundtrack, 1996; more Kristen here)

• Bonnie Raitt: That Song About the Midway
  (from Streetlights, 1974)
• Dave Van Ronk: That Song About the Midway
  (from Sunday Street, 1976)

• Darrell Scott: Urge for Going
  (from Modern Hymns, 2008)
• Mary Black: Urge for Going
  (from Babes in the Wood, 1991)

• Eva Cassidy: Woodstock
  (from Time After Time, 2000)

• Karan Casey: The Fiddle and the Drum
  (from Ships in the Forest, 2008)

• Marian Call: Chelsea Morning
  (from Vanilla, 2007)

• Adrienne Young & Little Sadie: Free Man in Paris
  (from Room to Grow, 2007)
• Sufjan Stevens: Free Man in Paris
  (from A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, 2007)

As always, folks, Cover Lay Down exists to support artists, and the best way to do that is to buy direct from the artists themselves wherever possible. Joni’s work is available everywhere, and if you don’t have at least the aforementioned disks you really should, but all links above lead directly to label- and artist-sanctioned stores and purchase sources; follow ‘em to hear more of what you love. And don’t forget to pre-order Jay Brannan’s new CD to hear his incredible cover of All I Want.


Previously on Cover Lay Down:

• Tom Rush covers Urge for Going
• More covers of Joni’s River from Lex Land and Amy Kuney, and a stream from Rosie Thomas

Special thanks to fellow coverblogger quietcore of Blowin’ Your Cover, who first posted the Natalie Merchant and Cat Powers covers above way back in January of last year.