Tag: cover songs

WATCH: Chatham County Line, “I Got You (At the End of the Century)”

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Artist: Chatham County Line
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “I Got You (At the End of the Century)”
Album: Sharing the Covers
Release Date: March 8, 2019
Label: Yep Roc Records

In Their Words: “This Wilco tune is a prime example of how Sharing the Covers pulls cover songs directly from our set lists through the years. We had performed this tune back in 2005 at the release show celebrating our second album, Route 23, and hadn’t really revisited it since. When we were setting up in the studio to record some new material, the engineer asked us to test the levels on the microphones and somehow this song came out. We are still in awe of the great job Wilco does in creating moments in the studio… they are a great inspiration for any band attempting to weather the years.” — Dave Wilson, Chatham County Line

Editor’s note: Don’t miss Chatham County Line hosting the Late Night Jam presented by BGS on Saturday night at this year’s Merlefest in Wilkesboro, NC April 25-28. Get your tickets now. 

Photo credit: Jeff Fasano

STREAM: Twisted Pine, ‘Dreams’

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Artist: Twisted Pine
Hometown: Boston, MA
Album: Dreams
Release Date: June 8, 2018

In Their Words: “As a band, we have a diverse range of influences in many genres of music. Dreams is an experiment in stretching our stylistic boundaries, mixing bluegrass instruments with some of our favorite pop music, and represents just a glimpse of the many artists we are inspired by.”

That Ain’t Bluegrass: Bobby Osborne

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Artist: Bobby Osborne
Song: “They Called the Wind Maria” (originally from the 1951 Broadway musical, Paint Your Wagon)
Album: Original

Where did you first hear this song?

The first ones I ever heard do it were the Browns — Jim Ed and Maxine Brown. I kind of liked it then, but my brother and me didn’t want to cover it right then. It’s been a long time ago since I heard it. This project that Alison [Brown] came up with, with me and Compass Records, I thought about that song. My son and me were trying to get some songs together so we put it down on the list. The chord progression on it and the song itself, I’ve always really liked it. Of course, the Browns did a great job with the recording they had on it. I never did hear anybody else, maybe I didn’t listen, but I didn’t hear anybody else do it.

When I put it down on the list, Alison wrote me back, she said, “That was one that I wanted you to do!” [Laughs] So that turned out real good. Then I had to learn the thing, then. The melody and the harmony and all that on it. To me, it was just right down my alley.

What about the song made you think it would be such a great fit for bluegrass?

Well, it’s different from what most people would do, I think, in the story of it. A lot of people nowadays are doing arrangements like that, something similar to the way the melody and the harmony goes with that song. A lot of people are doing stuff that they didn’t do back when the Browns did it. If you went into a key that wasn’t just G, C, and D, you lost a lot of people, way back then. Nowadays, why, it’s not unusual at all.

My brother and me did some things — I don’t know if we were the first or not — but a lot of people in country music were doing that [sort of a thing]. But, as far as bluegrass goes, most of the time it was just plain Monroe-type music, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers. A lot of folks didn’t go to those keys — what I always called it, the off-keys — with the melody of a song. My brother and I, we got tied in with that harmony we’d come up with and the endings that we had, everything just fit right into the melody of “Maria.” I was really familiar with that type of thing.

Fans might think, “He’s changed that around. I don’t like that kind of music.” But the song was written like that, so you can’t deny that. It fit us so good. Alison said it was always one of her favorite songs, too. Her being the producer, she asked me to do that, and it just tickled me to death. The more we worked with it, the better it got. It turned out to be a great recording.

You and your brother have always covered non-bluegrass songs throughout your career, and it’s kind of a tradition in bluegrass to take songs from outside the genre and repurpose them for bluegrass. Why do you think this is a tradition and why have you always made a point of recording these types of songs throughout your career?

You remember the song, “Once More”?

Yeah, of course!

We were doing just plain bluegrass, you know, Monroe-type and Flatt & Scruggs. Just G, C, D, bluegrass — three chords to it. Well, we were up in West Virginia, and a man up there by the name of Dusty Owens had a band and he had written that song, “Once More.” He had recorded it on a little label up there. He gave me one of the copies of it and, when I listened to it, I felt that would be a great thing for us to do with the harmony that we had. When we first recorded it for MGM Records, they were strictly [having us record] three-chord bluegrass.

I got the words to “Once More.” We had a couple hundred miles to drive home from Wheeling, and Red Allen was with us at the time — it was just three of us. We got to singing it just like we would normally do any other song, but there was just something missing with it. Of course, we were just doing regular harmony singing then. We had never featured a high lead on a thing in the world. My voice being the type that it was, it was made for high lead. We were just sitting in the car driving along. We didn’t have any instruments or nothing. We were just trying to learn the song. All of a sudden, I don’t know, I started singing the lead in a way-up-higher register. Red Allen was a tenor singer when he came to work with us, so he just started singing the tenor, but then it was the low part. My brother was good on the parts and chimed right in with the middle part and, boy, when we got to singing it like that, we knew right there we had run into some kind of harmony that we had never heard before. We had 200 miles to go and we sang that song all the way home so that we wouldn’t forget what we had learned. That’s how we came across that type of harmony.

When we went to Nashville to record again, we were dead set on putting that on a record, because that was brand new and it was different from Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and all that. It was so different from anybody. Wesley Rose was the A&R guy for MGM at that time, so we approached him with that type of harmony, and he looked at us and said, “You can’t do that. That’s some other kind of music and harmony besides bluegrass.” We had a talk and talk and talk. He said, “You put something like that out after what you’ve already done, you’re liable to lose your recording contract.” We were so set on it we said, “We’ll just take a chance on it, if you don’t care.”

When we recorded it, we had been using everything regular bluegrass people used — fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, and bass. We figured the snare drum was perfect with bluegrass. We went back to [Wesley] and said we wanted to add dobro and drop the fiddle. Well, he had a fit over that, too. We hesitated to mention that there was one thing we’d like to do with the rhythm on it, the snare drum, but just the brushes. The guy says, “You’re getting completely away from bluegrass!” Well, no. It’s just going to match our singing. We finally talked our way into him letting us do “Once More” just like the recording is now. He was not happy with that at all.

Well, we all know how that turned out!

[Laughs] Back then, I think it was on the top 40 country, I believe. It made number 15 or 16 on the charts. We never heard another word out of Wesley. [Laughs] That right there led us into going deeper and deeper into that kind of harmony. It became our trademark.

What’s your favorite thing about performing “They Called the Wind Maria”?

I kind of like the hesitation between each line, you know? I like that because we were kind of used to that kind of thing and changing from one key to another. That’s one of the main things that really took the song off with me. The hesitation between each set of two lines. Then the tune of it, the melody to the song. When we put the three parts to it, it really dressed it up and made it even different from what the Browns did.

Now you know that ain’t bluegrass, right?

Well, after what me and my brother have done, there’s not much we can say to argue with what anyone thought! [Laughs] People still ask us about it.

When we switched from MGM to Decca Records, Owen Bradley was the producer over there. He knew about us and he latched onto [what we were doing] in a hurry. He said, “Do what you want to do. You know more about what you want to do than I do.” We got a taste of country to go along with the bluegrass, and he went right along with us. It really worked out pretty good. When we were allowed to just do what we wanted to with the harmony, the instrumentation, and the lyrics to the songs, when we got into that, it became a standard thing for the Osborne Brothers. A lot of other people jumped on that type of harmony in a hurry. It became a standard thing about every one of them wanted to do.

I love that on your latest record, Original, you’re carrying on that tradition of doing songs that some people might not expect to be on a bluegrass record.

Oh yeah, that was a thing we knew [from the begining] with one playing the banjo and one playing the mandolin and singing [in the Osborne Brothers]. There’s no way we’d ever get away from the sound of bluegrass instruments. What we had in mind was to play those instruments and make them fit with what we were doing. We were putting bluegrass and country music right together, and people just loved it. Our harmony singing fit bluegrass and country music, both. In one sense of the phrase, we had it made right there.

WATCH: Butch Parnell, ‘XO’

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Artist: Butch Parnell
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Song: “XO” (Beyoncé cover)
Album: The Fall
Release Date: November 17, 2017

In Their Words: “I had been trying to think of a song to do as a cover for this EP for a while, but I couldn’t really think of anything to do. On past releases, I have included at least one cover, and they have mostly been songs from the ’70s. So, for this EP, I thought I might do the opposite and try to make a more current song live in a new light.

It just so happens that I had shot my promo photos in Coney Island a week before I got the idea to do this song. The original Beyoncé ‘XO’ video was shot in Coney Island. It’s colorful and vibrant, and that is precisely why I went in the opposite direction with the song and the video. While the lyrics are very present in the moment, I wanted the music to evoke nostalgia. Fun fact: Both the Beyoncé version and my version are set at the same tempo — I did this purposefully — yet her version feels lively while mine feels slower.” — Butch Parnell

Photo credit: Xochitl Jaime-Aguirre

Shrimp Quesadilla Pockets

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I think and talk a lot about the power of interpretation. When I left college to become a professional musician, one of the things I did to put food on the table was singing jingles and demos. With the jingles, I had to sell products — anything from clothing to Taco Bell. If I didn’t sound excited to be singing about those products, no one would have wanted to buy what I was selling. The same applied to the demo sessions I was a part of. I learned early on that my job wasn’t just to sing well; it was to help the songwriter properly translate their message. The more I did it, the deeper I delved into the lyrics I was singing, causing such a profound personal connection to the songs, making it feel like the stories were only mine to tell. I found the power of interpretation through music, then, and have continued to explore that power in other areas in my life ever since.

Two years ago, I did something that I’ve never done before: I sang songs written by other people and put them out on an album under my own name. Was it challenging? Yes. Not because I was too proud to sing someone else’s songs, but because I had so much respect for the artists who had released those songs in the first place. I wanted to honor their creativity and make sure that I wasn’t doing a disservice to the art itself. Now that I cook nearly as much as I sing, the same principles apply to the food I make.

There are so many cultures whose cuisines I admire. I cook a lot of food that is not from the culture I was born into or raised in. I used to be afraid to cook anything not American or Ghanaian, but then I began to get inside various, unique dishes and study them from the inside out. Once I realized what flavors and techniques make up a dish, as well as the love given to the food from the culture it came from, I gained the confidence to engage in the interpretation of those dishes and I’ve learned how to honor them in my own way. My fiancé, Sam, is originally from California. To him, Mexican cuisine is almost synonymous with comfort. I love Mexican food and I love Tex-Mex, as well. Tex-Mex is a direct interpretation. It is a cuisine brought to Texas by Mexican descendants that reinvents a traditional way of eating while remaining respectful of its origin.

This Autumn, I will have the honor of calling three children, ages 13 and under, my official bonus children. That’s so much cooler than saying “step children” — and they’re so much cooler than that, too. I cook for them often and they help me in the kitchen a lot, as well. Before I came along, my fiancé’s go-to dinner for the kiddos was often some kind of Mexican cuisine — tacos or quesadillas, usually. It’s one of the few things that certain little people I know will eat joyfully! Yet, being the cook that I am, I bore easily if I’m making the same thing the same way over and over again. I want to make my family’s bellies happy, but I also want to make my creative soul happy in the process.

This belly/soul happy recipe, Shrimp* Quesadilla Pockets, is an interpretation of a traditional one. A traditional quesadilla involves two tortillas filled with cheese, stacked on top of each other. When sliced, it’s reminiscent of a pizza to me. Although I very much like pizza and traditional quesadillas (and all of the yummy toppings that fall off or out of them when you pick them up), I needed to create an easy, pocket-sized version for quick pick-up-and-go meals. Call it my new mom short-cut. I’m learning! They store well and the filling doesn’t dry out because it’s not exposed and can be reheated in a flash.

Interpret away, people. It’s the stuff we’re made of. Take Herbie Hancock’s tribute album to Joni Mitchell, River: The Joni Letters, for instance. Put it on right now. Um, wow. Yeah, that’s some power right there.

SHRIMP* QUESADILLA POCKETS
*Omit shrimp for allergies, etc., and sub with any protein of choice

Ingredients

Serves 5 (2 each)
1/2 lb cooked shrimp, sliced in half lengthwise
1/8 tsp red pepper/chili flakes (or omit)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or omit)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp lime juice**
2 cloves garlic, minced
Safflower or grape seed oil
10 soft, large, white tortillas
2 cups shredded pepper jack, monterey jack, or cheddar cheese
1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups cooked white rice
Condiments of choice — salsa, sour cream, and limes for us.

**I forgot to grab the limes from my house when I came over to Sam’s to try this recipe out on him and the kids … but a bright young man of 11 pointed out that “maybe some lime” would have helped to make it brighter. Don’t forget the limes. Alfie’s orders.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 250° and place a sheet tray lined with parchment paper or foil inside of it. This is where you will keep the quesadillas warm while you’re making a stack of ’em.

Place shrimp and all the ingredients up to (but not including) the oil in a bowl and massage into shrimp and let sit in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Lay out tortillas and sprinkle ingredients lightly onto tortilla in a V shape (reference my tutorial photos) in the following order — cheese, two slices of shrimp in a vertical line, beans, rice, more cheese. Reference tutorial photos for folding.

Heat 1-2 Tbsp oil on medium heat (no higher!) in a non-stick pan. Place folded tortilla in pan, seam side down. Hold a spatula on top of each quesadilla pocket for a few seconds to ensure a proper seal. Check for brownness after one minute and flip when desired color is achieved. Repeat the last step to brown the other side.

Garnish with cilantro and dip in salsa or sour cream.

12 Boss Bluegrass Covers of Your Favorite Pop Songs (Part Two)

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Some say the true measure of a song’s merit is whether it sounds good with just vocals and acoustic guitar. But that’s poppycock; the real way to test a tune’s mettle is to break out the banjos and mandolins and see whether it stands up to the bluegrass treatment. In the list that follows a variety of old-timey pickers, pluckers, and strummers tackle modern-day pop, rock, and rap favorites, using bluegrass like one of those Instagram filters that make digital photos look like dusty old Polaroids. In doing so, they remind us that good music is good music, and that certain songs transcend time and place and instrumentation. The history of pop music is just one big crazy train, and when Nicki Minaj passes Bill Monroe en route to the party in Ozzy’s car, she gives him a funny little wink that he totally gets. Enoy the best bluegrass songs now.

Watch 12 Boss Bluegrass Covers:

Banjo Billybo, “Someone Like You”

One takeaway from Adele’s “Someone Like You”: Love makes you act like a goddamn fool. In the 2011 smash, the heartbroken British songstress sings of stopping by an ex’s house in hopes of rekindling the romance, even though the bloke’s happily married. Now, this Banjo Billybo character doesn’t much care for the song, as he explains at the beginning of this YouTube clip, but that doesn’t stop him from hee-hawing his way through a chuckle-worthy version. If Billybo’s rendition lacks love, there’s plenty of goddamn foolishness. This is one of the best bluegrass songs.

The Gravel Spreaders, “Crazy Train”

These Bay Area dudes are all about metal covers, and their take on Ozzy Osbourne’s signature song is silly yet also kind of sincere. Dig how Doc Buck Knife lovingly adapts that classic Randy Rhodes guitar intro for mandolin, and how doghouse bassist Bud Hole delivers the lyrics in a plainspoken everyman style that underscores Ozzy’s message of peace, love, and understanding. Now all the Spreaders need are some polka-dot flying-V banjos.

Rob Scallon, “Raining Blood”

Bluegrass and thrash metal share a fundamental need for speed, so banjoist Rob Scallon’s rendition of this Slayer gem isn’t such a stretch. It is a hoot, though — especially when his buddy in the straw hat shows up with a pair of spoons and adds some crazy clatter to the satanic jamboree. Forget the Charlie Daniels Band; when the devil goes down to Georgia, he goes partying with guys like Rob.

Robin Adele Anderson, “Anaconda”

Mad props to Ms. Anderson and her band for transforming a salacious 2014 hit (Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda”) based on a sample from a similarly saucy 1992 hip-hop jam (Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”) into a classy bluegrass/ragtime number suitable for grandmas and small children and everyone in between. “Oh my gosh,” sings Anderson at 2:10, taking things to the hokey-jokey extreme, “Look at that banjo!”

The Blueshine Brothers, “All About That Bass”

Technically speaking, these guys are all about that treble, as their version of Meghan Trainor’s 2014 pop triumph is decidedly lacking in low end. That’s probably part of the joke — not that three burly bluegrass dudes singing a quasi-feminist ode to full female posteriors really need extra comedic ammunition.

Lowhills, “Careless Whisper”

Even without that silky saxophone so integral to the original, the Lowhills do right by George Michael’s chart-topping 1984 hit about doing a lover wrong. This is Americana of the jazziest, swankiest variety — think Sade transplanted south of the Mason-Dixon. Were these Charleston cats to try “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” they’d probably make that seem suave, too.

Love Canon, “Touch of Grey”

As a self-described “super ‘80s bluegrass hits machine,” Love Canon probably doesn’t face much competition in its hometown of Charlottesville — or anywhere else on the planet for that matter. But even if there were other outfits copping the band’s gimmick, it’s doubtful they’d do this, the Grateful Dead’s one and only Top 10 pop hit, with a slicker, defter touch. This is bluegrass meets yacht rock — just look at the banjoist’s captain’s hat.

Red, White & Bluegrass, “Friday”

Can genuine musicianship and quality singing redeem a song that’s beloved by millions of YouTube viewers purely because it’s terrible? The fellas in Red, White, and Bluegrass attempt to answer that question with their cover of Rebecca Black’s 2011 viral sensation “Friday.” As an ironic YouTube parody of an ironic YouTube hit, the trio’s version raises enough questions about musical authenticity and Internet culture to fuel about a dozen think-pieces. As something to giggle along with on Friday at 4:30PM when the boss is down the hall and you don’t feel like doing a lick more work, it’s about a dozen times more valuable.

O Bardo e o Banjo, “Ace of Spades”

If Yanni, John Tesh, and Celine Dion were to perform Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” in a public library while being shushed by old ladies reading Agatha Christie novels, it would still rule. Such is the power of the hard-rocking, harder-living British trio’s 1980 speed-metal anthem. In the hands of Brazil’s most badass bluegrass outfit, “Spades” is a rollicking hellbilly freakout that’s half Lemmy, half Opry, all the way fantastic.

Paul Harris and the Cleverlys, “Gangnam Style”

There could’ve been more dancing, as the banjo player does a decent job of copping Psy’s moves from the original “Gangnam Style” video near the end, but even so, this self-styled “GrassHipPop” combo from Stone County, Arkansas, deserves lots of credit. To work out the arrangement, Harris and the boys probably had to watch Psy’s 2012 viral video at least three or four times in a row — with the sound on. It’s a lot of work for a joke with limited shelf life.

Mustered Courage, “September”

The fact that September in Melbourne means spring, not autumn, hasn’t affected this Aussie band’s understanding of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” a wedding-reception staple regardless of the season. The boys move briskly and joyously through the tune, and by the look of the disco lights swirling all around them, they’re rocking a party where their efforts — though perhaps not their headbands and polyester shirts — are much appreciated.

Cornmeal, “Dear Prudence”

Fun fact: John Lennon’s first instrument was a banjo, not a guitar. That means that had things turned out differently for the Beatles, the original “Dear Prudence” might have sounded something like Cornmeal’s take. Then, George or Paul would’ve needed fiddle skills like the dude in this clip, who’d be a natural for a DMB cover band.

MIXTAPE: The Coal Men’s Cover Songs

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Through the years, the Coal Men have traveled a lot of miles in mini-vans and rentals. We always like to catch up on tour drives and listen to music that's catching our ears. In my younger, long-hair, Fentress County, Tennessee, days, I had my silver-face SONY dual tape deck. I even DJ'd a few dances with it. Mostly, I loved making mixtapes of older songs and doodling on the Maxwell tape box blank cards. Here are some of my favorite cuts that have found their way from those old tapes into the long shows we do when we step outside of our own song catalog. — Dave Coleman

"Long Black Veil" — (Danny Dill/Marijohn Wilkin)
Johnny Cash's version was the one I heard the most growing up, but the Band's version blows me away these days. Lefty Frizzell had the first first hit with it back in 1959. It's a heartbreaking tune written from the vantage point of a corpse.

"Rain" — (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
The Beatles' version is a masterpiece, but I learned the song from Singing Sergeant Washington, a local Tennessee band that I loved. I desperately wanted to be in that band as a 17-year-old. I finally got the chance to play guitar with them on my first gig in Nashville (at Obie's Pizza). The band, sadly, broke up. Heartbroken, I forged on and started my own group. I like to throw my best Hendrix-inspired psychedelic roots rock on the song these days. Fuzz and Sun.

"Are You Experienced?" — (Jimi Hendrix)
My favorite mixtape I had was titled FOUR: it started with that many Jimi Hendrix instrumental songs I tracked down. It was stuff where he used extreme amounts of surf-sounding wah-wah pedal (i.e. "Hornet's Nest"). I later buzzed some of my other favorite songs onto it. The backwards guitar and drums in the song — along with the pounding quarter-note piano — are monumental. We now do a fun stripped-down roots rock version.

*Here are the Coal Men (with Pete Finney on pedal steel) from a few years ago down in Florida. Note the number four on my guitar — it came from the FOUR mixtape.

"Rock N Roll Girl" — (Paul Collins)
The Beat, a short-lived L.A. band, recorded this simple-but-perfect taste of power-pop delight. We do it fast, loud, and always for a gem of a bartender named George. The Paul Collins Beat did a record a few years ago that blew me away called Ribbon of Gold.

"Six Days on the Road" — (Dave Dudley)
It's been covered by tons of folks. What's the reason why? It might be the best truck-driving song ever. We just played a show with Mathew Ryan and I had to dedicate this one to him because he'd just "pulled out of Pittsburgh" to come down to Nashville to record his next record.

"Guitars, Cadillacs" – (Dwight Yoakam)
My life changed when I heard Dwight's original guitar player/producer Pete Anderson. Duane Jarvis told me a story about playing guitar with Dwight Yoakam on a Canadian tour. (Pete was producing the Meat Puppets at the time.) He went for the solo, and people were going crazy, and he thought he was on fire with the guitar. He turned around as Dwight was doing one of his killer dance moves. Sometimes it's not the notes you play, but how you shake them that counts, I guess. Jokes aside, this is a sad song about a land of "lost and wasted dreams" with a shuffle that won't stop.

"Everybody's Talkin'" — (Fred Neil)
I love Western movies and, when I was a kid, I rented Midnight Cowboy from Jamestown Video for a dollar. It is not, in fact, a Western. I still loved it, though. The version recorded by Harry Nilsson haunts the movie throughout in joyful, saddening beauty.

"Silver Wings" — (Merle Haggard)
In my opinion, this is the definition of a perfect song. One chorus and one verse. I cried when Merle died. We love to play this song for the travelers and the lonely ones they leave behind.

"Drive Back to You" — (Duane Jarvis)
I met Duane shortly after I moved to Nashville. He was my rock 'n' roll professor. He had this gritty and tasteful guitar playing with Brit-rock influenced songs. I toured a lot with him and we wrote dozens of songs together. This one was about his wife Denise. Duane passed away in 2009, but his music is still with me and lifts me up. I love to sing this song with the joy he brought to it.

"Jesus on the Mainline" — (Traditional arranged by Ry Cooder)
This song explains that beautiful relationship a Protestant has with the maker. You can talk to that friend any time you want — no busy signal, no answering machine. I'm a fan of traditional songs with a simple form. It allows the players to open up with confidence of the rock solid foundation underneath. That's something we could all use in our everyday lives. Ry Cooder's version has all of this hypnotic melodic playing that is as transcendental as it gets.

Undercover Angel: An Interview with Shawn Colvin

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Perhaps inspired by “Tiny Dancer,” Shawn Colvin originally wanted to be the seamstress for the band … not the leader of it. But she eventually got out front and sang a bunch of cover tunes until she found her own voice as a songwriter. Several decades later — and amidst six albums of originals — Colvin has never abandoned her love of the cover and has just released her second batch of interpretations, Uncovered. On it, she turns to some of her very favorite writers — Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Paul Simon, Neil Finn, and Stevie Wonder. As disparate as the originals may be, Colvin's tender touch turns them into a cohesive collection as she steps effortlessly into the songs, making them as much her own as any cover artist can.

I've waited a long time to discuss this with you: You were part of one of the best moments of my life. After one of your shows at McCabe's in 1991, Susanna Hoffs and I — along with a few other friends — went upstairs to say hi to you. And you were sitting there …

Was that when Joni [Mitchell] was there? Yeah, I remember that.

Yeah. It was Joni, and Larry Klein and David Baerwald. They split off to play guitars. But we just sat at Joni's feet as she told us stories and sang us songs. It was amazing.

I know. That was a great night. I have photos from that night.

Do you?

Yeah.

Oh wow. I remember we were sitting on the floor and you elbowed me, at one point, and mouthed something like, “Can you believe this?” But what you didn't realize was that you were part of the awe, as well, because we were all so in love with Steady On. It was like, “Holy crap, we're sitting here with Shawn and Joni?!”

Aw. No. I didn't know that. [Laughs] That was a pretty big deal for me, too.

Have you ever covered one of her songs … other than at that tribute concert so many years back?

Many times in my former life as being a bar singer, yeah. I did nothing but cover her songs. So I had to kind of get away from it a little bit because I was a good copy cat.

So is it kind of just too close to home for you now to put her on one of your records?

It would kind of be sacrilege. I don't know that I … I would do it. I just don't know that I could bring anything new to it.

Yeah. Even knowing that you started out in cover bands, the obvious question is … Why does one of the best songwriters of her generation — meaning you — make a covers record?

I made my living doing covers and I got pretty good at it. And I had some special ones. It's part of what I do. I like being a cover artist and trying to bring something different to stuff. I wouldn't do it if I was just doing wedding band duplicates. [Laughs] I enjoy it.

What's different about the creative rush or release you get from covering songs, from the rush of doing your own tunes?

Well, I don't cover a song unless I love it. There's some satisfaction there. And, like I said, if I can turn it around on its ear just a little bit — even if not seriously musically, then emotionally — that's creative about it for me. And the joy of singing the song is always a big deal.

I think you probably answered this with your glorious take on “Naïve Melody,” but is there any song you can't bum the hell out of?

[Laughs] No. I can bum the hell out of any song. On this record, I did “Baker Street” which I don't think people normally think of as a bummer song. But I managed to do it.

[Laughs] Oh, you totally did. Maybe you'll have to try Pharrell's “Happy” at some point, just to really prove that you can do it.

Yeah. You never know. [Laughs]

When you approach a cover song, is it more about letting the song into you or putting yourself into the song? Or is it dependent on the piece?

I'm not sure. I kind of learn the song as it originally is, at first. Well, there are some exceptions. Like “Naïve Melody,” I got the lyrics down and had to immediately change it. I didn't really learn it as it was, but most of the time I do. Then, it doesn't sound genuine because I'm just copying. So I try to find a mood or … I guess I try to find a way into it.

Is finding a connection with the storyteller or the character part of that, too?

Yes!

Or is just being a great song enough?

Yes. Definitely. I haven't really taken an inventory. But if there's not a main character or if it's not in first-person, then I guess I'm just capturing the mood. I did a … oh, no, that's first-person, too. I was going to say, I did a cover of Gnarls Barkley's “Crazy” and the reason I did it was because it was a very personal song, lyrically, I thought.

Yeah. I'd agree. Okay … We have to talk about Neil Finn for a minute.

Okay.

Why … how … what is it that makes him so great to you?

Well, that's like saying what makes … I don't know … what makes the Beatles great? He's just a special, special artist. Amazing songwriting. Just a great pop sensibility and also crosses over into folk and rock. A singer that's got that kind of … He's a New Zealander, but there are some similarities in the accents — it's certainly not American — of British, Australians, and New Zealanders, in my opinion. He's just sort of John Lennon-esque to me. The way the words are pronounced, even the way he sings. He's just a great pop singer and an amazing songwriter. And Crowded House was the perfect vehicle for it.

I was so glad to see you pull a tune from Together Alone because, as much as I love Woodface and the first record, I go back to Together Alone a whole lot.

That's what happened to me. After Woodface, I was almost reticent to buy Together Alone because I thought, “Well, it can't measure up.” [Laughs] And, then, I got so deeply into it that it became my favorite.

Mine, too. I wore myself out on Woodface, as I think a lot of people did. But there's something so satisfying about Together Alone.

Mm-hmm. It's a deep one. Yep.

Okay. Totally switching gears … There are two things I think you understand that a lot of artists don't: The first is the importance of a great producer. I still remember the first time I listened to A Few Small Repairs. I'd pulled into my carport coming home from Tower Records. “The Facts About Jimmy” came on and I just sat there, mesmerized, thinking, “This is everything I want. This is what music is supposed to sound like.”

Wow. Thank you.

Obviously, [John] Leventhal gets a lot of credit for that, down to his guitar riff. But do you feel like the art of the producer is something that's gotten lost in the GarageBand era?

Mmmm … You know what? I'm not as in touch as I should be. [Laughs] There's so much music out there and I'm not exposed to a lot of it. I'll admit it. Through my daughter, I hear stuff. I think there's some great songwriting out there. I don't know if the art of the producer is lost. I know a lot of people are prone to produce themselves. And I just don't have a desire to do that. I don't want to be that close to it. I like collaboration. John, specifically, is also a co-writer with me. So, oftentimes, that production is part of what I first heard when I would write the lyrics. Now, “The Facts About Jimmy” I wrote the lyrics independently of any music. Then I listened to some things that he had and I decided it would match up well with that piece.

Gotcha. The second, I think you have down pat, is the job security of being able to go out on the road and play thoroughly engaging solo shows.

Yeah. Thank you.

There are a lot of people who will go see you any time you come through their town. And I think that's another bit of lost art — engaging with the audience. Kind of Performance 101.

Yeah. It's what I cut my teeth on. I remember living in Carbondale, IL, and going to the arena — I don't even remember what the arena was called — and seeing Simon & Garfunkel with no band, James Taylor with no band …

In an arena …

In an arena. To me, at the heart of the writers that I loved who had production on their records, which was almost all of them — Joni, Jackson [Browne], James Taylor, Paul Simon … I always mention the same ones when there are so many. But at the heart of it was guitar and vocals. It took me a long time to realize, “Well, that's what I can do.” That's what I learned and that just seems to make sense, it seems to call to me. It seems to be what I'm good at.

Well, I've seen you do it everywhere from McCabe's to … what is that theatre in Northampton, right there on the main drag? The Calvin?

Right. Yeah, the Calvin.

Seems like you can hold a room, no matter how big or small.

Thank you. Yeah. [Laughs] I try.

Photo credit: Alexandra Valenti