2020 was a year of many things â COVID-19, existential elections, the shuttering of the music industry, and on and on â but one common, non-catastrophic throughline of the musical variety was cover songs. Many musicians and artists, finding themselves with more free time than usual and more standard-fare albums and cross-continental tours back-burnered, took the opportunity to explore live records, collaborations, and yes, covers. From Molly Tuttle to Wynonna, livestreams to socially-distanced shows, covers became an unofficial pandemic pastime.Â
Now, in 2021, many of these cover projects conceived and created in 2020 have made it to store shelves â digital and otherwise â and weâve collected ten tributes worth a listen:
Shannon McNally covers Waylon Jennings
Itâs fitting that Shannon McNally released The Waylon Sessions on Compass Records, whose headquarters now occupies âHillbilly Central.â As Tompall Glaserâs former studio, the building helped give rise to countryâs outlaw movement and it’s where Waylon himself recorded. With guests like Jessi Colter, Buddy Miller, Rodney Crowell, and Lukas Nelson, the project recontextualizes Waylon Jenningsâ material, which is usually associated with hyper-masculine wings of the country scene. As McNally puts it in a press release, âWhat Waylon Jennings brought to country music is what country music needs right now, and that unapologetic and vulnerable sense of self are what women are tapping into artistically right now as the industry evolves.âÂ
Steve Earle covers Justin Townes Earle
Many a musical child has covered their parentsâ catalogs in retrospect, but itâs rare that we see the reverse. A gorgeous, gutting, and laid-bare album, Steve Earleâs J.T. is a ten-song tribute to his son, Justin Townes Earle, who passed away suddenly in August 2020, shocking the Americana and folk communities. Earleâs signature emotion bristles and crackles throughout the project, giving Justin Townesâ songs an even stronger quality of visceral electricity. Proceeds from the album will go to a trust for Etta St. James Earle, Justin Townesâ daughter and Steveâs granddaughter.Â
The Infamous Stringdusters cover Bill Monroe
Spread out from North Carolina to Colorado and beyond, the Infamous Stringdusters utilized home recording from their respective studios during the pandemic to accomplish musical creativity their jam-packed schedule hadnât really allowed in the âbefore times.â Their brand new EP, A Tribute to Bill Monroe, returns the virtuosic jamgrass outfit to territory familiar to those who first found the group when they were cutting their teeth, striding out from traditional bluegrass into the vast, expansive newgrass-and-jamgrass unknown. The project illustrates that the true strength of this ensemble is found in utilizing traditional bluegrass aesthetics for their own creative purposes. For example, you might listen through the entire record without realizing the Stringdusters made a Bill Monroe tribute album without mandolin!
Mandy Barnett covers Billie Holiday
Mandy Barnett is a cross-genre chameleon; between her talent, her voiceâs timeless Americana tinge, and her appetite for classics — from Nashville staples to the American songbook — she often finds herself reaching far beyond Music Row and classic country to R&B, standards, and in her most recent release, Billie Holiday covers. Every Star Above was recorded in 2019, pre-pandemic, and includes ten songs from Holidayâs 1958 Lady in Satin album â songs previously also covered by Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, and many, many others. The project feels akin to Linda Ronstadtâs pop and big band forays, never fully detached from Barnettâs country roots, but built atop their solid foundation. In another Ronstadt-esque move, Barnett partnered with recently departed jazz arranger Sammy Nestico; Every Star Above was the award-winning composerâs final project.
Charley Crockett covers James Hand
Country-western crooner Charley Crockett is truly prolific, having released nine full-length albums in the past six years. As the story goes, before his friend, acclaimed Texan singer-songwriter James âSlimâ Hand passed away unexpectedly about a year ago, Crockett promised he would record his songs. âLesson in Depressionâ captures the sly, winking quality of the best sort of sad-ass country, which isnât burdened by its own melodrama. While itâs certain Crockett (as Tanya Tucker would put it) would have rather brought Slim his flowers while he was living, thereâs a poignancy in how 10 For Slim – Charley Crockett Sings James Hand, like Earleâs J.T., immediately demonstrates how these impactful musical legacies will live on.
Lowland Hum cover Peter Gabriel
Lowland Humâs album covering Peter Gabrielâs So — which theyâve cutely and aptly entitled So Low — began as a passing joke, but the folk duo of husband-and-wife Daniel and Lauren Goans followed the passion and fun that led them to Gabrielâs hit 1986 release, quickly unspooling the passing whim into inspiration for a full-blown project. âWe already loved the iconic record, but in translating Gabrielâs melodies and otherworldly arrangements,â they explain on their website, âwe fell even deeper in love with the songs, Gabrielâs voice, and his uncanny ability to fully inhabit both vulnerability and playfulness…â Their âquiet music,â minimalist approach is well suited to the material and the entire project is incredibly listenable, comforting, and subtly envelope-pushing.
Chrissie Hynde covers Bob Dylan
After The Bard released âMurder Most Foulâ and âI Contain Multitudesâ early in 2020 (and in the pandemic) founder, singer, songwriter, and guitarist for The Pretenders Chrissie Hynde was inspired to once again revisit Dylanâs catalog â a limitless fount of material with which she was already intimately familiar. Her new album, Standing in the Doorway, features nine Dylan tracks recorded with fellow Pretenders guitarist James Walbourne â almost exclusively via text message â and for their coronavirus YouTube video series. Hynde opts for deeper cuts, showcasing her affinity for swaths of Dylanâs career often overlooked by other would-be cover-ers. This classic, âTomorrow is a Long Time,â feels appropriately sentimental and longing, a perfect encapsulation of the day-to-day of the realities of the pandemic, filtered through a Bob Dylan lens and Hyndeâs distinctive voice.Â
Various Artists cover John Lilly
John Lilly is a songwriterâs songwriter. Based in West Virginia, his original music has been covered by modern legends like Tim OâBrien, Kathy Mattea, and Tom Paxton. April In Your Eyes: A Tribute to the Songs of John Lilly gathers various artists from the folk, old-time, and bluegrass communities â in West Virginia and otherwise â spotlighting the incredible depth and breadth of Lillyâs catalog. The title track is stunningly rendered by Maya de Vitry and Ethan Jodziewicz, who were connected with Lilly originally through West Virginiaâs iconic old-time pickersâ gathering affectionately referred to as âClifftop.â Paxton, OâBrien, and Mattea all make appearances on the project, as do Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay, Bill Kirchen, and many other members of Lillyâs musical family and inner circle, giving the project an intentional and intimate resonance.
American Aquarium cover ’90s Country Hits
BJ Barhamâs American Aquarium dropped a surprise album, Slappers, Bangers, & Certified Twangers: Volume One in May. Featuring ten covers of some of the bandâs favorite â90s country hits, itâs a dose of all-star-tribute-concert packaged in a pandemic-friendly stay-at-home-form â and available on John Deere Green vinyl, of course. One particularly sad casualty of the coronavirus pandemic has been these sorts of musical nostalgia bombs â when was the last time any of us attended a theme night or tribute show at say, the Basement East in Nashville or Raleigh, NCâs The Brewery? â and Slappers, Bangers, & Certified Twangers has us in the mood to attend the first â90s country covers live show possible now that things are finally reopening.
Various Artists cover John Prine
A year without Prine seems far, far too long to travel with such a Prine-shaped hole in our musical hearts. But his presence and legacy certainly still loom large; the Prine family has announced âYou Got Gold: Celebrating the Life & Songs of John Prine,â a series of special concerts and events held across various venues in Nashville in October. Oh Boy Records is also planning to release a new tribute record,
Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, Vol. 2, to coincide with You Got Gold. The first two tracks from the project that have already been unveiled feature
Sturgill Simpson performing “Paradise” and Brandi Carlile’s rendition of “I Remember Everything,” which you can hear above. Each month until October, the Prine family and Oh Boy will release another song from the project, unveiling special guests who each pay tribute to Prine, his songs, and the enormous vacuum his loss has left in the roots music industry.
