19 February 2014 - Craig Campbell - Royals

So I was wasting time yesterday on TMZ (don't judge) and I see an "article" about Craig Campbell's country cover of Lorde's Royals. Wait. What? I do a quick check on iTunes and the song's been out since November.

1. Why am I just hearing about this?
2. Why am I just hearing about this on TMZ?

All questions aside, this is a very cool country cover (the crowd on hand during this performance appeared to be way into it) and it's good to see that the proceeds are going to a good cause. I normally don't buy singles (I prefer the whole album), but I'll certainly make an exception here.

14 February 2014 - Avril Lavigne - All The Small Things and Basket Case

Forget Valentine's Day, today's Pop-Punk Cover Song Day*. To celebrate we have the punky pop princess Avril Lavigne playing two pop-punk classics. First up is a sweet version of Blink-182's All The Small Things.



And now here's Avril playing a killer cover of Green Day's Basket Case.



*Pop-Punk Cover Song Day does not really exist...

12 February 2014 - Steve Earle - Pancho and Lefty

I almost never sign up for online contests, but I'm thinking I should do so more often. A couple weeks ago I entered a Facebook contest through our local concert venue to see the one and only Steve Earle. On Saturday, an email hit my inbox informing me that I had won (of course I did, why else would I be talking about this?). I was pretty psyched because I had previously decided to sit this one out after seeing him a couple times in the last few years (plus, I also thought it might be a good idea to save the $90 I would have spent for tickets, drinks and of course a cab ride home). Needless to say the show was awesome. I'm pretty sure he didn't play this Townes Van Zandt cover last night (long set and a couple pitchers of beer makes for a fuzzy night), but here he is playing Pancho and Lefty at the greatest record store ever Amoeba Music (I think this video was recorded at the Hollywood location).

10 February 2014 - The Head and the Heart - Go Your Own Way

Here's The Head and the Heart putting their own indie-folk stamp on what I personally feel is Fleetwood Mac's greatest song - Go Your Own Way (I know, way to go out on a limb there Scott). I would have liked to hear them make the song their own and change up the arrangement a little bit, but it's still pretty good.

5 February 2014 - Gaslight Anthem - State of Love and Trust

What we have here is Gaslight Anthem playing Pearl Jam's State of Love and Trust at the SiriusXM Alt Nation studio...and of course it's all sorts of awesome.

4 February 2014 - John K. Samson - Tournament of Hearts

Is this a stretch to call a cover?  Yes.

John K. Samson does a cover of the greatest song about curling ever written, "Tournament of Hearts" by the Weakerthans.   Of course, it isn't really about curling.  But it is. It certainly isn't about the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which is going on right now.

So who is this John K. Samson?  He is the lead singer of a Canadian indie band called the Weakerthans.  But this version is different. 

3 February 2014 - Sheryl Crow - Rock and Roll

Here's Sheryl Crow doing a pretty ripping cover of Led Zepplin's Rock and Roll for those of you who need a bit of a pick me up on this post-Super Bowl Monday.