Fong Songs 101 All-Time Covers: #35 to 29

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Just joining us?
I'm counting down 101 of my all-time favourite covers before packing this blog away in the attic.
Read my countdown preamble here.
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A Set of Standards
Standards are tricky since these are the ones that have been done a zillion times, but then again, no one generally cares how zany and original you get with it. The songs have stood the test of time and have been performed so often, most people have probably never even heard the "original", if such a recording even exists. In fact, we may have only ever heard most standards through cover versions! These are few of my favourite versions of my favourite standards.

35. The Arcade Fire - Brazil [originally by Ary Barroso]
I love the wonderfully sinister strings in this brooding rendition from recent chart-toppers The Arcade Fire. Fittingly, Brazil director Terry Gilliam filmed their recent live show at Madison Square for an online broadcast with the potential for future collaborations. Got my floor tix to see them with guests Calexico at the end of September here in Vancity. Should be a good one!

34. Katharine Whalen's Jazz Squad - After You've Gone [originally by Turner Layton & Henry Creamer]
Katharine Whalen's Jazz Squad is my favourite album of jazz standards, which might not be saying much considering I can't think of another that I listen to with any regularity. In any case, I love the soothing, Billie Holiday-esque vocals from Katharine Whalen of the Squirrel Nut Zippers backed by an ace band that included a couple fellow Zippers. The disc was recorded during a dark period for the Squirrel Nut Zippers with band acrimony, legal troubles, and a split on the horizon, but you wouldn't guess it from the jaunty and light-hearted renditions of tunes like Deed I Do, My Baby Just Cares For Me, and Sugar. Though perhaps the gloomy and regretful Yesterdays (also great!) serves as more than a tribute to Billie Holiday.

33. Sammy Davis Jr. - The Lady is a Tramp (Live) [originally by Rodgers & Hart]
I'm guessing Sammy Davis Jr. must have sung this song hundreds of times with numerous recordings, but it's this particular version that has stuck with me, perhaps because it was simply the first I heard. It's from a compilation called Live From Las Vegas that I borrowed once from the library. It included cuts from Tom Jones, Louis Prima, and Nat King Cole, but where in Vegas and which year, I have no clue. I love how this starts... with some sort of gaffe that makes Sammy restart the song with a faux stern warning to the flutist (I think). He vocally races back to where he left off with a laugh and soon the full band kicks in with a bang. The rest of the song is just killer. Every time I hear this version it makes me wish I could've seen his show live.

The Rolling Stones
32. Choro Azul - Paint It Black [originally by The Rolling Stones]
From the Japanese compilation A Tribute to the Rolling Stones comes this reinvention of Paint It Black as a Brazilian samba with Nina Simone-like vocals.

31. Ruth Copeland - Gimme Shelter [originally by The Rolling Stones]
This is an epic tour-de-force of funk with British folk/blues singer Ruth Copeland backed by George Clinton and members of Parliament. I'm going to just reprint what I previously wrote about this cover once upon a time:

"Eschewing the trademark rhythm guitar opening, it starts off with just the drums, before the main chords are dramatically pounded out on a piano. Then, enter the fuzz. Warbling, wah wah, fuzzy guitars featuring a blistering Jimi-like lead by Parliament's Eddie Hazel. And Ruth Copeland's soulful wails of War! Children! Rape! Murder! cement this as the winning cover. Halfway through, the drums crawl to a stop, replaced by a slow organ with whispered vocals of the chorus, which swell to a chaotic climax as the band bursts back in and "love's just a kiss away" is repeatedly chanted like it's the end of the world."

Yes, that was my favourite Gimme Shelter cover for a long time, but it was eventually eclipsed by the next cover...

30. Merry Clayton - Gimme Shelter [originally by The Rolling Stones]
Everyone's heard Merry Clayton's blistering vocals opposite Mick on The Rolling Stones' original Gimme Shelter, but she doesn't get nearly the recognition she deserves. A year after the original, Clayton released her own solo version, which starts off similarly before the awesome awesome horn section comes in (and you know I love the horns). She actually recorded the original version of The Shoop Shoop Song, remarkably when she was just fifteen years old. Covers-wise, Clayton also does an incredible Bridge Over Troubled Water and a stunning version of Neil Young's Southern Man. Oddly enough, she sang back up both Neil's self-titled debut AND Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama. She was born with an incredible voice and it's a wonder she never became a superstar, but luckily I'm not the only one rooting for her comeback... Aeroplane, a Belgian/Italian DJ duo that is now simply an Italian solo act after an amicable split, tracked down Merry Clayton to provide her still wicked vocals on a track called I Don't Feel. The debut album We Can't Fly is due in September.

29. RLM & Katsuhiko Sakamoto & Ikuko Harada - 19th Nervous Breakdown [originally by The Rolling Stones]
This jazz trio + flute cover comes from that same Japanese Stones tribute as Choro Azul's Paint It Black. With a near incomprehensible accent, the lead singer here sounds like he learned the song phonetically (perhaps with the wrong lyrics sheet to boot) but bonus points for unabashed enthusiasm!

Taking a break this weekend to visit the Island. The Fong Songs 101 countdown will continue on Monday with (count 'em) 1, 2, 3, 4 numbered-themed covers.

New Danny Michel album for Canada Day!

Coinciding with Canada Day, Danny Michel's new album Sunset Sea is being released today! Available now from iTunes, Zunior.com, Maplemusic.com, or his website dannymichel.com where you can also check out an album sampler or watch the behind-the-scenes production diaries. Fellow Ontarian Sarah Harmer guests on the track Binary Star. Starting tomorrow, Danny will be hitting the road for a cross-Canada tour. See you on September 18 at the Biltmore!

July 02-05 Canso, NS Stan Rogers Folk Festival
July 10 -11 Sudbury, ON Northern Lights Festival
July 29 Toronto, ON Art of Time Ensemble
July 30 Ottawa, ON Art of Time Ensemble
Aug 14 Guelph, ON Riverside Park Amphitheatre
Aug 20 - 22 Owen Sound, ON Summerfolk Festival
Aug 28 Meaford, ON Irish Mountain Music
Sept 11 Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Centre
Sept 15 Duncan, BC Duncan Garage Showroom
Sept 16 Courtenay, BC Joe's Garage
Sept 17 Victoria, BC Hermann's Jazz Club
Sept 18 Vancouver, BC The Biltmore
Sept 22 Canmore, AB Communitea Café
Sept 23 Alberta TBA
Sept 24 St. Albert, AB Arden Theatre Brenda
Sept 25 Calgary, AB TBA
Sep 26 Lethbridge, AB Geomatic Attic
Oct 06 - 07 Waterloo, ON Starlight Club
Oct 08 - 09 London, ON London Music Club
Oct 11 Saskatoon, SK TBA
Oct 12 Prince Albert, SK TBA
Oct 14 St. Catherines, ON Brock Centre for the Arts
Oct 15 Toronto, ON Glenn Gould Theatre
Oct 16 Toronto, ON Glenn Gould Theatre
Oct 20 Guelph, ON Dublin Street Church
Oct 21 Peterborough, ON Gordon Best Theatre
Oct 22 Kingston, ON Chalmers United Church
Oct 23 - 24 Wakefield, QC The Blacksheep Inn
Nov 13 Bayfield, ON Bayfield Town Hall

Here's Danny covering another national treasure:
Danny Michel - After the Gold Rush [originally by Neil Young]

Don't forget to get your dose of CanCon today!

Tasty cover samples from eTown

I briefly talked about the eTown radio show in a February post when I posted the Barenaked Ladies and The Ditty Bops teaming up to cover Johnny Mercer's I'm an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande (merged with the theme to Welcome Back Kotter, no less). What I neglected to mention was that these cover collaborations are more the rule than the exception in eTown, where they generally play host to two musical guests who play separate sets then are brought together for a big cover finale alongside the house band, The eTones. This part of the show reminds me of a CBC radio show that was regrettably canceled a few years ago called Fuse that also brought together unlikely combos to make wonderful music.

eTown, based in Boulder, Colorado, was founded by the husband and wife team of Nick and Helen Forster in 1991, a socially conscious radio show recorded live as a sort of variety show with musical performances and in-depth conversations with the artists and other guests that range from authors to scientists to politicians to citizens in the community. Another aspect of the show is the E-Chievement Award, a listener-nominated award to "remarkable individuals who are working hard to make a positive difference in their communities and beyond".

There's a bittersweetness to these covers since every one of them is accompanied by the end-of-show patter over an instrumental break and in a few cases, the song is prematurely truncated. But it's a small price to pay to hear some wonderful, wonderful covers! Needless to say, I also dig the Canadian content that makes its way into the show via guest artists or the cover choices. You can subscribe to the eTown podcast in iTunes with a new show every Wednesday and visit etown.org to peruse the extensive show archives.

These are just some of the awesome cover collaborations that have blessed the eTown stage:

Cake & Chuck Prophet - Sympathy for the Devil [originally by The Rolling Stones]
This is the one I most regret not being able to hear in its full unedited glory.

Barenaked Ladies & Catie Curtis - Yellow Submarine [originally by The Beatles]

Big Head Todd and the Monsters & Kathleen Edwards - Long May You Run [originally by Neil Young]

Michelle Shocked & The Bad Plus - Heart of Gold [originally by Neil Young]

Crash Test Dummies & Celeste Krenz - Theme from Gilligan's Island [originally written by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle]

Imogen Heap & Gregory Alan Isakov - We Will Rock You [originally by Queen]

BeauSoleil & Ben Kweller - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? [originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival]

DeVotchKa & Au Revoir Simone - Tender [originally by Blur]

Jakob Dylan & Danny Barnes - The Letter [originally by The Box Tops]

Belated Bridge School '09 Wrap-up

It's been almost three weeks since I got back from The Bridge School Benefit shows and if I postpone this post any longer, it may end up like my never posted Calgary Folk Fest '07 Part II (sigh). Quickly, Ben Folds with the Seattle Symphony was awesome as expected (from the 2nd row!), but The Very Best show in San Francisco was unceremoniously cancelled on the day of the show since Esau Mwamwaya had passport issues getting into the US... very disappointing.


After the stage was blessed by native dancers, Bridge School founder Pegi Young introduced the students and alumni sitting at the back of the stage before introducing her husband (and school co-founder) Neil Young who kicked off both shows with Comes a Time before turning over the stage to the other artists. He also ended each show with Comes a Time with all the artists on stage, so in total we heard this song four times in less than 48 hours. Part of their inspiration for starting the Bridge School in 1986, which assists individuals with severe speech and physical impairments, was that their son Ben (in attendance) and Zeke (from Neil's previous marriage) were both diagnosed with cerebral palsy. It was very humbling to witness the students and their families enjoying the concert from the back of the stage and think of the major obstacles they've had to overcome in their lives. One remarkable alumni of the Bridge School recently graduated with a double major at the University of Berkeley!

Kate York - Comes a Time [originally by Neil Young]
From the tribute album Cinnamon Girl: Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity available on iTunes or directly from American Laundromat Records.


Gavin Rossdale was up first. He was fine, if a bit of a downer to start off the day. His set included covers of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide and Prince's Sometimes It Snows in April as well as several Bush songs.

Gavin Rossdale - Landslide [originally by Fleetwood Mac]
From a live "Stripped" session on iheartradio.com, which has a fair number of covers lurking in the archives.


The newly retooled Wolfmother brought up the energy level, ripping through a rockin' acoustic set consisting of earlier hits like Woman and Joker and the Thief mixed with several cuts from their latest release Cosmic Egg. Only lead singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale remains of the original trio, which is now a foursome. On Day 2, they pulled out the Neil Young cover Don't Let It Bring You Down, which they recently performed in the SPIN offices.

team9 - Daddy and the Thief [Wolfmother vs. Gnarls Barkley]
Great mash-up of Wolfmother's Joker & The Thief and Gnarls Barkley's cover of the Violent Femmes Gone Daddy Gone from the 2006 team9 mash-up album for Stereogum.com, which is still available as a zip file here.


Fleet Foxes were next. To be brutally honest, they did almost nothing for me. The first day was pleasant enough with their CSNY-ish harmonies but the songs all started to bleed into each other, eventually lulling me into a mid-afternoon nap through parts of their set. The next day I couldn't even fight it, nodding off shortly into the first couple songs, occasionally opening my eyes to see if they were done yet. I do have to admit though, that I was captivated by their performance of a song called White Winter Hymnal. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood or they're suited to a more intimate venue or something, but I just had to laugh when I was at work last week and saw an old issue of Mojo with Fleet Foxes triumphantly on the cover as the "Best Live Act in the Entire World". And they put me to sleep, sigh.


Next were Monsters of Folk. Honestly I was expecting this to be a rather mellow set based on what I've heard from the individual artists, but I quite enjoyed their set which had some rock, folk, and even an old timey country vibe to it.


Sheryl Crow was never on my bucket list and now I've inadvertently seen her perform three times in less than two months. I took this opportunity to visit the facilities and roll my eyes at the concession stands prices. With $6.50 fries, I chose to skip dinner. Her sets on both days included a singalong cover of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away.

Sheryl Crow - Here Comes the Sun [originally by The Beatles]


I'm not familiar with any Jimmy Buffett songs, not even Margaritaville, which I heard here for the first time. Overall, his upbeat brand of "trop rock" music was pretty good, though his fans are fairly obnoxious... I'll leave it at that.

Jack Johnson - A Pirate Looks at 40 [originally by Jimmy Buffett]
From the soundtrack to the Jack Johnson directed surf film The September Sessions.



Day 2 featured Adam Sandler taking over Jimmy Buffett's slot. I like what he said when he came out: "I'm with you people, I don't what I'm doing here either!" While I knew more or less what to expect with all the acts on the bill, Adam Sandler was the one wildcard. Was he here to do stand-up in the middle of this concert, would he play a string of cover songs, the Chanukah Song? Backed by a full band, he jumped right in with a cover of The Doors' Break on Through (To the Other Side), followed by a string of original songs including the stellar Listenin' to the Radio, which treaded a fine line between funny, clever, and sincere while referencing seemingly every hit song about a girl in the last 50 years. Next, he said he was going to sing a song he "wrote for Led Zeppelin" and I was absolutely thrilled when I heard the opening chords of Hey Hey What Can I Do, one of my favourites.

He finished with two familiar originals Lunchlady Land and The Chanukah Song ("Mel Gibson: Not a Jew!"). Then the biggest surprise came when he brought Neil Young on stage to perform a duet on Powderfinger. This ended up being the only instance during the whole weekend where Neil joined another artist on stage. A Neil Young duet with Adam Sandler, go figure.

Adam Sandler - Listenin' to the Radio

Neil Diamond - The Chanukah Song [originally by Adam Sandler]
If you thought a Bob Dylan Christmas album was weird, how about Neil Diamond covering Adam Sandler on his latest disc of Christmas tunes, A Cherry Cherry Christmas?



Armed with just a piano, Chris Martin proved that sometimes less can be more with an impressive set of stripped down Coldplay songs and a couple covers. Oblivious to the fact that he even played the piano at all, I was quite impressed with his dangling particularly on his rendition of the Maple Leaf Rag, which led into Viva La Vida.


After a couple solo songs, he was joined by violinist Davide Rossi for the rest of his set. Coverwise, he did a rendition of Bruce Springsteen's My Love Will Not Let You Down and led the audience in a singalong version of his "favourite song from his favourite film", Earth Angel, played at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in Back to the Future.

Red Hot Chilli Pipers - Clocks [originally by Coldplay]
If you like instrumental bagpipe covers, this one's for you. Also, check out Weezer's recent cover of Viva La Vida.





As the penultimate act of each night, No Doubt delivered a pair of fantastic sets filled with rare acoustic renditions of their hit songs. When they were first introduced, Gwen Stefani spent 90% of the first song Spiderwebs singing directly to the Bridge School kids at the back, a touching moment. The group was joined by a string quartet for the latter half of the set including Don't Speak and their cover of Talk Talk's It's My Life.

Lea Delaria - Just a Girl [originally by No Doubt]
In the Bridge School preview post, I shared a jazz rendition of this song by Shannon Butcher. Well, here's another jazz take by Lea Delaria. I wasn't kidding about it being a modern standard! No Doubt's acoustic rendition at the concert was a particular highlight of their set with just Gwen and guitarist Tom Dumont performing before the rest of the band, who had left stage, joined in one by one.



And, of course, Neil Young. Unlike the previous time I saw him for an austere solo set at Ambleside Park, here he was joined by a full band for most of the set with Sheryl Crow joining Pegi Young on back-up vocals (interestingly, I read Crow's first big break was as a back-up singer for Michael Jackson on tour!). For me, the highlight of his set and possibly the whole weekend was his performance of Harvest Moon complete with an old man "playing" the broom. Swish, swish.

Ben Kweller - From Hank to Hendrix [originally by Neil Young]
This cover is from Ben Kweller's visit to the Dermot O'Leary show last year.

Jean Jacques Milteau - Heart Of Gold [originally by Neil Young]
Neil didn't play this either night, but I couldn't resist posting this bluesy cover of his classic song.


I'll be back someday... maybe in 2011 for the 25th anniversary. Thanks for the music, Bridge School!

Ben Folds, The Very Best, and Bridge School Benefit

It's going to be a busy week of music and traveling. First, I'm off to Seattle to see Ben Folds perform tonight with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at Benaroya Hall! Then tomorrow morning I'm catching a flight to San Francisco to meet up with my dad. We're going to the Bridge School Benefit concerts in Mountain View on the weekend, a gift from my sister and I to celebrate his 60th birthday. He's a big Neil Young fan, though I'm pretty sure this will be the first time seeing him live. In between, I'll also be taking him to see The Very Best in San Francisco and see some sights including the new Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio. Busy, busy, busy.

With Someone Else's Money - You Don't Know Me [originally by Ben Folds featuring Regina Spektor]
You all know I'm a huge fan of Mr. Folds and this will be the third time I've seen him live, but the first time with a full orchestra backing him up! The music of Ben Folds (and Ben Folds Five) has long been fodder for college a cappella groups, so the only problem he had when assembling the album of covers released earlier this year as Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! was whittling down the deluge of submissions. The tracklist spans his solo and BF5 works, but leans heavily on the slower ballads. Ben himself contributes a cappella arrangements of his own Boxing and Effington. I would've loved to hear a cappella arrangements of the more rock-based numbers, though I'm sure it's just a youtube search away. This cover of the single from Way to Normal was arranged and performed by With Someone Else's Money from the University of Georgia. By the way, a demo of Levi Johnston's Blues from the forthcoming Ben Folds/Nick Hornby album debuted just over a week ago on the Huffington Post.

The Very Best - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa [samples Vampire Weekend]
From last year's free mixtape, Esau Mwamwaya and producer team Radioclit completely reworked Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa into a relentlessly upbeat but not cloying dance number. Delivering on the promise of that mixtape (which urged on the last track to "watch out" for the forthcoming album), The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa was released earlier this month to universal critical acclaim. When I found out I'd be in San Francisco, I naturally scoped out the concert listings and was thrilled to discover one of The Very Best's few tour dates would coincide with my trip. Should be a blast!

It's an eclectic lineup this year with ska, hard rock, folk, and, uh, Adam Sandler on the bill. I'm curious to see how the different artists approach their setlists since past performers typically, as a tradition though not a rule, do acoustic sets. This will be my first Bridge School Benefit experience... but hopefully not my last!

Shannon Butcher - Just a Girl [originally by No Doubt]
Mississauga-born jazz singer Shannon Butcher's 2008 debut album Words We Both Could Say ranges from covers of Blondie, Tears for Fears, Glen Campbell, and this wonderful fast-paced rendition of No Doubt's Just a Girl that sounds completely natural as a modern jazz standard.

Pivot - Woman [originally by Wolfmother]
Wolfmother is expected to play an acoustic set at the Bridge School Benefit. We already got a taste of how this would sound when they played a 4-song set at the SPIN offices including a cover of Neil Young's Don't Let it Bring You Down (watch it here). Their upcoming sophomore album Cosmic Egg (guitarist/vocalist Andrew Stockdale is the only member of the original trio, now a foursome) is due to be released next week. Apparently a (studio?) recording of Don't Let It Bring You Down will be available on the Japanese edition of the album. This instrumental cover of their hit Woman by fellow Australian band Pivot is nearly unrecognizable, but a lot of fun.

Coldplay & Buena Vista Social Club - Clocks
I actually like this Latin reworking of Clocks better than the original. It's from the Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba album. A follow-up was released fairly recently called Rhythms del Mundo: Classics, which is chockfull of covers featuring the likes of The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Kaiser Chiefs, and Rodrigo y Gabriela. For the most part, they are previously recorded covers with new backing orchestration from a group of all-star Afro-Cubano musicians including members of the Buena Vista Social Club. I haven't given the CD a real thorough listen yet, but I did enjoy the last album.

Jets Overhead - Mr. Soul [originally by Neil Young]
Victoria band Jets Overhead was late addition to the Bridge School Benefit. They contributed this cover to the Neil Young double tribute album Borrowed Tunes II.

M. Ward, Conor Oberst & Jim James - Girl from the North Country [originally by Bob Dylan]
Before they dubbed themselves Monsters of Folk (along with Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis), the trio of M. Ward, Conor Oberst, and Jim James all toured together, playing triple bills that would include solo sets then all three of them together. This live cover is from Mojo's Dylan Covered compilation.

Sheryl Crow - Mother Nature's Son [originally by The Beatles]
Sheryl Crow was not exactly on my concert bucket list, but I will inadvertently be seeing her for the second time in just over a month. Judging from her performance at Ambleside Park last month alongside Sarah McLachlan and Neil Young, I know more of her songs than I'd care to admit, though I do unabashedly love her cover of Mother Nature's Son from the all-Beatles cover soundtrack to I Am Sam.

Neil Young - Imagine [originally by John Lennon]
I'll admit I was slow getting into Neil Young. I mean, his back catalogue is daunting even for people I consider big Neil Young fans. As a covers enthusiast, I just couldn't help being exposed regularly to his songwriting since everyone seems to have recorded a Neil Young cover at some point, a fact that especially holds true for any Canadian artist. But it's probably my best friend's occasional playing of Harvest Moon on his guitar that really opened my ears after years of listening indifferently to the frequently repeated Neil Young tunes on the local classic rock station.

Well, that's it for blogging for the next week, though you can follow me on Twitter and I'm sure I'll be updating that. I may even live tweet the concerts on the weekend since Google provides free wireless internet for all of Mountain View... Anyway, it's 3:37am and I've got a train to catch in a few hours. I can never sleep before these big trips and last-minute blogging sure doesn't help!

Edmonton Folk Fest Wrap-Up

It's been a week since the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, a rousing success by all accounts for the festival's 30th anniversary. I had a great time and, as to be expected, I was exposed to some great new music without even trying. If you know me, it shouldn't surprise you to know I was stage-stalking Danny Michel for all his side stage sessions. All the great stuff was going down on one of the seven side stages, while the Main Stage headliners were unfortunately a little bland for my liking, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings excluded. I'll zip through a few highlights of the weekend:

Alex Cuba
I don't usually find out cover happenings from my mom, but when I mentioned I was going to a session with Alex Cuba, she told me that he had covered a Blue Rodeo song in Spanish. Born in Cuba, Cuba (the musician) immigrated to Canada in 1999 and now resides in Smithers, BC, the hometown of his Canadian wife. It's a great story: in short, while performing at the Songwriter's Circle show at the 2008 Junos, Alex saw Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy in the crowd so he whipped out a couple verses of one of their hits Bad Timing in Spanish. That same night at an after party, Blue Rodeo invited him up on stage, handed him a guitar, and he performed the whole song. Several months later, they brought him into the studio to record Spanish vocals with the original master tracks and then released it single exclusively on iTunes. All this after his mother-in-law introduced him to Blue Rodeo's 5 Days in July back in 1996. Technically, it's not really a cover song.... but this solo version I recorded at the festival counts and I honestly like it better with just Alex and his guitar.

Alex Cuba - Arrepentido (Bad Timing) [originally by Blue Rodeo]

Alana Levandoski
I caught Manitoban folk singer/songwriter Alana Levandoski when she shared a sidestage with Danny Michel. Coincidentally, both of them appeared on the Neil Young tribute album Borrowed Tunes II and she actually did perform her cover from that album, Don't Be Denied.

Alana Levandoski - Don't Be Denied [originally by Neil Young]
Alana Levandoski - Helpless (Live at the 2009 Winnipeg Folk Fest) [originally by Neil Young]

Jill Barber
For me, Jill Barber was my favourite discovery of the whole festival. I had previously seen her name throughout my RSS feeds (she was recently engaged to CBC Radio 3 host Grant Lawrence) and I know her brother is Matthew Barber, but I hadn't actually heard her music before I saw her share the stage with Danny Michel. She's got a fantastic voice, great songs, über-talented band, and just a general aura of joy that is exuded by her performances. Her most recent album Chances (I must buy this!) is a collection of 50's jazz-inspired romantic tunes that have a timeless, vintage quality even though they're original compositions. Even stripped of their lush arrangements, these songs still sound fantastic accompanied by her guitarist Les Cooper, keyboardist Robbie Grunwald, and fiddler/accordionist/clarinetist Drew Jurecka, who I last saw performing with The Polyjesters in '07. One of my favourites was the call-and-response number Oh My My, which was actually chosen last Wednesday as Today's Top Tune on KCRW. After that first session, I caught a couple more of her shows during the weekend and was continually impressed. Judging by some chatter I overheard, I wasn't the only one that became an instant fan last weekend. Check B(oot)log, a Jill Barber champion for years, for a number of live recordings including some covers such as Dream a Little Dream of Me and a CanCon requisite Neil Young cover sung with her brother. I wish I had paid attention earlier! Here's her cover of Sam Cooke's Cupid recorded for CBC's GO on Valentine's Day, which she also performed at the Folk Fest.

Jill Barber - Cupid [originally by Sam Cooke]

Great Lake Swimmers
Not so much a highlight, but I was pretty unimpressed by the Great Lake Swimmers after hearing a lot of talk about them previously. Languid is putting it nicely, though I later overheard someone else bluntly say "disappointingly boring" and I couldn't really argue. I know they have quite a following... maybe they're better on CD? Or you have to be in the right mood? Whatever the case, during their session with Chuck Brodsky, Chumbawamba, and Jill Barber, my eyes would involuntarily roll back into my head whenever it came to their turn in the rotation. Here's a CKUA recording of them doing a Neil Young cover (theme of the weekend!) joined by Joel Plaskett:

Great Lake Swimmers with Joel Plaskett - Harvest (Live at the Edmonton Folk Fest) [originally by Neil Young]

Fred Eaglesmith
This was my first exposure to folk/country music force Fred Eaglesmith, who could easily command the Main Stage but is relegated to the side stages because the hilarious, unfiltered banter between songs that he's known for-- a little too unsafe and unpredictable for the Main Stage I'm guessing. He has the demeanour of a cranky, grizzled old stand up comedian, but when the music starts he's unstoppable. For his side stage session with Danny Michel, Jill Barber, and Loudon Wainwright III (recorded by the CBC for a future broadcast), he was joined by Australian artist Bill Chambers on steel guitar and vocals. He opened with Wilder Than Her, which was later covered by Dar Williams. There was a great moment when Bill's daughter Kasey Chambers, who was playing the Main Stage later that night with her husband Shane Nicholson, joined her dad and Fred Eaglesmith to sing Fred's Freight Train, which Kasey had previously recorded a version of.

Fred Eaglesmith with Bill & Kasey Chambers - Freight Train (Live at Edmonton Folk Fest)
Kasey Chambers - Freight Train [originally by Fred Eaglesmith]

Danny Michel
Danny Michel was one of the main reasons for wanting to come to the festival, besides visiting my folks back home. I never get tired of seeing him perform live. I think one of his best moments came during an unscheduled performance on the Main Stage as an in-between act (while they set-up for another headliner). Proving again why he himself should be on the Main Stage as a main act, he performed a quick unrehearsed three-song set on an organ keyboard thing without his usual guitar and looping pedals. He admitted he hadn't played them on keyboard before, though you wouldn't know it. Later during ex-BNLer Steven Page's headlining set, Danny was brought out to perform an epic cover of Billie Jean. The next day's local paper read "Were there a house here, it would've been brought down". Yep. That earlier session with Jill Barber, Loudon Wainwright III, and Fred Eaglesmith, ended with an impromptu group performance of Loudon's The Swimming Song with Danny being goaded into singing lead on two verses. Another session with Joel Plaskett, Johnny Flynn, and Sierra Hull, ended with Danny leading the way in a cover of Los Lobos' Life is Good. A quick note about Sierra Hull: she's a phenomenal young mandolinist with an equally phenomenal backing band... only 16 years old and has a bluegrass festival named after her that's in its SEVENTH year! I wish I had a chance to see more of her, but alas Folk Fests are notoriously about making hard decisions between all the simultaneous music going on. Danny will be touring the Netherlands in November/December before coming back to record a live album in Winnipeg. Here's a great Danny Michel cover of Joe Strummer, not from Folk Fest, but from a live show recorded early last year.

Danny Michel - Get Down Moses [originally by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros]

In related news, Danny's recorded a cover of The Clash's Straight to Hell for a dub Strummer tribute album called Shatter the Hotel due in December on the 30th anniversary of London Calling. Danny has previously covered this live and so has his Under the Covers co-host Emm Gryner. You can sneak a listen of his cover on the album's myspace page.

Steven Page & Danny Michel - Billie Jean [originally by Michael Jackson]
This whole summer Steven Page has been touring folk festivals in his first stint post-Barenaked Ladies and honestly he sounded great solo. He played acoustic guitar and was accompanied by cellist Kevin Fox, a member of the Art of Time Ensemble, on BNL classics and others. Having not really listened to BNL since their 3rd album, I couldn't really distinguish what was new or old material-- but I liked most of it! It didn't take much to win back the crowd who seemed to be willing to forgive and forget the troubles of the past year, except a heckler shouting "Cocaine!" from the sidelines who Page was good humoured about. If you're a fan, like I was, of Page's all-covers gig with the Art of Time Ensemble last year, be on the look out for a studio recording of the same covers due I think/hope before the year is out.

Steven Page with the Art of Time Ensemble - Paranoid Android [originally by Radiohead]
Kevin Fox - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) [originally by The Eurythmics]

Of course, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings never fail to impress, rocking the main stage on Saturday night with their distinct brand of funk soul and mostly new(!) songs. They did mention a new album will be hitting soon. It would've been awesome to see them scheduled for a side stage session, as I had seen them at the '07 Calgary Folk Fest ripping it up with Bettye LaVette, but they must be busy these days, playing the Burnaby Folk Fest the very next night. I was also excited to read they recently recorded a couple songs with Michael Bublé, which should make for an interesting mashing of vocal talents.