Cover Lay Down

It’s the buzz of the blogs: brand spankin’ new Federal Trade Commission guidelines for bloggers now require full disclosure of any personal benefit received gratis. According to the guidelines, which go into effect on December 1 of this year, that includes those gifts garnered purely as part of the review process, such as passes to shows, and promotional and review materials both digital and tangible of any value whatsoever.

Like many culture vultures and blogwatchers, though I recognize the need to create some sort of oversight which would make pay-for-review blogging more transparent, I find the broad scope of these new regulations comprehensively problematic for music and media bloggers, and selectively punitive in light of the fact that it is still not necessary for print media reviewers to disclose their own receipt of review copies when taking on criticism of an album or artist.

More broadly, this sad state of affairs comes as just one more straw in lean and scary times. The final release of these long-debated rules comes at the same time that both three-strikes anti-piracy laws and a possible end to net neutrality lurk on the legislative horizon. If the mere accusation of impropriety could cost the average blogger a narrowing or comprehensive loss of Internet access for his entire household, then music blogging could soon become a dangerous and subversive activity, indeed.

In the long term, activism is surely the answer - a strategy set that would include sharing in good faith, giving a portion of proceeds to EFF and other rights-fighters where possible, and continuing to work with labels and artists themselves so that we can stand together as mutual supporters as the noose tightens on our collective ability to harness the tubes for rightful artistic compensation and promotion.

In the shorter term, in the interest of full disclosure, I note that a) I have no prior or personal relationship with any of the folks featured below, and b) today’s post, which features new works from a half dozen new and upcoming artists, is entirely the result of label and artist “gifting”. Specifically, my awareness of this music is entirely due to the fact that I was sent artistic works of value, ranging from single tracks available on iTunes to entire albums in both digital and hardcopy formats — from which, of course, I have been given full permission to share the tracks herein.

That I have chosen these particular artists to feature is not due to the fact that I got their stuff free, of course. It is because I loved their work more than the vast majority of what has come my way just as freely. But for what it’s worth, I neither make nor claim profit off of any of it.


Long-time hipster sidewoman Elin Palmer is well known to followers of The Fray, 16 Horsepower, Crooked Fingers and M. Ward for her support work on tour and in the studio, and that elfin voice with the faint hint of Swedish accent. But Elin’s debut solo album Postcard, which drops next week, is an indiefolk fan’s delight: layered, diverse, powerfully produced, and well suited to fans of Devotchka, The Decemberists, Regina Spektor et. al.

The Buddy Holly cover her label sent along is sparse, bouncy folkpop, fun without breaking barriers, a pipe-organ throw-away from an earlier incarnation of Elin’s sound. Listen - it’s worth it - but be sure to check out samples on Elin’s homepage to truly tempt the ears before buying Postcard direct from the source.

• Elin Palmer: Every Day (orig. Buddy Holly)
  (via MySpace)

Ireland’s own Dr Fox’s Old Timey String Band contacted me themselves last week to pass along their darling MGMT cover, which combines a harmonic vocal mix reminiscent of early Guster with a loose freakfolk use of fiddle and banjo most modern listeners associate with the Avett Brothers or Sufjan. The cover is ragged, more backyard barbecue bluegrass than the tighter oldtimey stuff most folks associate with the country side of modern ‘grass, but like good pulled pork and ribs, it sticks to the soul.

Near as I can tell, there’s no CD to purchase here, though pubwatchers in Kerry should keep their eyes open for a Dr. Fox gig. But there are a few more traditional American folktunes at their MySpace page, and a fun cover of Dueling Banjos, each one charming in its own way, and no less startling for their overseas origin.

• Dr. Fox’s Old Timey String Band: Kids (orig. MGMT)
  (from MySpace)

Bluegrass banjoist, country blues guitarist, composer, and banjo designer Tom Hanway’s past albums are technically not new — his debut CD Bucket of Bees emerged in 1991 — but as three of them have just been released for the first time in digital format at all the usual suspects, I’m using the occasion to tout yet another fine body of work from an undersung musician amidst our celebration of the new and noteworthy.

Like so many from the bluegrass world, Hanway’s work is often collaborative, and chock full of coverage both old and new. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, his musical selections yaw wide, ranging from celtic to newgrass, traditional bluegrass to highly experimental jazz pieces a la Bela Fleck, or Tom’s own mentor Tony Trischka. My favorite, of course: a duet with the just-featured Lucy Kaplansky, on a Doc Watson original most famously covered by both Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris. Here, this and other selections from each of the newly digititzed CDs originally produced on his own Joyous Gard label provide a substantive but still tantalizing taste of Hanway’s talent and range.

• Tom Hanway: Crossroad Blues (orig. Robert Johnson)
  (from Bucket of Bees, 1991)

• Tom Hanway & Blue Horizon: Addicted to Love (orig. Robert Palmer)
• Tom Hanway & Blue Horizon: John Barleycorn (trad.)
  (from Tom Hanway and Blue Horizon, 1992)

• Tom Hanway and Vassar Clements: The Crawdad Song (trad.)
• Tom Hanway and Vassar Clements w/ Lucy Kaplansky: Your Long Journey (orig. Doc Watson)
  (from The Badbelly Project: Hesitation Blues, 2005)

Award-winning lyricist and independent singer-songwriter Michael Gaither, whose sophomore effort Dogspeed has just hit the streets, performs warm, often hilarious americana folk tinged with the occasional country beat — good solid coffeehouse music, with autobiographical lyrics that teeter on the edge between profundity and sentimental simplicity. His Van Morrison cover is no exception, providing an excellent sense of the man and his music: smooth, relaxed guitar production, distinctive vocals that tell a solid story, and nary a flourish or fanciful air. The guest uke is a nice touch, too.

• Michael Gaither: Tupelo Honey (orig. Van Morrison)
  (from Dogspeed, 2009)

I know very little about LA-by-way-of-Georgia freak-country artist Amanda Jo Williams, except to note that her management is right on when they describe her voice as “June Carter on helium and acid”. But I’m a sucker for a good twangy, foot-stomping, can-banging folk cover with bells on, even if the track sounds a bit like it’s been filtered through a kazoo and a Jim Henson chicken chorus.

• Amanda Jo Williams: Will The Circle Be Unbroken (trad.)
  (unknown source)

Finally, I have a special place in my heart for the appalachian dulcimer, ever since I became an amateur myself several years ago. My newest role model in this endeavor: singer-songwriter Butch Ross, who gave up guitar for a few less strings early in his career, and has since turned the instrument quite literally both backwards and upside-down, plying it with a full range of fingerpicked and hard-driven strumstyles, and - in the process - transforming the ways in which a dulcimer can be used, heard, and appreciated.

Ross’ delicious interpretations of traditional folksongs and, more recently, a few select pop favorites are both perfect late-night fare and a harbinger of a future career continuing to push the boundaries of folk with an innovative approach to one of its oldest stringed standbys. Here’s a tradsong, a melodic Beatles cover, and a great string-shattering cover of my favorite Richard Thompson tune; when you’re done here, head over to stream Butch’s newest, an aptly-titled instrumental album entitled A Long Way From Shady Grove, in its entirety before purchase.

• Butch Ross: Wayfaring Stranger (trad.)
  (from Butch Ross Plays Dulcimer, 2007)
• Butch Ross: Eleanor Rigby (orig. The Beatles)
  (from A Long Way From Shady Grove, 2009)

Cover Lay Down posts new coverfolk features twice weekly, regardless of whatever we may or may not be given beforehand or afterwards. We remain proudly ad-free and non-profit, and exist for the sole benefit of musicians — because it is, after all, in everyone’s best interest to support opportunities for artists to continue to produce the best music they possibly can.