Cover Lay Down

Back early from a weekend in Boston with my father, where I got to experience firsthand a city besieged as never before, its streets narrowed into a byzantine maze of snow-carved tunnels.

It was tempting to stay. The fireside was warm and welcoming in the Sheraton Tara, home of the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival; the hotel’s nooks and crannies buzzed with jams and impromptu sessions; the mainstage shone with talent. But a record amount of snow has fallen in Massachusetts this winter. And so we cut short our annual pilgrimage when the flakes started to fly midday, and good thing, too: by the time I made it home to join my spouse and children by our own Valentine’s Day fire, it was blizzard conditions.

Over five feet of snow in less than three weeks, and it’s still falling – enough to cancel church today; enough to block entire our view of the driveway from couch, chair, and bed. But snow doesn’t scare us out in the woods. After a week of hospital visits and chaos, the girls teeter on the edge of well, with school vacation ahead. And so we’re settling in, watching movies and cuddling into the morning, saving our plans for another day.

It’s a good life. Here’s a celebration of it, from my family to yours – nothing focused, just a loose set of optimism just right for a lazy snowed-in Sunday.

Perfect, Heavenly, Beautiful Day: A Coverfolk Mixtape [zip!]

• The Once: You’re My Best Friend (orig. Queen)

Though we often feature kidfolk duo Renee & Jeremy’s equally sweet version of this Queen favorite, The Once‘s warm harmonies and gentle fingerpicking make for a grassy, mellow antidote to February.

• Mae Robertson: Feels Like Home (orig. Randy Newman)

We first wrote about singer-songwriter Mae Robertson six or seven years ago, but her warm kid-friendly covers and originals still delight.

• Zee Avi: Don’t Worry Be Happy (orig. Bobby McFerrin)

From Zee Avi’s Nightlight, our 2014 kidfolk pick of the year: a playful, island-percussive head-nodder perfect for sleepytime or morning.

• Barbara Browning: Perfect Day (orig. Lou Reed)

Interdisciplinary Performance Studies prof Barbara Browning plays the ukelele and sings divinely. Her Soundcloud series is an extension of her lifework, each song as sparse and beautiful as the next.

• Mister Kanish: Happy (orig. Pharrell Williams)

An upbeat feel-good number. Sure, Mister Kanish is a wedding band…but that doesn’t keep their hipster-friendly gypsy folk rock from sticking in the ears.

• Warren Zevon: Back In The High Life Again (orig. Steve Winwood)

A classic cover worth revisiting, Zevon’s dying take on Back In The High Life is poignant and triumphant.

• Renee & Jeremy: 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) (orig. Simon & Garfunkel)

Hello lamppost. From fave kidfolk cover album A Little Love, which offers a lot of it.

• Laura Cortese: Life Is Good Blues (orig. Laura Viers)

I love this fiddle-driven jam, with its crisp arrangement and heady strings. Laura Cortese can do no wrong in our book.

• Scott Spindler and Lacie Cole: Heavenly Day (orig. Patty Griffin)

A delicate amateur YouTube recital strips down a Patty Griffin gospel number to its intimate essentials.

• RiSE: Beautiful Day (orig. U2)

More YouTube finds, this one from the international folkrock community; Rusted Root rhythms give Malta-based band RiSE an organic alt-acoustic sound.

• The Onlies: Jubilee (trad.)
• Kimmie Rhodes: A Perfect Day (trad.)

A generation-spanning pair of tradsongs: gently upbeat celebration from high school bluegrass prodigies The Onlies on the one hand; sweet, slow singer-songwriter folk from cowboy countryfolk favorite Kimmie Rhodes on the other.