NEWS
Viewing entries tagged
cover songs
Week 36 - Tom Waits
I was editing this video this morning (which I tend to do because I’m always running WAY behind with this project) all was quiet while snowed outside. It was beautiful and peaceful. And I felt this song fits the mood of the day. I’m not quite tired of the snow yet although ask me in March and I might have a different answer!
Week 32 - Leonard Cohen
When I heard Leonard Cohen passed away, I cried. Not only he’s one of the artists that I hold dear to my heart but his passing seems to make things look even more desperate than it is, just when we need his music more than ever. I argued with myself back and forth as to which songs I was going to sing for a long long time, but in the end I decided with Hallelujah, simply because I wanted and needed to sing it right now.
Thank you, Leonard Cohen, for your clear and honest words and for your beautiful melodies.
Week 23 - Elvis Presley. Last week we covered The King of Pop, and this week we are paying tribute to the King himself. But my inspiration came from the time I saw a singer in Japan singing this song to a music box. I was little then but I remember it sounded beautiful. I made our version with a toy piano and Bekah added some lovely trumpet. Hope you enjoy!
Week 22 - Michael Jackson.
I was thinking that doing this project might be similar to speed dating. You have to assess the personality of each song and try to figure out how you can relate to it, and the end result is somehow always surprising. I had a vague idea that we might want to do Michael Jackson but picking this one was a surprise and an even bigger surprise was that how much we enjoyed it! It’s such a well written song, during the rehearsal Bekah and I kept on saying “one more time!” because we couldn’t stop. Michael himself said that he knew it was going to be a success - "A musician knows hit material. Everything has to feel in place. It fulfills you and it makes you feel good. That's how I felt about 'Billie Jean'. I knew it was going to be big when I was writing it." Quincy Jones wanted to cut the long intro (29 seconds!) but Michael told him that that’s what makes him want to dance! Later Jones said “and when Michael Jackson tells you, 'That's what makes me want to dance', well, the rest of us just have to shut up."
Hats off to you Michael. You were a true genius.
Week 18 - Emilíana Torrini.
I love good story telling and many of the musicians and songs I love usually spins a good yarn. This song by the Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini tells a beautiful one and when I first heard it, I wished that I had written it! The challenge of covering this particular song was how to make it our own. Luckily Rebekah had a brilliant idea of bringing in a trumpet. I really love how it came out.
Emilíana Torrini has released many albums and has done some interested collaborations with the likes of Thievery Corporation and Kylie Minogue. If you are Lord of the Ring’s fan, she’s the singer that sang “Gollum’s Song.”
Week 16 - The Andrews Sisters.
I have such a love for harmonies, so of course I love the Andrews Sisters. I’ve been wanting to cover one of their songs for a long, long time and finally we were able to do it with help from one of our accordion sisters, Jennie Muoio! We were going with the beach/summer theme but didn’t realize the actual words till we really learned the song. Musically it’s such a cute song but the words are, well morally questionable to say the least! It seems like a similar thing happened to the Andrew Sisters. They recorded the song with 10 minutes to spare in their recording session. Years later, Maxine Andrews recalled, "The rhythm was what attracted the Andrews Sisters to 'Rum and Coca-Cola'. We never thought of the lyrics. The lyric was there, it was cute, but we didn't think of what it meant; but at that time, nobody else would think of it either, because we weren't as morally open as we are today and so, a lot of stuff—really, no excuses—just went over our heads.” The song was banned by network radio stations despite being a big hit, because it mentioned….an alcoholic beverage! Things were certainly different back then.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the song and if you are in NYC area, please come see us next Sunday (8/7) at Rockwood Music Hall. It’s going to be a special one because Jennie is going to make a guest appearance, yay!
Week 13 - Florence The Machine, Dog Days Are Over, 2009
I remember my friend Ren in London telling me that I need to listen to Florence way back but unfortunately I was too busy listening to Johnny Mercer and Yves Montand at the moment and I never got around to. To be honest, I’m still not that familiar with her work…but learning and performing this song was one of the most fun we had so far! I hope you have fun watching as much as we had!
Week 9 - Rumor Has it, Adele.
I began this project hoping to broaden my musical horizon and challenge myself and so far I’ve been firmly stuck in my favorite musical era, the 60’s (haha). With this song, I finally made it to 2010's! Yay! Although I respect Adele as a performer and a songwriter, her music isn’t something I can relate to easily, so it was a fun challenge. I tried to make it mine as much as possible. Hope you enjoy!
