Speaking of cover versions...

Laura Marling, Jeff Tweedy, Waxahatchee + MJ Lenderman play covers: Adrianne Lenker, Neutral Milk Hotel, Portishead, Townes Van Zandt, T-Rex, Gillian Welch. They're not on streaming services.

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I’ve been a subscriber to Laura Marling’s newsletter for a while. But it’s been appearing in my mailbox with greater frequency lately, often with paywalled recordings. At a certain point, I had to get a paid subscription to hear ‘em.

In return — like anyone else on this platform would — I received five one-month-paid subscriptions to her newsletter, to pass on to friends.

So, my friends, I’ll forward them to the first five of my paid subscribers who ask. Just ask for one in the comments at the bottom of this newsletter.

Who does Marling cover, you ask?

“anything” (Adrianne Lenker) (per Marling: “my kingdom for a song like this. Possessed poetry”)

“Aeroplane Over The Sea” (Neutral Milk Hotel) (listen how she articulates “what a curious life,” and fittingly guides “how the notes all bend and reach above the trees” into the clouds.

“For The Sake of The Song” (Townes Van Zandt)

“Up To Me” (Bob Dylan)

“Do I Ever Cross Your Mind” (Dolly Parton).

There are also demos and live recordings, plus musings on family, automobiles and tarot cards.

Aeroplane Over The Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)

Jeff Tweedy, meanwhile, has made a habit of posting casually-recorded covers, along with demos and alternate versions of album tracks, on his Substack with regularity.

He’s been doing it for a few years now — I recently came upon a lovely solo acoustic reading of the Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties.” from early 2023. These songs are often, but not always, paywalled, and he’s amassed quite an archive — a lo-fi secondary oeuvre, if you’re a beancounter (mea culpa).

In a recent newsletter, Tweedy mentions Patti Smith’s new book and Jonathan Richman, and, more to the point, why he’s been engaged in this ongoing covers project. He also drops three covers that connect to the theme of horses: “Great Horse“ by T-Rex (pardon me, Tyrannosaurus Rex, as they were still known); the Doc Watson signature “Tennessee Stud,” best known nowadays, perhaps, via the Johnny Cash version used in Tarantino’s Jackie Brown; and Portishead’s “The Rip” (“wild white horses, they will take me away…”)

And in this most recent post, he addressed the topic of covers from another angle.

Why the Tweedy family band plays cover songs

The Waxahatchee & MJ Lenderman tour is rolling across North America this month, and one of the (many) highlights is their nightly passel of cover versions. I caught em in NYC at the Beacon Theater Monday, and we got five gems. Clips below. NB: I’m happy to report Instagram embeds are working again on Substack, and better yet, you can scroll through multiple frames w/o having to jump onto their damn platform.

“Wrecking Ball” (Gillian Welch)

“My Life” (Iris Dement)

“Abandoned” (Lucinda Williams)

“All the Right Reasons” (The Jayhawks)

“Six O’Clock News” (Kathleen Edwards)

Jake and Katie have been mixing it up a bit on the tour, though — opening night in Atlanta, they dropped a soulful, almost entirely straight-faced cover of Ella Langley’s long-running #1 Hot 100 country-pop phenom, “Choosing Texas.” They know a classic when they hear one. I’ll have more on that in my next newsletter.

PS — Just for good measure, below is a Dylan cover Laura Marling did about 10 years ago. A slightly different approach than her covers above, no less powerful. And the song’s as timely now as it’s ever been.

Enjoy and take care. — Will