Well, first there is the cover, then there is the cover of the cover.

The Cover:
As you may know, I think Suzie Vinnick rocks, even if I can never seem to get out to see her perform with any regularity. She just won THREE Maple Blues Awards (yay!) on Monday.

Visiting Suzie's myspace gives you a great idea of what her voice can really do.

On her album, 33 Stars, she covers two tunes: Tom Waits' Picture in a Frame and Led Zepplin's Rock'n'Roll. You really have to click on that link and listen before you move on in this posting. (It is all downhill from here.)

I love that cover. I've forced almost everyone who has come over for dinner or drinks in the past three years to sit and listen to it. So tight, so mellow, so … unexpected.

Legends in the Livingroom

The Cover of the Cover:
In November 2005, I put together a little concert fundraiser to raise some money for a couple of organizations that were important to me. I called it Legends in the LivingRoom. It was a really fun night, great memories, terrific music. As recently as last weekend, someone was asking if we are going to do another one soon. (Answer: probably … stay tuned … maybe November 2007 …)

First of all, we made decent money for both organizations, which was the primary goal of having all that fun.

It was a chance for some of us to stretch a little bit. Suzanne Nuttall had her first of several Bare Bones reunions with Patrick Hutchinson … Beth Hanson got to play guitar on stage, and sing, Kindred got to play to an entirely new audience … what did I want to do? I wanted to cover Suzie's cover of Rock'n'Roll. 

Now, this would require rehearsal time, something we didn't have a lot of since these musicians are spread out from Port Hope to Toronto to St. Catharines, and we all have day jobs, yadda yadda. I had a couple of run-throughs with Kindred (Dave, Joni, Ken, Amy, Darlene) and a couple with Beth and Dan. But we only had ONE run-through during the sound check with everyone playing together.

Rock and Roll

Furthermore, I had no idea this was being recorded … gotta keep an eye on Beth, her Mac and that single microphone … oh, btw, this is the piece in which Beth plays two instruments at a time:

Venus – warbling and strumming
Dave and Darlene – mandolins
Joni – hand drums
Amy – back-up vocals, keys
Dan – drums
Ken – bass
Beth – keys and shaker

Well, we made it through and I think it sounds pretty good, all things considered. You have NO idea how nervous I am about hitting "save" right now … gulp …

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