This CD features covers of songs by Low, Beth Gibbons, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, American Music Club, The NoTwist, Lucinda Williams, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Frightened Rabbit, and Bedhead. I’ve only ever been include to cover songs that have packed an emotional punch for me. That process of listening to something I love over and over again, while at the same time trying to absorb the lessons the artist is teaching me about how to craft a beautiful song, is almost a forensic exercise. At a certain point, I find I’m able to pull back a bit and get to work creating something that I hope both honors the original and takes it into new territory for both myself and the listener. While some of these covers will be instantly recognizable, at least one should be familiar only to readers of Esopus: “Son C” is an unreleased track that Frightened Rabbit created for one of the magazine’s themed audio CDs (“Nostradamus,” from Esopus 13).

The CD also include two bonus tracks: a remix of my 2000 cover “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” by London-based DJ/producer Roy Merchant (who also mixed my cover of “Hey Goodbye” on the album) and a remix of “Boy” (from Here We Are) by OK Go drummer Dan Konopka.