THURSDAY MORNING MIX
March 18, 2010
Scott Foley

Carrie Rodriguez's Love & Circumstance makes a good argument for the role of a covers/tribute album in popular music. In jazz, artists like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald have released collections of tunes called, "The American Songbook." Matter of fact, in jazz and blues, many artists can build an entire career without ever writing a song. Not so in the majority of pop music. Rodriguez has established herself as a competent writer on Seven Angels and She Ain't Me (on which she cowrote the majority of the tracks). As a sheepishly enthusiastic fan of clever cover songs, I would argue for the presence of an unspoken "Americana Songbook" from which artists might draw, especially if their vigilance in "making the song their own" is as impressive as Rodriguez's.

* Great American Taxi, "One Of These Days" Reckless Habits (Self, 10)
* Amy Cook, "Strange Birds" Let the Light In (Self, 10)
* Old Californio, "Harmony" Westerling Again (Self, 09)
* Ray Wylie Hubbard, "Whoop and Hollar" A Enlightenment ... (Bordello, 10)
* Carrie Rodriguez, "Big Love" Love & Circumstance (Ninth St Opus, 10)
* Uncle Tupelo, "Give Back the Key To My Heart" Anodyne (Sire, 93)
* Roky Erickson w/Okkervil River, "Goodbye Sweet Dreams" True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti, 10)
* Jason & the Scorchers, "Beat On the Mountain" Coal Country Music (Heartwood, 09)
* Drive-by Truckers, "You Got Another" Big To-Do (ATO, 10)
* Backyard Tire Fire, "Good To Be" Good To Be (Self, 09)
* Eric Brace & Last Train Home, "Soul Parking" Six Songs (Red Beet, 10)
* Anais Mitchell, et al., "Way Down Hadestown" Hadestown (Righteous Babe, 09)
* Steve Dawson, "Today She Found the Way (To Break My Heart)" I Will Miss the Trumpets and the Drums (Undertow, 10)
* Patty Griffin, "Wade in the Water" Downtown Church (Credential, 10)
* Randall Bramblett, "End of the Line" The Meantime (New West, 10)
* Ryan Adams, "The Hardest Part" Jacksonville City Nights (Lost Hwy, 05)
* Tiny Television, "Carolina" Mission Statement (Groove House, 10)
* Tim Barry, "With Ease I Leave" 28th & Stonewall (Suburban Home, 10)
* Robinella, "Left Right Back Together" Fly Away Bird (Dualtone, 10)
* Jeff Black, "One Last Day To Live" Honey and Salt (LNM, 03)
* Will Kimbrough, "It Ain't Cool" Wings (Daphne, 10)
* Adam Carroll, "Hi-Fi Love (live)" Live At Flipnotics (Self, 09)
* Old Man Luedecke, "Mountain Plain" My Handsd Are On Fire and Other Love Songs (Black Hen, 10)
* The Drams, "Truth Lies Low" The Jubilee (New West, 06)
* Preservation Hall Jazz Band w/Steve Earle, "T'ain't Nobody's Business" Preservation (Preservation Hall, 10)
* Samantha Crain, "Rising Sun" Songs in the Night (Ramseur, 09)