While out in California for a conference this past week, a random townsperson offered me his guitar on loan, because he overheard that I didn’t have one when a former labmate asked if I’d be playing during the conference. (Turns out he used to work with Ansel Adams back in the day, so that’s kinda rad.) The conference turned out to be science-all-day, bonfire-all-night, so the guitar really came in handy. And I realized all the covers I play aren’t the ones that people tend to know.
“Why is that, Emily?” I’m glad you asked. Usually when I pick a cover, I either try to play something I can acoustically “re-mix” or it’s semi-obscure to begin with – I play a lot of folk or indie stuff. So when an international group of people gather around the campfire, I don’t know the songs they want to sing.
John Schieber, violinist extraordinaire, came by the other day and helped me to learn some songs that people know, love, and recognize. We just picked some songs that we thought might sound cool with a violin mixed in, and with just one run-through, we recorded these songs in one take. This means that there are some mistakes, and my voice is hoarse, but we wanted to share them with you anyway because it’s cool what happens when you throw a violin part into pop songs. And when two musicians try to do something off the top of their heads.
So, for your listening pleasure: (to download, right-click on the link and select “Save As”)
Viva la Vida
Painted Black
and then we tried out one of mine, Missouri Lullaby. I can’t believe how different this sounds with the violin there to support it, and as a songwriter, I’m really pumped about how the song has evolved.
We played until the neighbors complained about the noise. Enjoy the one-takes, and feel free to recommend songs for us to do!
