Frank Turner is a musician I've listened to in the past but had forgotten about recently until I read a story on Boing Boing about him trying to break the world record for most concerts performed in different cities in 24 hours.
The video of his most recent single, "Do One", was embedded in the page. Love the message, love the song. The acoustic version is even better in my opinion.
Damien Dempsey was interviewed on The Fresh Batch podcast and sang Jim Larkin's favourite song, "The Rising of the Moon", towards the end of the episode. This is a similar arrangement on YouTube. A great song for a session.
One of the wonderful things about cover versions is how they can introduce a new audience to an old artist. They can also introduce old audiences to new artists. I had never heard of Luke Combs when he covered Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" in 2023. Chapman and Combs performed a beautiful duet of the song on during the Grammys in 2024.
Kara Swisher devoted an episode of her podcast, On with Kara Swisher, to the resurgence of interest in Chapman's self-titled debut album since the Combs cover was released titled "Tracy Chapman's Timeless Earworms". Timeless as an apt descriptor because the most notable aspect of Combs' version is how little he changed. It's close to the original version but the song is so good that it can stand on its own over 30 years after it was written.
Josh Wyatt's cover of "Standing Outside the Fire" by Garth Brooks is good.
Shane MacGowan passed away on November 30th, 2023. He was a huge figure in Irish music and someone whose music still means a lot to me.
I thought Philip O'Connor did a great job talking through the history of Shane MacGowan and his band, The Pogues, in a recent episode of The Global Gael podcast. He details the importance of the band to the Irish emigrant community as well as giving his own insights and opinions on the music.
Well worth listening to.
One of the things I appreciate about movies and television is how old songs can be exposed to a new audience. I remember wondering years ago why was "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey was all over the radio. Someone had to tell me it appeared in the final scene of The Sopranos. A more recent example is Stranger Things and the song "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush.
I was reminded of this fact this morning. This song woke me up as my alarm clock turns on the radio.
I hadn't heard it before. The DJ mentioned that it appeared in the new Barbie movie. I still enjoy that experience of finding new music. It doesn't happen as often for me anymore.
It's great for the musicians as exposure to a new audience can breathe new life into their careers. The Indigo Girls seemed genuinely surprised at how their song was used in the Barbie movie and how it was received. They also played NPR's Tiny Desk Concert earlier this year. Hopefully the success will continue for them.