A great cover isn’t necessarily about paying loving tribute to the original song, it’s about transforming it in such a way that it reveals something about the original composition that you never saw before. Whether it’s taking actual notice of lyrical content for the first time or stripping the lyrics away entirely to appreciate a beautiful melody, these folk and bluegrass covers of other genres all provide an illuminating alternative to the original.
10. Chris Thile – “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”
A cover of: The White Stripes
Leave it to a visionary like Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile to look at a Jack White song and say “Sure, that can become a great bluegrass tune.” His version of “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” doesn’t sound like “a bluegrass cover,” it sounds like a song that was always meant to be performed in this style. It is completely transformed. Of course, a lot of that is just a product of Thile’s talented vocals and spellbinding musicianship. He remains perhaps the most captivating virtuoso mandolin player working today—something you can hear even more clearly in the live, solo version of the same song.
9. The Wailin’ Jennys – “Old Man”
A cover of: Neil Young
Neil Young’s classic “Old Man” is already a brooding, morose sort of song, but the stripped-down instrumentation of The Wailin’ Jennys version only emphasizes this fact more. Their three-way harmony is stronger and clearer than in the original song, making it easier to focus on the rather depressing but poetic lyrics. Few groups can harmonize like these three women from Cananda, which has made them favorites of NPR audiences everywhere thanks to their regular appearances on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.”
8. Hugo – “99 Problems”
A cover of: Jay-Z
You don’t see a lot of bluegrass covers of hip-hop classics, but one would assume Jay-Z himself had a hand in the suggestion to New York country/blues singer Hugo, seeing as Hugo is signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label. I’m not ashamed to say I enjoy this one far more than the original—it’s just an extremely well-produced, flashy hoedown that sounds completely natural with a great stomping beat. You may remember hearing it in a few movies in 2011—it was in both the Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman rom-com No Strings Attached and the ending credits of the surprisingly good 80’s horror remake of Fright Night with Colin Farrell.
7. The Duhks – It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
A cover of: Bob Dylan
Dylan’s song was already “folk,” yes, but his work of course involves a lot of rock ‘n’ roll influences as well. This is one of the few songs on this list where the cover is actually more bombastic and aggressive than the original, as Canadian folk band The Duhks use a wider complement of instrumentation to great effect, especially the banjo and fiddle, contributing a swagger and galloping beat. But the really transformative aspect is the vocals of Sarah Dugas, a powerhouse singer who can absolutely belt soul and gospel tunes with the best of them. She’s the thing that makes this cover really stand out.
6. Sam Bush – “White Bird”
A cover of: It’s a Beautiful Day
“White Bird” isn’t the best remembered song today outside of aging hippie circles, but it was a fairly large FM radio hit in 1969 for San Francisco psychedelic rock band It’s a Beautiful Day. Regardless, it’s a psych-rock classic in the same vein as the similarly named “White Rabbit” two years earlier. Sam Bush, meanwhile, is a pioneering mandolin/fiddle player who was instrumental in the early years of progressive bluegrass/newgrass, and he’s clearly got a thing for psychedelic rock. His version of “White Bird” only strips away a tiny bit of the orchestration and theatricality of the original, making it slightly homier but still firmly rooted in the 1960s. Plus, it gives him plenty of excuses for impressive fiddle solos.