An artist covering someone else’s music is always an interesting thing to watch. They want to make the songs their own in some way, but generally still honor the original; after all, they will have chosen those songs because of their affection for them, no doubt. This can range from faithful retreading to outrageous new sonic adventures. Both are valid.
Sam Edelston’s approach shows us a third way. Picking up his trusty dulcimer, the other half of the duo in the title, he offers an array of songs, classics of the pop and rock oeuvre from the likes of The Beatles to Blondie, Billy Joel to Queen to Brandi Carlile. And it is not that he is trying to do anything radical with the songs, but when they are translated to the dulcimer, an instrument that has its roots in Renaissance music and is still favoured by folk and bluegrass players, they take on a new and wonderful lease of life.
The Rolling Stones “Wild Horses” is a gorgeous song in its original form, a lush and emotive country-rock ballad, but what Edelston does here, by making it an instrumental, is to emphasize the intricacy and adornment of the tune. Sitting somewhere between folk-finesse and classical grace, it reminds those who tend only to listen to the words that the music itself is often the more rewarding part. Listen to this version and try arguing otherwise.
At the other end of the spectrum, we find Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down By the School Yard,” Edelston embracing the same energy as the original, making for an upbeat and infectious take that brings out the Latin grooves at its heart.
It is a surprisingly eclectic album, from the bluegrass-punkabilly of Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” to a suitably ambient/trippy take on “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and from a graceful and grand version of Queen’s iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody” to a folk-rock take of Springsteen’s anthemic “Born to Run.” Fantastic.
This is a brilliant example of songs being afforded new and parallel lives, different, deft and delicious enough to warrant their existence, familiar enough to be cherished by existing fans of the originals too. That’s how you make an album of covers work.
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