The songwriting and musical partnership of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings has delivered five albums of stunning original material in the traditional style which evokes elements of old timey string band music, Appalachian lullabies, bluegrass, gospel and Americana.
Without doubt they are amazing musicians, with legendary live shows across the world and the duo are not shy of dropping a cover or two into their sets, recent Harrow and the Harvest tour shows have seen a startling cover of Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit' closing the sets.
A true test of the quality of a songwriters craft is the ability for that song to be performed and for all it's power, resonance and emotion to retain - Johnny Cash's American recordings saw him reinterpret unusual rockers into modern country tracks with amazing effect. The fact that contemporary, traditional and alternative country acts have embraced the work of Welch and Rawlings shows that this pair have written some brilliant songs over the last sixteen years.
Using Spotify we've cobbled together a 20 track collection of some covers of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings works, kicking off with an original song by Norwegian artist Ane Brun, advocating her love for Gillian's music, what it means to her and echoing the sentiments of many fans.
Red Molly bring a gentle take on Annabelle from their live album 'Never Been to Vegas', followed by contemporary bluegrass stalwarts The Greencards romp through 'Caleb Meyer'.
Surprisingly the Elan Mehler Quartet tame The King himself and turn 'Elvis Presley Blues' into a meditative piece of elegant piano jazz. Alternative nu-bluegrass act Jubal's Kin provide a fabulous down beat version of Everything is Free, before country big star Miranda Lambert shines a light on Look At Miss Ohio from her 2011 release 'Four the Record'.
Ex Nickel Creek and current Punch Brother, Chris Thile brings his blazing mandolin virtuosity to Soul Journey's 'Wayside/Back In Time' followed by another 14 takes, proving you can't do a great song badly.
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