A “coaching tree” is similar to a family tree except that it shows the relationships of coaches instead of family members. Coaching trees are common in the National Football League and most coaches in the NFL can trace their lineage back to a certain head coach for whom they previously worked as an assistant. After being asked the classic question, “What are you listening to?”, I thought a Song Tree would make sense (shout out to the social platform for music creation, sharing and collaboration).
If the idea of a coaching tree is foreign to you, along similar lines, there was a live music series called A.V. Undercover that lasted 7 seasons. The concept of the show was that each season, a list of 25 songs was compiled. Bands were then invited to choose a song to cover and once a song had been played, it would get crossed off the list. The later a band came on, the fewer songs they had to choose from. But in my song paradise, there are no rules with a Song Tree and a tune can be covered multiple times.
So take a break from your Spotify playlist or your favorite podcast and let’s explore my Song Tree idea. The first often-covered artist that came to my mind is Peter Gabriel. Jeffrey Gaines, Adam Levine and Better Than Ezra have all given impassioned versions of “In Your Eyes”, but for me I am going to take the branch with Peter Gabriel’s classic song “Come Talk to Me”.
The lead track off of his 1992 album ‘Us’, Peter Gabriel follows-up his best-selling album “So” with a classic right out of the gate. In my humble opinion, this is the best song on the album and sprinkle in SinĂ©ad O'Connor on backing vocals and in my opinion, this cut clearly outshines the singles “Steam” and “Digging in the Dirt”. One of the cool things about this song tree, is that a branch has now begun with Ms. O’Connor. But instead of going off on that tangent, let’s follow the trail.
Bon Iver goes on to record “Come Talk to Me” in 2011 and places it as the “B-Side” to his single “Holocene”. While “Holocene” was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 54th Grammy Awards, and has been featured in multiple films, it is his version of the Gabriel song that caught my attention, not the award-winning track.
Bon Iver then eventually pens his own tune “AUATC”. This leads us to the Connecticut jamband Goose, who very recently covered the Bon Iver song. My brother-in-law has had me listening to this up and coming band and now in the spirit of predictions for 2021, I wonder who if Joe May’s (of the band Pluto Gang) version of Goose’s “Hot Tea” will become popular and contribute to the sprouting of branches.
So as we venture into the new year, I ask that you continue to keep watering the trees and do everything within your power to discover new live music
Thanks for reading.
