We are very pleased to present When You Awake’s first collaborative covers mixtape, We All Go Twang. We put a call out to the When You Awake community and asked musicians to submit covers of some of our favorite songs. 12 musicians responded and we have the fruit of their glorious labors below. A big thank you to everyone who participated and to Patrick Gerrity for the cover artwork. From all of us here at When You Awake, Happy Holidays!

We All Go Twang: (click here to download the full mix)

1. Shakey Graves- Passionate Kisses (Lucinda Williams) Austin, Texas
2. All Spots To Black- I Can See The Pines Are Dancing (AA Bondy) Los Angeles, California
3. Grant Maxwell and The Morning Pages- Soldier of Love (Arthur Alexander) Nashville, Tennessee
4. The Blank Tapes- Fool in the Rain (Led Zeppelin) Oakland, California
5. The Driftwood Singers- Fallin’ Rain (Link Wray) Los Angeles, California
6. The Far West- More Than This (Roxy Music) Los Angeles, California
7. Pony Boy- Damaged by Love (Tom Petty) Los Angeles, California/ London, UK
8. The Bye and Bye Band- I’m Sorry That I Love You (Magnetic Fields cover) Austin, Texas
9. Barling- Wicked Games (Chris Issak) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
10. The Fallen Stars- Another Girl, Another Planet (The Only Ones) Orange County, California
11. James Apollo- This Will Be Our Year (The Zombies) New York City, New York
12. Barnaby Bennett- Never My Love (The Association) Calgary, Canada

The Goes Twang series is back with a tribute to the one and only Elton John. Though Elton has gained a bit of a reputation in recent years for being…uncool, there was a time when The Who, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner were paying homage to him….and he, in return, was writing songs inspired by The Band (his tune “Levon” was named after Levon Helm) and doing covers of Nick Drake. He also put out a handful of records in the early 70s that contain some of the best Americana of the decade (check out Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across The Water). Check out the tracklisting and the mixtape after the jump. And just for kicks (don’t worry, it’s not on the mixtape), please enjoy this video of William Shatner ‘performing’ “Rocket Man”.

William Shatner- Rocket Man

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Alex Parrish and Simon Brewer from Tastebuds.fm have teamed up to give us their “Top 12 Songs To Wake Up To”, featuring tunes by the likes of The Tallest Man On Earth, Beirut, Calexico and more. If you are a music lover (which I’ll just go ahead and assume you are since you are reading this blog) and haven’t checked out Tastebuds.fm yet, you really, really must.

It’s the brilliant new dating (and friends-seeking) website that matches you up based on your music taste (as imported from your Last.fm profile or from bands that you have individually listed). Never again will you have to suffer through a date with someone who counts the latest releases from Celine Dion and Enrique Iglesias among their desert island discs.  A really helpful tool if you ask me (my ‘Friends’  profile is here…say hi!). Without futher ado, I give you Alex and Simon’s mixtape, after the jump.
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Kim Grant, head lady of the Grand Ole Echo, has put together a special mixtape for When You Awake featuring some of her favorite artists that will be playing at the Roots Roadhouse this Sunday, August 14th at the Echo and the Echoplex in Los Angeles. The mixtape features tunes by Nikki Lane, David  Serby, Eilen Jewell, The Sadies and more. Check it out after the jump!
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Leeds band Arthur Rigby and the Baskervylles have given us their “10 songs to listen to over a large breakfast and strong coffee on a lazy Sunday morning following a heavy night on Saturday and looking forward to an afternoon laying on grass in the sun with a beer. ” I literally stumbled onto the band a couple of months back. I walked into the venue and the entire audience was holding hands and swinging their arms in the air, chanting along to one of Rigby’s sweet tunes. I was so taken aback that I actually paid to see them the next time they came through town (something I don’t do often folks), and was once again compltely charmed. Though there are a bit out of the realm of most When You Awake bands (leaning more towards the Arcade Fire/The National vibe), I predict really good things for this group. If you happen to be in London tonight, they’ll be playing at the Enterprise over in Camden. I’ll be there, hands in the air. Their mixtape is after the jump.

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In honor of their gig tonight at the Echo in Los Angeles, Miles Seaton from Akron/Family has given us his “More Music From Hot Places” mixtape, featuring tunes by Miles Davis, Sly and the Family Stone, Geto Boys and more. I’ll let Miles take it from here: “I love the idea of a central theme in a mix – though at the time that I was asked to make this, most of what I was listening to were long form abstract compositions from a friends amazing collection of new age cassettes – so a 10 song mix would have been an all night commitment. But as the northeast winter wore on, I started to get more and more restless with the subtle shifts of the crystal vibrations collection…I started to ache for a beat and bass line. Which led me back to the slinky sweaty dream of summer. From free jazz jungle calls all the way to the big easy via Soweto, Ghana, NYC, LA (what what?!), and even a little stop off in Trenchtown, this is my tonic for the hinterlands.” Check out the mix and Akron’s complete tour dates after the jump. For more info about tonight’s show, click here.

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Susan James has given us her “Top 10 Songs for a Sunny Country Picnic” featuring tunes by Paul Simon, Incredible String Band, The Dillards and more. James will be celebrating the release of her new record, Highways, Ghosts, Hearts & Home tonight, Tuesday, February 15th at the Echo in Los Angeles and it’s fixin’ to be quite the affair with guest sets from I See Hawks in LA, Old Californio, Tony Gilkyson and more.  Check out the mix and more info about the show after the jump.

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Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Every year, we release a special Valentine’s mixtape called Music For The Morning After that is inspired by our favorite part of the holiday.  No,  it’s not the flowers, boxes of chocolate or candlelight dinners that gets us. It’s waking up with your loved one the morning after — without any of the pressure of V-DAY looming overhead. This year, we decided to shake things up a bit and ask some of our favorite bands to record a brand new track or cover exclusively for the mixtape (and with just a handful of days to do it!). Of course, they came through and we are very happy to present their brilliant bedroom recordings that were made exclusively for you,  our wonderful readers.  From all of us here at When You Awake, we hope you have a wonderful day (and morning after) filled with love.  If you missed the previous year’s mixes, be sure to check out Music For The Morning After: Volumes One,  Two and Three. Mixtape cover by Patrick Gerrity.

Music For The Morning After: 2011

1. Shakey Graves- Chinatown
2. Leslie Stevens and the Badgers- Someday Soon (Ian Tyson cover)
3. The Morning Pages- Here By The River
4. The Smart Brothers- My Girl
5. William Tyler and Alexis Powell- Wish It Had Been A Dream (Louvin Brothers cover)
6. Hi Ho Silver Oh- It’s You I Like (Mister Rogers cover)
7. Strand of Oaks- This Must Be The Place (Talking Heads cover)
8. Roadside Graves- This Morning
9. Hor$eplay (feat. Amanda Jo Williams)- Baby Baby Love Love
10. The Driftwood Singers- When The Roses Bloom in Dixieland (Carter Family cover)

Bonus Tracks (updated February 15th):
1. He’s My Brother She’s My Sister- Wake Your Heart
2. Tommy Santee Klaws- Violent Son
3. Olentangy John- Long Low House
4. Zachary Lupetin (of Dustbowl Revival)- Be My Girl

Los Angeles’ own Whispering Pines have given us a mighty fine mixtape of tunes that they may cover on any given night, including tracks by Waylon Jennings, JJ Cale, Fleetwood Mac and more. You’ll have the chance to possibly hear one of them live when they perform tomorrow night, February 15th,  at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Also on the lineup are When You Awake-favorites Mountain Man, Haroula Rose, Kim Churchill and Jeffertitti’s Nile. Check out the mix and more info about the show after the jump.

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We have to admit that we’ve fallen a bit for Denver, Colorado’s Nathaniel Rateliff after stumbling onto his music a few weeks ago. So we are very, very pleased to present his “Top 10 Songs of Love and Loss” (just in time for Valentine’s Day on Monday!). It’s a brilliant mix featuring tunes by Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Perkins and more. Rateliff will be performing at a sold out gig tonight at Barfly in London alongside Nashville, Tennessee’s Caitlin Rose and then will head east on Sunday for Communion’s shindig at the Notting Hill Arts Club. Check out his complete touring dates, including a handful of gigs in the US this spring, and the mixtape after the jump. Enjoy!

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