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

Duane Allman Week continues with a special Allman Brothers Band edition of our Goes Twang series. We’ve gathered up 5 ridiculously good covers of tunes written by one or more of the Allmans and threw in a Derek and the Dominos studio jam from 1970 that features Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Dickiy Betts, Berry Oakley and Bobby Whitlock for good measure. Check out the tracklisting and the mix after the jump.
(more…)

While the Blues had a baby and birthed Rock & Roll, Gospel or singing praise to the one that is colloquially called Lord, Luhd or Lordy Have Mercy gave birth to Blues, Country and most other categories of music in this world. So in the next installment of our mixtape series, we’re praising those songs traditional and original done by some of our favorite twangy artists. This mix is full of earthly angels like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Tom Waits mixed in with newer acts like Elvis Perkins and Langhorne Slim.

Steve Martin- Atheists Don’t Have No Songs

A note on the songs: These aren’t all straight up gospel tunes, but songs that either utilize parts of the bible or in the case of Langhorne Slim, just utilize the Lord’s name (unless you’re Elvis Perkins and do an entire EP about Doomsday, good modern country gospel can be quite tough to come by.)  And for the non-believers out there who are right pissed that they don’t have a gospel tune to call their own, above is a video of  Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers singing “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs”–made with love just for you.
(more…)

For the latest edition of our Twang Series, we pay tribute to The Kinks. The mix features covers of Davies-penned tunes by Big Star, Tim O’Brien, Jonathan Richman and more. Check it out after the jump.
(more…)

For the latest edition of our Twang Series, we pay tribute to the great Nick Drake. The mix features covers of Drake-penned tunes by Lucinda Williams, Elton John, Iron & Wine and more. Who should we feature next in our Twang Series? Let us know in the comments after the jump.
(more…)

For the latest edition of our Twang Series, we pay tribute to the great Buddy Holly. The mix features covers of Holly-penned tunes by Waylon Jennings, The Rolling Stones, The Everly Brothers, 13th Floor Elevators and more. Who should we feature next in the Twang Series? Let us know in the comments after the jump.
(more…)

For the latest edition of our Twang Series, we pay tribute to the great JJ Cale. The mix features covers of Cale-penned tunes by Eric Clapton, Leon Russell and Waylon Jennings among others. Who should we feature next in our Twang Series? Let us know in the comments after the jump.
(more…)

For the latest edition of our Twang Series, we pay tribute to Donovan. The mix features covers of Donovan-penned tunes by The Animals, Buck Owens, My Morning Jacket and two Dutch covers by Boudewijn de Groot among others. Who should we feature next in our Twang Series? Let us know in the comments after the jump.
(more…)

For the latest edition of our Twang Series, I chose to pay tribute to The Boss. The mix features covers of Springsteen-penned tunes by the likes of The Band, Johnny Cash, The Avett Brothers and Townes Van Zandt to name a few. Who should we feature next in our Twang Series? Let us know in the comments after the jump.
(more…)

For the latest edition of our Twang Series, I chose to pay tribute to the great Van Morrison. The mix features covers of Morrison-penned tunes by the likes of The Band, Jeff Buckley and Maria McKee. We also have a hard to find version of “He Ain’t Give You None” by deep soul singer Freddie Scott and Japanese Psych band Finger’s cover of “Gloria.” Who should we feature next in our Twang Series? Let us know in the comments after the jump.
(more…)