AJ Lee & Blue Summit have announced an October 17 release for their upcoming EP with Signature Sounds, to be titled Cover to Cover V1. That’s right, an all covers project is on the way from this high-flying west coast bluegrass outfit.
Lee is a contemporary of Molly Tuttle, and grew up playing mandolin in the Tuttle family band. Sullivan Tuttle, Molly’s brother, is a member of Blue Summit, one of two guitarists in the group. AJ is noted for her original approach to bluegrass, having grown up in the California scene that has always been more open to experimentation within the format.
Along with the release date, the band has dropped another single, their take on Glendale Train, written by John Dawson and first recorded by the New Riders of the Purple Sage in 1971. It tells of an historic event in 1866, the first ever train robbery by armed gunmen. A gang known as The Reno Brothers robbed an Ohio & Mississippi Railroad passenger train near Seymour, Indiana, and the lyrics describe the situation from the perspective of one of the robbers.
We caught up with AJ earlier this week to talk about Cover to Cover V1, and she shared some insight into why they have decided to release a covers album, and how they chose the songs to include.
“We put together this covers EP because over the last few years we have gotten so much positive feedback on some of the songs we’ve been performing live. We love doing original material, but there’s something so fun and refreshing about putting our own spin on classic songs most people know.
As bluegrass musicians, I think we gravitate toward liking older music in general. Most of us grew up listening to this old material.
I first heard Glendale Train at a jam at a friend’s house many years ago. It’s one that’s just stuck with me. Then one day we were playing it around a circle and decided to ‘go off the rails’ a bit and get a little loose with the structure. It was one of those moments where after the song we said, ‘hey, that was pretty cool! Let’s keep doing that.'”
Blue Summit has been featuring this one on their live show for some time, so folks who have caught them in person may already be familiar with their arrangement. But for everyone else, here is the EP version, with AJ singing lead and playing mandolin, Sully Tuttle and Scott Gates on guitar, Jan Purat on fiddle, and Sean Newman on bass. Kyle Tuttle, late of Molly Tuttle’s Golden Highway band, but of no relation to her or Sully, provides guest banjo.
Check it out.
Other tracks to be included on Cover to Cover V1 are:
- Gillian Welch’s Tear My Stillhouse Down
- Neil Diamond/The Monkees’ I’m A Beliver
- Jimmy Martin’s It Takes One To Know One (written by Harlan Howard and Freddie Hart)
- Jazz/swing standard Who Walks In When I Walk Out (Ralph Freed)
Glendale Train is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Pre-orders for Cover to Cover V1 are likewise enabled.
