From exile, Grow man

Ain’t No Sunshine by Wovenhand

Bill Withers’ classic, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” is easily in my top ten favorite songs of all time.  So when I first heard the self-titled album by Wovenhand (Edwards’ second project) and I came upon their cover of it, I just about lost it.  It is a completely different song under the reins of Edwards.  I have always thought that a cover of a song should not sound like the original, but should be a re-imagining of it (though there are a few notable exceptions to that rule).  Edwards takes a solemn soul classic and turns it into a sparse, dark Appalachian ballad with fierce, doomsday atmospherics to boot.  I never thought I would hear a cover of this song that I would respect as much as the original, but leave it to Edwards to find a way.