words by Michael Todd | photos by Bridget McQuillan
Dan McCarthy says he was shaking up there on stage.
It's the end of the night at Omaha's second volume of Take Cover, an event that featured 14 cover songs of Nebraska music by Nebraska musicians. McCarthy had followed a pair of songs by The Mynabirds' Laura Burhenn, "Poison Oak" by Bright Eyes and "The Fox" by O+S. After his set, Cursive's Ted Stevens played an Outlaw Con Bandana song and an original.
Tough acts to be sandwiched by, though McCarthy's performance doesn't show the trepidation. His pick of cover song was "The Things I Cannot Say to Miss Laura Reel of Marion" by Bill Hoover, the artist who created the album art for McCarthy's Plays the Piano.
"I've always loved that title, and Bill told me he got it from an old book of very literal poetry that he picked up at a garage sale," McCarthy says. "Why Bill Hoover? Because I had already memorized all the words, listening to the cassettes 15 years ago."
And cassettes are likely the only place you'll find this gem of a song offline. Watch and listen to McCarthy pay tribute to a fellow Nebraskan artist, and stay tuned for videos of Burhenn and Stevens:
"The Things I Cannot Say to Miss Laura Reel of Marion" was written by Bill Hoover
edited by Bridget McQuillan
audio engineered by Mark Wylie Goodwin
audio mixed by Django G-S
cameras:
Bridget McQuillan
Chevy Anderson
Michael Todd
* performed on January 18, 2013 at The Sydney in Benson, Neb.
Michael Todd is Hear Nebraska's managing editor. Not that this is relevant, but he will now try Honest Abe's for lunch. Reach him at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.