Tim Hardin Tribute Album: Mark Lanegan, Okkervil River & more

REASON TO BELIEVE: THE SONGS OF TIM HARDIN
OUT FEBRUARY 25, 2013 ON FULL TIME HOBBY

Acclaimed Oregon troubadour Tim Hardin, one of the most influential and respected singer-songwriters of all time, was a musicians’ musician, the inspiration behind a great many artists whose limelight he never procured for himself. Johnny Cash, Paul Weller, Rod Stewart, Echo & the Bunnymen, Scott Walker, Nico… Hardin’s music has been covered by countless icons of contemporary counter-culture. Now that tradition is set to continue with the release of Reason To Believe: The Songs of Tim Hardin, a tribute album collecting specially recorded cover versions from the impressive likes of Screaming Trees legend Mark Lanegan, the beguiling Hannah Peel, indie favourites Okkervil River and many more.

Reason To Believe is more than an opportunity to pay lip service to one of the most gifted and overlooked talents in generations, with its artists (in the true spirit of Hardin) getting creative with the songs. The record begins with Wellington cinematic-pop types The Phoenix Foundation and a dazzling reworking of “Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep”, the ’60s groove and strummed guitar of Hardin’s original replaced by a tsunami wash of post-rock pianos and airy vocals. From there, the good times keep tumbling. Sam Genders’ Diagrams turn the tender “Part Of The Wind” into an electronics epic guided by 16-bit bleeps and ghostly synths, while Smoke Fairies offer a broody, smokey, intense take on “If I Were A Carpenter” that burrows its way into your psyche. Click here to listen.

With artwork by Jack White‘s former collaborator Miles Johnson at Third Man Records and extensive linear notes by Rock’s Backpages music critic and highly respected author Barney Hoskyns, Reason To Believe is too good to miss.

Reason To Believe – The Songs Of Tim Hardin Tracklisting:

1. The Phoenix Foundation – Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep

2. The Sand Band – Reason To Believe

3. Mark Lanegan – Red Balloon

4. Diagrams – Part Of The Wind

5. The Magnetic North – It’s Hard To Believe In Love For Long

6. Alela Diane – How Can We Hang On To A Dream

7. Snorri Helgason – Misty Roses

8. Sarabeth Tucek – If I Knew

9. Okkervil River – It’ll Never Happen Again

10. Smoke Fairies – If I Were A Carpenter

11. Gavin Clark – Shiloh Town

12. Hannah Peel – Lenny’s Tune

13. Pinkunoizu – I Can’t Slow Down

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