Lambchop Releases New Covers Album ‘TRIP’

Nashville’s alt-country stalwarts Lambchop released a new covers album, TRIP, through Merge Records and City Slang. Each of the six members of the band led by Kurt Wagner selected a song to be covered on the album.

“My idea was to see what might happen if I removed myself from the process as much as possible,” Wagner stated. “In doing so, what surfaced would be elements that have always been there but maybe got overshadowed by my songwriting and approach.”

Drummer and saxophonist Andy Stack (Wye Oak and Joyero) selected Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady” and drummer and “electronics guru extraordinaire” Matthew McCaughan (Bon Iver) chose Wilco’s “Reservations.” Wagner’s pick was “Weather Blues,” an unreleased song by Yo La Tengo’s James McNew and performed by his Dump project. Pedal steel guitarist Paul Niehaus selected “Where Grass Won’t Grow,” which was written by Earl “Peanut” Montgomery and was a successful recording for George Jones. “Shirley” by The Mirrors was chosen by bassist Matt Swanson and keyboardist Tony Crow brought to the sessions “Love is Here and Now You” by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland.

Those sessions were held over six days in December 2019 at Battletapes in Nashville with producer, engineer and mixer Jeremy Ferguson (with McCaughan co-mixing “Reservations”). Each day of the sessions was led by the person who selected the song being recorded that day. The results can be streamed below: