Speak Into My Goodeye Present: 'I'll Be Around' - A Tribute to Wilco

via Speak Into My Goodeye

As with all of the best things that have happened in my time working with Speak Into My Good Eye over the years, I’ll Be Around – A Tribute To Wilco was born out of that nagging feeling to do something, ya know? When I first thought to post on the SIMGE Facebook page and gauge interest in another tribute compilation, I had no idea that Karen of The Project Matters would reach out with such a strong connection to the music of Wilco and concurrently did not anticipate their impact on a wide swath of our contributing artists.

It’s truly one of the proudest moments I’ve had in running this site to present to you I’ll Be Around consisting of 20 beautiful covers that run the gamut of Wilco’s styles and the breadth of their catalogue. I cannot thank everyone involved enough for their time and energy in contributing to this project, and the quality present on each of these submissions will speak for themselves better than I ever could.

With that, I encourage you to dig in below and to donate to The Project Matters directly here. We’ll be celebrating tomorrow at the Wonder Bar as Colton Kayser and Tyler Sarfert, both on the compilation, open up for Cymbals Eat Guitars. I hope that this compilation brightens your day whenever you may be listening to it and that you’ll consider supporting The Project Matters who may very well put that first instrument into the hands of a kid who will appear on a future project of ours!

(DISCLAIMER: This is a set of Wilco cover songs turned in lovingly by several artists of whom have been deeply affected in some way by their music. This compilation is in no way for profit and was done to pay tribute to the band and raise awareness of The Project Matters (501 (C) (3)) - http://theprojectmatters.org/select_donation.) Following the release of a Queens of the Stone Age tribute compilation and three 24 Hour Songwriting Challenges, Speak Into My Good Eye is now happy to share I’ll Be Around a tribute to Wilco set out now. Honoring one of the greatest bands of the modern era, I’ll Be Around will benefit The Project Matters, a 501 (C) (3) corporation that works to further the creation of music with an emphasis on aspiring musicians aged 25 and younger. Artists are offered a network of industry advisors and mentors who lend their expertise in the areas of business, technical, performance and emotional support. Wilco had a profound influence in shaping The Project Matters as its Executive Director Karen High shares: “Shortly before my beautiful son passed he had me listen to two Wilco songs. Both from their latest release, Sky Blue Sky. The first was the track "Either Way" and the other, the title track. I started to listen and had to stop. Those songs affected me physically and I started to cry. I have to say, it was a very strong reaction. I explained this to Ben and he understood saying, "that's what it's supposed to do, emotionally touch you as a listener." Sky Blue Sky turned out to be the last CD he purchased. Jeff Tweedy was one of his influences. And I continue to be a huge fan.” The compilation is led by a cover of “Red Eyed And Blue” beautifully realized by Jackson Pines featuring a close friend of Ben High’s, J.T. Makoviecki. “Ben was one of the first people to push Wilco on me,” shares Makoviecki. “I had heard of them and liked ‘Jesus Etc.’ but Ben FORCED me to dig deeper and when I discovered Being There the record changed my idea of writing an album, and what pop music could do. This song reminds me of Ben, not because of the references in the song, but because how it's about recording and Ben LOVED making records. Recording parts of my first album YES (Makoveskus) in the High's basement were some of the best memories I have of my teenhood. Believing in music, doing it yourself, and doing it with Ben at the helm." Speak Into My Good Eye is honored to be a part of this special project, and asks that you join us and The Project Matters at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ on May 6th, 2017.