Shape of My Heart

This is a cover of The Backstreet Boys' Shape of my Heart, done with only banjo and voice. I recorded it for a weekly covers contest that a few friends and I came up with. I'm less than excited about the production, but oh well...

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by god hates math (10 comments total)

Dude, if you were a real banjo-wielding cover artist, you'd have picked NSync's masterpiece, Bye Bye Bye.

Or at least I Want It That Way.

Actually, I like this. There's something about your delivery and the spareness of it that makes it feel... dark in a neat way.
posted by sparkletone at 12:47 AM on March 10, 2007

Sadly, I wasn't the one that chose this one. We rotated - each week one of us would pick a song, and the guy that chose this one delighted in making us all squirm.

Well, that means I succeeded, at least a little bit - I tried to think of what the polar opposite of the original could be, so I shot for "dark southern ballad."
posted by god hates math at 7:33 AM on March 10, 2007

Ha! I like it.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:13 AM on March 10, 2007

Long live the scratchbox.

I second sparkletone in saying I Want It That Way.

Consider it a mandate.
posted by Ynoxas at 8:40 AM on March 10, 2007

Wow. It's practically unrecognizable. That's a compliment.

Ryan Adams has done a pretty good live cover of I Want It That Way.
posted by veggieboy at 6:28 AM on March 11, 2007

I don't know the original, but I like your cover! I have a strong suspicion I like it a lot more than whatever the Backstreet Boys did. And "dark southern ballad", well, for me that's another way of saying, I dunno, "the face of god", or "perfection" or thereabouts. I'm a big banjo fan, too, so I'm always happy to hear it. Are you primarily a guitarist? Just wondering, as often some of my favorite banjo playing is by guitarists or others who aren't banjo specialists, and your playing on this sounds to me like you're probably not a full-time banjo guy doing bluegrass or whatever.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:38 PM on March 11, 2007

Oh, and by the way, "god hates math" is a slamming user name...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:39 PM on March 11, 2007

Thanks so much - I think I'm going to bow out of attempting I want it That Way, for a handful of reasons, the greatest of which is that I'm going to post a handful more covers in coming months, along with hopefully one or two original tunes, which will be totally different.

And yeah, I'm a guitarist, for the most part. A bassist to start with, but guitar has been my primary instrument for 10+ years now. I love banjo, but can't play it very well. Which I, like Flapjax, prefer. I'll take lightly-plucked backing notes over a perfectly executed bluegrass run any day.
posted by god hates math at 8:24 AM on March 12, 2007

That's pretty awesome. Banjos are kickass.
posted by tmcw at 6:22 PM on March 12, 2007

"Ability to play the banjo soon places one in a social position to pick and choose from scores of social invitations. Everywhere, the banjoist is assured of a hearty welcome."
- from THE BANJO, 1927 pamphlet published by Gibson, Inc.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:55 AM on March 13, 2007