Enjoy This Hypnotic, Soulful Cover Of Sheryl Crow’s ‘The Difficult Kind’ By NOLA Songbird Maggie Koerner

If, by chance, you’ve seen the seemingly always touring New Orleans-based band, Galactic, recently chances are you’ve seen Maggie Koerner — who’s been opening for and performing with the band for the better part of a year or so now — and chances are you’ve left the show blown away by her, as her voice and stage presence are…something. Think Adele meets the human version of a glass of sweet tea. Or, as Alison Fensterstock of the Times Picayune put it in a review of Koerner’s second album, Neutral Ground, last year, “Koerner’s voice is a flexible thing that can shape-shift from a delicate coo to a shattering, powerhouse yowl.”

With that said, Koerner is a big fan of The Globe Sessions, Sheryl Crow’s third studio album that won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. And seeing that The Globe Sessions was released 16 years ago today, Koerner decided to do something to commemorate it — specifically, cover her favorite song from the album, “The Difficult Kind.” She writes…

The Globe Sessions has been my favorite album since it was released 16 years ago on today’s date, September 29. I was 11 years old & maybe too young to feel such a deep emotional connection to that album, but the relationship I formed with those songs & lyrics only got stronger as I grew older & eventually started writing songs myself. At 25, I moved to New Orleans and a huge reason why was because The Globe Sessions was recorded by Sheryl Crow with Trina Shoemaker at Kingsway Studio on Esplanade. A part of me felt like moving to New Orleans and being close to the studio where that album was made would help me get to where I wanted in my life and career. The Difficult Kind has always been my favorite of the songs & this is my thank you to Sheryl, Trina & everyone else who helped make this album possible.

Embedded above is a taping of Koerner performing “The Difficult Kind” in an old French Quarter mansion. Enjoy.

And below is the video — though it doubles as a short film — for the title song from Neutral Ground. It’s a beautifully shot love letter to the parts of Louisiana few tourists ever see. It has a bit of a True Detective feel to it, though it was shot prior to True Detective debuting on HBO. Again, enjoy.

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