Between 1999 and 2000, Dave Matthews Band recorded some demos that were ultimately rejected by the band’s label. These recordings eventually leaked, however, and came to be beloved by fans, circulating around as The Lillywhite Sessions. Among the album’s fans is Ryley Walker, and now he’s announced that he’s releasing a cover album of the record, out on November 16 via Dead Oceans.
Walker says he thinks the album is “the best thing I’ve ever done,” and talked about Dave Matthews hate:
“When you do something like Dave Matthews, he’s so divisive. He’s reviled. Outside of jam band scenes, I don’t know maybe Rolling Stone liked him, or VH1 and shit. But record heads and music nerds and anybody who is kinda hip f*cking hates the guy. I don’t even know if they don’t like the music, they just hated how present he was. I’m not trying to reappraise or make everybody think twice about it. It’s just, I grew up on this shit and I wanna do a record where nobody knows what it’s going to sound like. All my friends who haven’t heard it are like, “How can you possibly pull this off?” Exactly. Also, I just like f*cking with people.”
Listen to “Busted Stuff” above, check out the The Lillywhite Sessions art and tracklist below, and revisit our interview with Walker here.
1. “Busted Stuff”
2. “Grey Street”
3. “Diggin’ A Ditch”
4. “Sweet Up And Down”
5. “JTR”
6. “Big Eyed Fish”
7. “Grace Is Gone”
8. “Captain”
9. “Bartender”
10. “Monkey Man”
11. “Kit Kat Jam”
12. “Raven”
The Lillywhite Sessions is out 11/16 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.
