Rufus Wainwright Announces New Covers Album Feat. David Byrne, ANOHI, Chaka Khan, & More

BY JAMES RETTIG

Rufus Wainwright has announced a new covers album, Folkocracy, which will be released a month before the musician’s 50th birthday. The album includes contributions from David Byrne, ANOHNI, Chaka Khan, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Nicole Scherzinger, Andrew Bird, Susanna Hoffs, and more. He’ll celebrate the album with a one-night-only event at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on June 2, the same day that the album comes out.

Today, Wainwright is sharing his take on the traditional Appalachian murder ballad “Down In The Willow Garden,” which he sings with Brandi Carlile. “Brandi I see a lot, often with Joni Mitchell,” Wainwright said in a statement (brag!). “I chose us a cheery little number – not! The song is so blatantly brutal and masochistic that I had to sing it with a woman. Sadly, we still live in a violent world. The amazing thing about so many folk songs is that, content wise, they sound very contemporary. Think of the gun crime in the States right now.”

“Singing with Rufus feels like watching birds swirl around together instinctively in flight,” Carlile added. “It’s anticipated but somehow as natural as can be. His voice is so special to me that I hear it sometimes when he’s not even singing with me. I loved every second of flying around in this music with him.”

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