Shaun Corley | Staff Writer

3/08/02

The popular Pickin' On bluegrass tribute series from CMH Records has covered a wide variety of artists since its inception: U2, Bob Marley and The Beatles amongst others. Now, one of the greatest modern rock bands ever, gets the bluegrass treatment in Pickin' On REM.

REM, perhaps more than any other artist in the Pickin' On series, deserves such a tribute. After all, the sound of the band, who hails from Athens, GA, is (or at least used to be) heavily influenced by country and folk, two genres having their roots in Southern musical traditions.

I was quite impressed with the song selection on this album. Of course, the musicians cover some of REM's biggest hits, such as "Losing My Religion" and "Man on the Moon." Yet, they also opt to cover earlier hits, like "Fall On Me" and "Driver 8," and they even cover some obscure numbers, such as "Endgame" and "You Are the Everything." Be sure to check out the covers of "Nightswimming" and "Find the River."

"Half A World Away," my all time favorite REM song, is present also, although I must admit some disappointment with this cover; it fails to capture the heartache and longing of the original version. I was also disappointed that later REM material, from the Monster/New Adventures in Hi-Fi era, was not represented (a bluegrass version of "New Test Leper" would be awesome).

I must confess, I'm not the biggest fan of bluegrass, mainly out of ignorance of the genre. Yet, albums like Pickin' on REM are increasing my awareness of the genre, and providing me with a fresh look at one of my absolute favorite bands.