After nearly three decades as one of Canada's most beloved pop-rock bands, Sloan have been celebrated with their fair share of cover songs (including a full-blown tribute night last year in Toronto). When asked about the quintessential Sloan cover of them all, Chris Murphy remembers a night from 2014, when indie choir Choir! Choir! Choir! performed a massive vocal arrangement of Sloan's classic mid-'90s anthem "Coax Me."
Members of Sloan participated in the cover, with Murphy singing lead and Jay Ferguson playing acoustic guitar. The performance was captured at Toronto's Drake Underground, and it was timed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the band's 1994 album Twice Removed.
Murphy tells Exclaim! the story of this "very moving" moment.
Aside from hearing "The Rest of My Life" on Canadian Idol, the most memorable Sloan cover — or is it a cover when I am singing it and Jay is playing guitar? — was when Jay and I were invited by Choir! Choir! Choir! to sing lead and play guitar over a choral arrangement they had done.
For those unfamiliar, Choir! Choir! Choir! are a now-oft copied (and never bettered) choir who do their own arrangements of pop songs put together by Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman for 10 years now. I had attended their weekly singalongs of 100-plus people plenty of times, where they sang everything from Prince to Robyn, but when I heard all those voices singing these beautiful back-ups to a song I had written, it was very moving.
I was embarrassed of my little reedy voice but the recording is beautiful. It was a memorable night for sure.
Members of Sloan participated in the cover, with Murphy singing lead and Jay Ferguson playing acoustic guitar. The performance was captured at Toronto's Drake Underground, and it was timed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the band's 1994 album Twice Removed.
Murphy tells Exclaim! the story of this "very moving" moment.
For those unfamiliar, Choir! Choir! Choir! are a now-oft copied (and never bettered) choir who do their own arrangements of pop songs put together by Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman for 10 years now. I had attended their weekly singalongs of 100-plus people plenty of times, where they sang everything from Prince to Robyn, but when I heard all those voices singing these beautiful back-ups to a song I had written, it was very moving.
I was embarrassed of my little reedy voice but the recording is beautiful. It was a memorable night for sure.