I think Jake put it best when he responded to Hayley’s cover with: “its a unique honor when someone decides to learn and perform a song you wrote. It is even sweeter when the person who decided to do so is one of the most talented musicians on the planet”.
I have covered many friends over the past 2 years when this idea of “covering you friends” and later, “Locals Covering Locals” became something I actively wanted to do. Some of the most talented people I have ever heard sing or play a guitar are people that I get to play music with often, or at least can go out and see play for 5 bucks or even free. It is an insane concept when you think about it, really. Folks will pay 100 bucks to go witness a semi-talented (or sometimes talentless) artist at a gigantic stadium with awful sound, minimal visibility, but have a hard time walking down the street to a place like Toad to catch someone for free, or in this case, head a little south to Plymouth to catch Hayley Sabella playing on a farm…a farm she works at…with pristine sound (thanks Brewster Productions) and a wonderful, intimate setting. That to me is insanity, luckily some people do get it.
When Jake and Hayley first showed up to the studio we were hanging mics and getting ready to roll, Hayley was messing around with the keyboard through a Leslie cab, doing some crazy reverse sounding stuff, had a hip hop clavicord going at one point, and I knew it was going to be a great session. Some people cannot do the “sing in the morning thing”…Hayley isn’t one of those folks and I imagine she wakes up most mornings with a song in head and possibly a guitar in her hand as she sips her morning coffee. She mentioned the Rhodes and asked if she could plug in and just give it a quick try…luckily for us that stuck and she ended up playing this breathtaking version of Jake Hill’s “Simple Alicia”. This cover is one that only a true friend could pull off. You know by listening that she cares about the song and has a deep respect and care for Jake, both as a songwriter and as a good friend. This made my knees weak a little bit. I can’t believe I get to sit in the studio and watch this stuff happen…