Mike Scheidt (Of YOB) – “To Live Is To Fly” (Townes Van Zandt Cover) (Stereogum Premiere)

John Baizley, Nate Hall, & Mike Scheidt - Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. II

Mike Scheidt (Of YOB) – “To Live Is To Fly” (Townes Van Zandt Cover) (Stereogum Premiere)

John Baizley, Nate Hall, & Mike Scheidt - Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. II

There are two pretty distinct sides to Mike Scheidt’s voice: With YOB and VHOL, he deals in a bottomless roar (which is aided by occasional Halford-ian shrieks on the VHOL record); on his solo stuff, he sings in a warm, cracked, folky tone. There’s little sonic overlap between the two, but there’s an earthiness to all Scheidt’s music that keeps any of it from feeling incongruous. With that in mind, it’s no surprise to learn that Scheidt is a big fan of Townes Van Zandt, and on the new Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. II, Scheidt — along with Baroness’ John Baizley and U.S. Christmas’ (aka USX) Nate Hall — digs deep into TVZ’s catalog. Scheidt’s lovely take on TVZ’s 1972 classic “To Live Is To Fly” opens Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. II. (Vol. I, featuring Saint Vitus’ Scott “Wino” Weinrich and Neurosis’ Steve Von Till and Scott Kelly, was released in 2012.) It’s the first of three Scheidt performances on the album, which is coming out on Neurosis’ label, Neurot Records (and it’s worth mentioning here that YOB recently signed with Neurot, after a fantastic two-album run with the venerable Profound Lore Records). We’ve got “To Live Is To Fly” for you to hear today, below, and if you missed it, check out Baroness singer Baizley’s duet with Katie Jones on TVZ’s “If I Needed You” here.

Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. II is out 3/7 via Neurot.

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