My initial thought about a Tom Waits tribute was that his music is so distinct, anybody trying to do it justice would fail miserably. Waits’ persona provides a counterweight to some of his songs that otherwise aren’t so great, and there’s no shortage of people out there living their lives as bad Tom Waits impressions. But then I thought about Rod Stewart’s cover of “Downtown Train,” which is actually kind of good outside the context of it being a Waits song. Then I heard American Catastrophe was playing, and I thought, Well, maybe this will work after all. With Hipshot Killer, Adam Stafford, Steve Tulipana, Mark Lowrey, Shay Estes, and Jeff Harshbarger.
— David Hudnall
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