Tanya Donnelly has spent decades showing up on your favorite albums like a cool breeze. Throwing Muses. The Breeders. Belly. And in 2020 — the world on fire, venues shut down, everyone’s moral compass rusted — she pivoted to covers. A lot of covers.
“I had no intentions of doing an online cover series,” Tanya swears. “That was just a result of fundraising for what started as local venues and musicians impacted by COVID. Then it sort of branched out.” Surprise: the apocalypse gets a soundtrack.
Her album with the Parkington Sisters is exactly the balm we need at this moment in history. It’s a covers record so cozy you’d swear you could smell the pot of tea in the studio. Wings, The Go-Go’s, Leonard Cohen, Echo & the Bunnymen, Split Enz — songs floating in from that dreamy late-70s/80s bubble. “There’s a very liquid, overarching theme of songs that run through my brain pan all the time,” she says. “So yeah, they come from a tight little era.”
If the Bandcamp covers leaned political, the album didn’t. “There was no choosing based on any political or topical points,” Tanya says. But when your fans are basically your pen pals, even your covers come with confessions. She’d pick songs because someone needed to dance at their wedding. Or someone just needed to not lose their mind for three minutes.
Of course, there’s the classic dilemma: do you play it faithful or twist it? “Having the Parkingtons was huge,” Tanya says. “They chart on the spot. They’ll say things like, ‘We gotta ugly this up somehow.’ It’s inspiring to be around people who balance technical skill with a real love of spontaneity.”
Meanwhile, she’s funneling the proceeds to everyone from Black Lives Matter Boston to kids’ advocacy orgs to local indie clubs. Tanya knows the old ‘rock the vote’ sloganeering doesn’t cut it in a world this online, this on edge. “I think there’s a balance that needs to be struck between really being involved and continuing to be involved,” she says. “Making sure it does not stop ‘trending.’”
And the big question: does all this mean more Belly? “Gail and I have been writing songs together,” Tanya says, careful not to get your hopes too high. For now, she’s got covers, collabs with Dylan in the Movies, and some stolen melody lines to slip into her next originals. “Every single person I’ve ever worked with, I walk away from with a gift,” she says.
Maybe that’s the point. She’s been writing songs that feel like gifts for years — now she’s re-gifting your favorites right back at you. Just don’t expect her to stay still for long.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below.
