June IND’s favorite cover songs: “Whiskey in the Jar”

We are creators and consumers of music. While we’re partial to our tunes, we can’t ignore the good feels we’ve had or the musical influence that resulted from playing songs that we didn’t write.

So, we put together a list (and playlists!) of our favorite cover songs from past and present to share those good feels and influence.

Next up is “Whiskey in the Jar” by…well, who actually wrote it? Wikipedia has some info on this 17th century Irish traditional song that got into our ears by way of Metallica via Thin Lizzy.

Em: This is the next installment of us covering a cover. We worked this song up for a March 2009 benefit show for Big Brothers Big Sisters at Lafayette Brewing Company. The lineup included Chemcoma, the Bailout Revival and more. For this show, our buddy Ben Hagood (The Enders, Benny and the No-Goods) joined us on vocals.

The lyrics tell the story of a highwayman who robs a rich guy. Of course, we chose Metallica’s ‘chugger of a rock jam’ arrangement. It was lots of fun to play and got some rears shakin’ during a live show.

Chris: This was a weird time in life/the world (2009 recession?) and my memories of this tune are thin. Perhaps too many whiskeys in the jar, oh. I remember not having to put in work on transcribing (THANKS GUITAR WORLD MAGAZINE!), recording rhythm guitars for Em’s track and rehearsing once with Ben in the old Casa del Dish practice space before playing “Whiskey in the Jar” live in front of an audience for the first time at LBC. Chemcoma played the song on occasion after this show (likely those four-hour-long bar sets), but it wasn’t in steady rotation.

Metallica was my gateway to the guitar and, likely, Thin Lizzy. “Whiskey in the Jar” and “Astronomy” are my favorite songs on Garage Inc.

Bonus: Here’s a video our friend Mojo shot back in March 2009 of Chemcoma + Ben Hagood playing “Whiskey in the Jar” at Lafayette Brewing Company.

 Listen to June IND’s favorite cover songs playlists: