RIP 'Cover Me'

All good things must come to an end, the age-old saying goes. And I will add Cover Me to my long list of loved websites calling it quits.

The website dedicated to cover songs will shutter at the end of this year after 19 years of documenting remakes of all colors, shapes and intentions. 

Site co-founder Ray Padgett had this to say in a note to readers and email subscribers: 

"Why is this happening? It’s nothing like the bleak media stories you read about in the news these days. AI hasn’t decimated our traffic. We’re not undergoing massive layoffs (this was never anyone’s full-time job anyway). It’s simply that we’ve had a great run, and the two people who have overseen the blog for years—that’s me, Ray Padgett, who founded it, and our longtime Features Editor Patrick Robbins, who joined a few years in—feel it’s time to close the book. Just the usual life-change stuff. Nothing that dramatic, we promise."

The site closure is doubly sad for me. First, I read the site regularly, and more frequently over the past year as part of a book project (here's a hint). Second, I recently interviewed Padgett for that project. Padgett is a music nut in the best way: He lives and thrives in the present, but cherishes the past. In fact, he's doing just that and breaking new ground in the Dylan space — who thought that was possible? — with his Flagging Down the Double E's Substack, in which he documents Bob's live gigs in an enterprising way. 

Padgett is promising Cover Me will go out with a bang, with "one last year-end list, maybe a few more Best Covers Ever lists, and one giant surprise—the biggest list we’ve ever done—for our very last post." 

I can't wait. 

In the meantime, join me in getting lost in the site's "The Best Ever Covers" series.