Phil Cook – “I Made A Lovers Prayer” (Gillian Welch Cover)

In 2003, the alt-country hero Gillian Welch and her musical partner David Rawlings wrote a beautiful acoustic reverie called “I Made A Lovers Prayer,” and Welch included it on her Rawlings-produced album Soul Journey. Now, the Megafaun member and Bon Iver/Waxahatchee collaborator Phil Cook has shared his own solo version of that song.

While living alone on a friend’s farm in the North Carolina mountains, Phil Cook recently recorded a bunch of music on the piano, with the sounds of birds coming through is open window. One of those recordings is Cook’s fully-solo instrumental take on “I Made A Lovers Prayer.” The song’s original version was already plenty spare, but Cook makes it even more hushed and still.

In a press release, Phil Cook says, “This song by Gillian Welch has gotten me through a lot in the last 20 years. The piano has gotten me through a lot in the last 40 years. Putting them together has been a revelation for me, and I’m glad to share that with you all today. Much love.” Below, listen to Cook’s cover and the Gillian Welch original.

Cook’s “I Made A Lovers Prayer” cover is out now on Psychic Hotline.