One of my all-time favorite musical SNL moments was Neil Young’s performance of “Harvest Moon” back in 1992, which promptly turned my then-electric guitar solo obsession into an acoustic guitar (and Neil Young) addiction. As it turns out, Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes share my love for “Harvest Moon,” as they have both chosen to cover the song for two separate charity projects of late.
We previously mentioned that Gibbard was reportedly contributing a studio version of the song (it was already a live favorite) to the GIVE Seattle compilation, but his song choice was listed as “to be recorded” at the time, so we weren’t 100% ready to run the “Gibbard Covers Neil Young” headline just yet. Their site has since been updated, however, with confirmation that Gibbard’s rendition of “Harvest Moon” is in the can and ready to benefit Arts Corp, as well as various Seattle-based food banks. Purchase it thataway.
Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes has also covered Young’s song live before, but now he too has recorded a studio version of the tune, though for Paste’s Songs For Haiti: 2010 Earthquake Relief. Paste’s project consists of over 200 MP3s (and counting!) available on a pretty awesome stream/download/donate page to raise money for victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. Contributors include Barnes, Ludacris, [TFB favorite] Josh Ritter, Andrew Bird, and a slew of other notable artists.
Donate, stream and download Barnes’ “Harvest Moon” cover, plus at least 349 more tracks for charity here.