One of the great things about the MusicNOW festival is how it not only attracts great musicians every single year, but also how those great musicians have such a great experience in Cincinnati during their time here, most want to return. We saw it with Sufjan Stevens, who after performing as the headliner in 2007, returned the following year in a lesser role to showcase a film he had made. Return appearances from The Books, Richard Reed Parry and YMusic are also of note and speak to the gravitational pull of Memorial Hall in spring.

One of the returning performers this year is Shara Worden, better known as My Brightest Diamond. Shara first played MusicNOW back in 2007, performing both as a solo artist and also along with Sufjan Stevens. She returns this year, after whirlwind tours with The Decemberists, singing with Stevens on The Age Of Adz and contributing to several other projects. Today, we look back to a session Shara performed at WOXY when she was in Cincinnati back in 2007.

The session was amazing, and those who followed back then will remember two amazing cover songs she performed, which were never released for download.

Well, today I have them for you, so enjoy what I think is one of, if not the best cover tune in the WOXY lounge acts archive.

My Brightest Diamond – The Beautiful Ones (Prince cover)
My Brightest Diamond – It’s Over (Roy Orbison cover)

Finally, here is a video of Shara performing with YMusic, who she will take the stage with Friday. I’m betting we get to hear this one live at Memorial Hall this weekend.