A Tribute Album To The Muppets. Finally.

There’s not many things I love more than a good cover. You get to fall in love with a great song all over again, but in a completely new and exciting way. Like The Avett Brothers’ cover of Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.” Or Peter Gabriel’s cover of Bon Iver’s “Flume.” Or Jeff Tweedy’s cover of “Simple Twist of Fate.” I could go on and on. All  you cover-lovin’ fools like me out there, brace yourselves. I’ve got big – and I mean BIG – news. Remember that tribute album for Shel Silverstien last year, Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein?

Childhood wouldn’t have been the same without Shel and it was great to see a tribute album featuring so many great artists dedicated to him. Well what would your childhood have been like had there not been The Muppets? I’ll tell you what it would have been like: the sun would have shone less brightly; candy wouldn’t have tasted as sweet. So, to pay homage to the tv show that helped raise us up to be the adults we are today, another all star cast of amazing musicians have united for “The Green Album,” a tribute to The Muppets. The album, set to release August 23rd, will feature the likes of OK Go (covering “The Muppets Theme Song”) Andrew Bird (covering “Bein’ Green” – whistling included of course), Weezer and Hayley Williams of Paramore (covering my personal favorite “The Rainbow Connection”), Alkaline Trio (covering “Moving Right Along”) and Rachael Yamagata (covering “I’m Going To Go Back There Some Day”), just to name a few. Can’t wait till August 23rd to get your grimy hands on this gem?

Head over to NPR where you can stream the whole album free! I’m listening to it now as I design a CD package for World Vision, and it is increasing productivity by at least 57%. Take a trip down memory lane and head over to NPR and take a listen. If we never grow up, we never get old; Awaken your inner child.

The Green Album

01  OK Go: “Muppet Show Theme”

02  Weezer and Paramore’s Hayley Williams: “Rainbow Connection”

03  The Fray: “Mahna Mahna”

04  Alkaline Trio: “Moving Right Along”

05  My Morning Jacket: “Our World”

06  Amy Lee: “Halfway Down the Stairs”

07  Sondre Lerche: “Mr. Bassman”

08  The Airborne Toxic Event: “Wishing Song”

09  Atreyu’s Brandon Saller and Good Charlotte’s Billy Martin: “Night Life”

10  Andrew Bird: “Bein’ Green”

11  Matt Nathanson: “I Hope That Something Better Comes Along”

12  Rachael Yamagata: “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday”

A special thanks to Nathan Gregory for informing us about this project.

Listening to: Alkaline Trio “Moving Right Along”