Song of the Day 6/18: The Thorns, “No Blue Sky”

The Thorns was an interesting experiment. Solo artists Shawn Mullins, Pete Droge and Matthew Sweet began working together as a CS&N-style acoustic harmony group in 2002 for an album that turned out to be a one-off, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. The trio and backing band toured for almost a year behind the release, but despite the beautiful harmonies and Americana melodies it only reached #61 on the album charts, so the three went their separate ways in 2004. The album’s showcase song was a cover of the Jayhawks’ “Blue”; this was another standout track, even though it violates Americana music’s “no depression” ethos.

The song was written by Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, who played with Droge and Mullins before dropping out and being replaced by Sweet. Phillips eventually released his version on a solo album in 2012.