By Samantha Federico
When the coronavirus halted live music in spring of 2020, and stopped most recording studios and radio stations from operating normally, Jeff Sweatman’s career suffered a familiar fate—he lost his job as the program director for Charlottesville’s WCNR 106.1 The Corner in a round of pandemic-related layoffs. In the same month, Grammy-winning folk legend John Prine died of COVID complications.
Prine was an artist that Sweatman had admired for years. “I was fortunate to see him live a few times, and it was always such a charming, poignant show,” says Sweatman. “When he passed away so soon into the pandemic, I knew I wanted to pay tribute in a way that could hopefully help others in need during such a sad, confusing time.”
It was Prine songs by two local musicians, Koda Kerl (Chamomile and Whiskey) and Kai Crowe-Getty (Lord Nelson), that inspired Sweatman to use his unexpected downtime to make a tribute album of covers by area artists. The result, All The Best …From 6 Feet Away: A Charlottesville Tribute To John Prine, is a love letter to and from Charlottesville.
All 21 artists featured on the record have refreshed Prine’s songs with personal flair. Some tracks, like Sarah White’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” and Sweatman’s own cut, “Only Love,” will surprise you to the point you’ll need to remind yourself that these are all Prine compositions.
“They say most radio DJs are failed (or wannabe) rock stars, and there was room timewise on the LP without affecting the overall fidelity,” says Sweatman. “I had gotten far enough into the process to consider myself an executive producer, and this might be the one album I ever make, so I also wasn’t not going to be on it.”
Other standout songs from the album include a cover of “Angel From Montgomery” by Wild Common’s Davina Jackson and Brennan Gilmore; Sally Rose and Devon Sproule’s “Summer’s End;” and Kai and Bram Crowe-Getty’s “Long Monday.”
The album was conceived as a tool to support the music community, and Sweatman was determined to make it happen despite major setbacks. Just as he was preparing to raise money through GoFundMe to press the vinyl at Harrisonburg’s Blue Sprocket Sound, the studio made national news after being severely damaged from a gas leak-related explosion in October 2020. Additionally, the demand for vinyl orders during the pandemic was surging. Sweatman feared he would miss the window of opportunity if he didn’t get the money fast, so he pulled from his own pocket to get All The Best …From 6 Feet Away made.
Eventually, he raised $2,000 online, and this year Sweatman donated it—as he will with the album’s proceeds—to New City Arts Initiative to help fund grants to artists suffering from major income disruptions caused by COVID.
