.Nicki Bluhm’s Van Sessions: “I Can’t Go For That”

Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers have this great YouTube series where they drive around California in their van, playing classic cover songs. So far, they’ve done tunes like “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt, “Islands in the Stream” by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton, and long before she died, “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston. (Songs by the Beatles, the Dead and the Allman Brothers all show up too.) The whole project has such a pure and spontaneous feel, calling to mind Jackson Browne’s Running on Empty album—parts of which were recorded in motels, in backstage rooms, and on a tour bus.
Today, Nicki Bluhm posted “I Can’t Go For That” by Hall & Oates, and it’s just fantastic:

Here’s the fun fact: Even Hall & Oates themselves took quick notice, and reposted it.
Locally, Nicki Bluhm’s singing with a Haggard-Owens-Parsons-style country tribute band, Brokedown in Bakersfield, at Hopmonk Tavern on April 7, but she and the Gramblers play May 18 at the Mystic Theatre. Judging from the swift popularity of the video above, I don’t see how the audience is going to let them off stage without playing this song.