Ryan Adams certainly has a way with covers.
Last summer, he took on the enormous task of recalibrating Taylor Swift’s modern pop masterpiece 1989 (yeah we said it), and turned an album of synth bangers into gripping guitar-rock numbers. Over the years he’s delivered covers of everyone from Madonna and the Smiths to Foo Fighters and the Strokes to Patrick Swazye and Iron Maiden to… well, here’s a Deadspin Top 16 about his efforts.
There probably isn’t anyone left that Adams hasn’t covered, but juuuuuuuuust in case Slayer remained on the ol’ to-do list, the 41-year-old took care of that dirty business over the weekend at Newport Folk Festival.
Performing on Saturday, Adams and his posse busted out a bluegrass cover of Slayer’s 1988 song “South of Heaven”, the lead track off the album of the same name. It was well received, and the band looked like they couldn’t believe they were actually playing it. Those guitar chords are so very familiar, regardless of what style it’s performed.
Watch an Instagram clip of it below, and click over to NPR, via SPIN, to hear his cover of Black Sabbath, also live from Newport Folk.
A video posted by Lindsey Hickman (@warrior_of_the_light_) on