A couple of weeks ago I got my hands on some footage that Tim and Abigail shot of David Bryant in his home town in Oxford, GA singing “Cold and Rainy Day,” a song David learned from his mother Cora Mae Bryant. You can check out the video of David’s version of the song here, but since you don’t often get mother/son covers of the same song, I thought I’d write a little bit about his mother’s version of the song as well and point out a few of the variations between the two.

Cora Mae’s version feels much more light hearted, a little more universal, as if she’s speaking from life lessons learned long ago. In David’s video, you can definitely feel how much he misses his mother, as he puts on a much more subdued and intimate performance. It’s side-by-sides like this one where you can really hear how both performances stem from the same family tree, a critical component to the evolution of southern roots music.

Overall, I really love the message behind this tune. What’s longing without hope? One cold and rainy day, that long gone soul might just show back up on your doorstep, and what a surprise that would be. Or who knows, maybe someones patiently waiting for your return?

–Berk