Jason Wilber, ‘Edith and the Kingpin’ [Exclusive Premiere]

Jason Wilber's ninth studio album, Echoes, features covers of songs by some beloved musicians, including a version of Joni Mitchell's "Edith and the Kingpin." The singer-songwriter is premiering the track, originally from Mitchell's 1975 record The Hissing of Summer Lawns, exclusively with The Boot.

Wilber chose the image-rich tune for his record as a challenge of sorts.

"Joni Mitchell has written so many great songs, [but] her performances and guitar arrangements are so idiosyncratic that I never considered trying to learn her songs," Wilber tells The Boot. "I would just enjoy listening to her perform them and leave it at that."

While some artists may shy away from such a difficult task, Wilber met it head on, all in the name of perfecting his craft. While making Echoes, he was trying to challenge his own assumptions, "so I started thinking about songs that I really loved but had never even thought about trying to sing."

"I had listened to [The Hissing of Summer Lawns] a ton in my formative years as a guitar player. It was the record that turned me on to Larry Carlton's volume pedal technique, which became a major component in my own guitar style," Wilber explains. "I'd always appreciated ["Edith and the Kingpin"] for its story and the soaring musical accompaniment. But without that soaring backing track, I wondered how I would fare."

When fans listen to Wilber's rendition below, they'll find that he quite fared well.

"A great song can be done many ways, and this one was no exception," the artist muses. "Even with a simple guitar accompaniment, this song and its story still shine."

Echoes is Wilber's first record to focus on material written by other songwriters. The 11-track project, which is set for release on April 22, is available for pre-order on JasonWilber.net. For information on Wilber's upcoming shows, which are currently booked through November, visit his website.

Listen to Jason Wilber, "Edith and the Kingpin":