Gillian Welch Covers “White Rabbit” For NPR

Videos by American Songwriter

Gillian Welch’s cover of the classic Jefferson Airplane song “White Rabbit” is now available for download on iTunes.

Welch recorded this live acoustic rendition of the tune on NPR’s Fresh Air Interview with guitarist and partner David Rawlings. On the show, the duo play a handful of songs from their most recent album, The Harrow & The Harvest, and discuss their lyrics.

“There’s a lot of stuff on this album dealing with unfulfilled expectations and when things don’t exactly go as you had thought or wished they would — and the true adult nature of dealing with that,” says Welch.

Read our Gillian Welch feature from the July/August issue.

Despite the acoustic instrumentation of Welch’s cover, her version retains the dark, psychedelic buildup that made the original so famous. Welch is currently on a huge tour of the U.S. and Canada; check the dates to see if she is coming to your town.