Picking up the thread from last week’s CD Monday. Frank Hoier’s was the first version I heard of the traditional song “Moonshiner,” which folds the lyrics from “Sweet Heaven When I Die” into a verse.

Hoier’s version reads:

Let me eat when I’m hungry
Let me drink when I’m dry
And dollars when I’m hard up
Religion when I die

The version of “Moonshiner” I’ve been digging recently is the Punch Brothers‘, which you can find on their Ahoy! EP. Chris Thile sneaks an “only then” in after the religion line — a really interesting variation, I think. If I’m reading that moment right, it gives us a window into Thile’s feelings on spirituality, which must complicate things when he picks up traditional songs that, like this one, contain religious lyrics. It’s a little like the reverse of when Cartman takes love ballads and turns them into Christian rock by changing all the instances of “baby” to “Jesus.”

I couldn’t find Hoier’s “Moonshiner” online, nor could I find a way for y’all to buy the album, but I did find a live version of “I’ve Made Up My Mind,” the second track from Love is War.

Frank Hoier — “I’ve Made Up My Mind” (live)