Cover Boy • Chris Salvatore

Actor. Model. Singer. Musician. All are terms that could aptly describe Chris Salvatore, today's Cover Boy. At first glance, those stunning good looks might make it easy to forget there is a much more to him. He's starred in three feature films, all part of the Eating Out franchise, starring as Zack in All You Can Eat, Drama Camp, and the upcoming Open Weekend. But it would seem music is his first love. Check out this cover of Lady GaGa's monster hit, Born This Way.



As a matter of fact, the devilishly handsome Salvatore studied at the Berklee College of Music, the prestigious Boston school. He majored in vocal performance, and was soon recording music he was writing. You can watch another video as he covers Christina Perri's Jar Of Hearts. It might be easier to focus on this one, he wears a shirt.



Along with his other noteworthy accomplishments, Chris is also an out and proud performer. He has spent time working for equality, in between his many projects. Those projects include self-made videos of cover songs, including this really nice clip of Salvatore singing The Fray's You Found Me.



You can find more about Chris Salvatore on his website here or on ReverbNation here. You can also find him on Twitter here, and on Facebook here. You can check out Dirty Love: The Remixes, on iTunes here, and Amazon here.

Cover Boy • Will Young

Just before he released his latest album, Echoes, Will Young released a beautiful acoustic version of Kate Bush's exceptional song, Running Up That Hill. It most certainly is Will's take on the song, I am an unabashed fan of Kate Bush, and think this cover is layered and nuanced, just so very lovely.



The latest single off the new album, Come On, is one I like very much. What I didn't realize that is is essentially also a cover, have been first recorded in 2009 by the British ElectroPop group, Kish Mauve.



The first single off the new album, Jealousy, is another wonderful song, and the first to get an official video. I like the song very much, but this video is great!



While I would love to give you a link to Will's latest album on iTunes, I can't. At least not on the USA iTunes. You can find it on Amazon, where you can purchase it as an import. Check it out here. You can find his official website here, and his official Facebook here. Also, I just started watching a new series on BBC America. Bedlam featured Will in one of the central roles, and he is very good indeed.

Cover Boy • Sir Ari Gold

While Sir Ari Gold might be known more for his amazing original songs, his lush and sweet cover of Human by The Human League is certainly worth checking out. He captures the mood of the original, but spreads a little something special, a little bit of Sir Ari on it, to lay claim to it.



For more on Ari, check out his official website here. You can also find his latest album, Between The Spirit and The Flesh, on iTunes here, on Amazon here, and on CD Baby here.

Cover Boys • Ronan Keating

As Cover Boys go, Ronan Keating is pretty damn easy on the eyes, and a lovely listen as well. The Irishman came to the forefront as a member of Boyzone, the boyband that also included the late Stephen Gately. Boyzone started making hits in 1994, and by 2000, he made his debut as a solo artist. But in 1997, Boyzone recorded Tracy Chapman's Baby Can I Hold You in the UK to much success. In fact, they brought the song to #2 on the UK Pop chart. Then, in 2006, he rerecorded it for a personal Greatest Hits album.



In 2002, Ronan released a version of Bob Seger's 1978 hit, We've Got Tonight, with the amazing Lulu. Their duet was quite nice, and made it to #4 on the UK Pop charts.



When You've Said Nothing At All was originally written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, and released in 1988 by Keith Whitley, where it topped the Country charts for two consecutive weeks. And while others have covered it, Ronan recorded it to be on his first album, as well as part of the soundtrack for Notting Hill.



For more about Ronan Keating, you can visit his official website here, and find him on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.

Cover Boy • Gareth Asher

I was introduced to the music of Gareth Asher by Aiden James, and I will be forever grateful to Aiden for this. In fact, I have my fingers crossed that I will be seeing Gareth performing live tonight for the very first time. Excited! Like most touring musicians, he has a collection of cover songs, and can pull out one or two during a performance. As I have scanned YouTube for his videos, I was particularly fond of his cover of Jacksom Browne's Somebody's Baby. Browne had written it in 1982 for the soundtrack to Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and it because a hit, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.



While I love this cover, it is really Gareth's original work I truly fell for. Whe I think about that first time listening, at first I was blown away by Gareth's voice, with it's hearty warmth and beautiful tone. And then I got to the music, and I knew Asher was stuck with having me as a fan for life. He combines the haunting beauty of the singer/songwriter with the aching soul of southern artists with the joyous spirit of an artist truly loving what they are doing. All this makes for great music. Here is a video made by Asher of his song On My Own from the beautiful album, Between the Smiles and Tears.



So I am hoping at 8PM Wednesday night, I was sitting in a seat in Easton, Maryland, at the NightCat. For more about Gareth Asher, check out his official website here. You can also find his YouTube account here and his Twitter account here. You can find his latest album, Between the Smiles and Tears, on iTunes here, on Amazon here and on CD Baby here.