Juliana Hatfield on her relationship with Boston, ELO and organic covers

There’s little argument that Boston – and it’s surrounding neighborhoods – was a hotbed of indie rock music by the time the early ’90s rolled around. Between The Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr., Belly, Throwing Muses and Letters to Cleo, it was like looking through Lewis Largent’s Rolodex to see who he was going to feature on MTV’s 120 Minutes next.

Singer/songwriter Juliana Hatfield was right in the middle of that mix, whether with Blake Babies, playing briefly in The Lemonheads, The Juliana Hatfield Three or solo. Over the past few years, she’s been doing “Juliana Hatfield Sings…” records where she dedicates a full LP to covering an artist. Previously she’s done Olivia Newton-John and The Police, and recently released an album of Electric Light Orchestra songs.

My relationship with ELO stretches back to the earliest days of my childhood, as my mom would routinely put on albums like Discovery, Eldorado and A New World Record. It turns out, we had a lot to talk about when sitting down for a Vanyaland 617 Q&A recently to discuss the new covers LP, how her relationship with Boston has evolved over the years and who she might cover next.

Check out the link to read the full chat, and listen to her cover of ELO’s “Telephone Line” below.