Acclaimed Oregon troubadour Tim Hardin is one of the most influential and respected singer-songwriters of all time, not that the man himself cared much for the title. My songs aren't personal, he insisted before his death in 1980. They sound it 'cos it was me who revealed them, but it was my head that got the lightning shot through it. An interesting choice of descriptive, seeing as how for his many devotees, his bewitching folk music has the same knockout power as a ten thousand volt lightning strike from the sky instantaneous, bruising, beautiful, electrifying.

Among those devotees are some of the most exciting alternative voices of the last fifty years like Nick Drake and Tim Buckley before him, Hardin was a musicians' musician, the inspiration behind a great many artists whose limelight he never procured for himself. Johnny Cash, Paul Weller, Rod Stewart, Echo and the Bunnymen, Scott Walker, Nico... Hardin's music has been covered by countless icons of contemporary counter-culture. Now that tradition is set to continue with the release of Reason To Believe, a tribute album collecting specially recorded cover versions from the impressive likes of Screaming Trees legend Mark Lanegan, the beguiling Hannah Peel, indie favourites Okkervil River and many more.