Courtney Love's guitar player is reinterpreting a guitar solo Matt Brandabur wrote when he was 15. (Review) That's OK with Brandabur. Uncle Tupelo's guy changed it too. So did the Replacements. The song Left in the Dark was recorded in 1979 by the often-anthologized garage/pop group the Vertebrats, who broke up in 1982.

Since his days as the 'frayed live wire' lead guitarist the Vertebrats, Brandabur steeped himself in Joan Armatrading, Lucinda Williams, Leonard Cohen, SoundGarden, Phil Ochs, Nick Drake, Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell, and has been taking notes on artists such as Beth Orton, Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey, Snow Patrol and of course, the Carpenters.