After playing Neil Young's "Helpless" live for years, Molly Tuttle has released her version of the song for charity. The cover, which readers can hear above, features Old Crow Medicine Show.

It was OCMS, in fact, who were the key to getting this version of "Helpless" right, Tuttle shares in a press release. She and producer Ryan Hewitt recorded the song a couple of years ago, but there was never a good time to release it. "It was like a lightbulb went off a couple months ago when we thought of asking Old Crow Medicine Show to play on it," Tuttle shares.

"Years after I recorded my parts, they went in and added exactly what the song had been missing," the singer-songwriter and lauded musician admits. "I have been a huge Old Crow fan since I was a teenager and obsessively listened to their records. I started tearing up listening to the recording when they sent it back after playing on it. It’s surreal to get to do a song with a band that has influenced me so much."

"Helpless" has always made Tuttle feel connected to her fans -- "I love when the audience sings along and we get a sense that we’re all connected," she says -- and Old Crow Medicine Show's harmonies on the studio version of the song have a similar effect. "The harmonies they added on the chorus gave me chills and made me think of singing it with audiences at shows before quarantine started," Tuttle shares.

"We’re all still so connected, even though we can’t sing with each other in person right now," the artist adds, "and that’s what I hope this song conveys.

All proceeds from Tuttle and OCMS' "Helpless" cover are being donated to WhyHunger's Rapid Response Fund, which is helping those affected by poverty and hunger during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The organization "works to address the root causes of hunger such as poverty, racism, sexism, classism, homophobia and other forms of oppression and structural inequities that create disproportionate barriers to food and land access for communities," according to its website.

This cover is the second charity-focused release from Tuttle and Old Crow in recent weeks. In early April, OCMS released "Nashville Rising," a new song recorded in the wake of the tornado that ripped through Nashville on March 3 and before pandemic-related safer-at-home orders took effect. Tuttle, Shelly Colvin and Skylar Wilson are special guests on the song.

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