On July 17, renowned rock cellist Gordon Withers releases a pair of covers for purchase — “Never Meant, originally by American Football, and “Calba’s Last,” originally be Ethel Meserve. The covers, which were mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio, are offered as part of Sweet Cheetah Publicity/Records “Covers For A Cause” series and 100 percent of proceeds from the sale of the effort go to The Southern Poverty Law Center. Art was provided by Nathan Shumaker (of The Burning Paris).

Pre-order the effort here.

“My non-musical work has largely involved serving the progressive nonprofit sector,” Withers says. “Recently, renowned civil rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center has been systematically targeted by the Trump administration, as retaliation for SPLC’s infiltration of white supremacist hate groups. The consequences of this indictment could have massive, chilling consequences for the entire nonprofit sector. Read more at The Nonprofit Alliance: https://tnpa.org/this-isnt-about-splc-its-about-all-of-us/.

“Since music and the arts are an excellent path to raise awareness and educate people, I chose to release this benefit single in support of SPLC. All proceeds after fees will be donated to the organization. 

“After seeing how strongly American Football fans embraced cello riffs of ‘Never Meant’ on social media, a full arrangement of the song felt inevitable. And the b-side, an equally beautiful track from the lesser-known ’90s emo/post-hardcore band Ethel Meserve, is a song that deserves more listeners. I feel the two tracks compliment each other nicely. Both bands are on tour at the time of this writing (July 2026) — Ethel Meserve for the first time since the ’90s.”

Withers is an American cellist specializing in post-punk, post-hardcore, and new classical styles. He has played with J Robbins (J Robbins Band, Office of Future Plans, J Robbins acoustic), Zach Barocas’s New Freedom Sound, ambient collective We All Inherit The Moon, and has contributed cello parts to countless recordings over the past three decades. He has released several solo albums of cello tributes and originals.

Today, Ghettoblaster shares Withers’ Ethel Meserve cover.

“This song has kind of haunted me throughout the years,” Withers says. “Every time I would dig back into ‘beloved bands of my youth,’ I would rediscover Ethel Meserve, and reflect on just how much of a standout they were. EM’s 1994 4-song demo tape is a musical artifact exactly positioned at the pivot point of about six different sub-genres of indie rock — at the very least: post-hardcore, early math rock, and second wave emo. It doesn’t belong to any single one, but it’s a perfect distillation of everything ‘underground’ at that moment.

“‘Calba’s Last’ is the best track on it, too. It has plenty of heaviness and drive, but its introspective melodies are what make it brilliant. I love how the riffs develop and build off of each other — it’s the musical equivalent of young people working through some shit, like being isolated, growing up in rural Pennsylvania. I still remember the song itself from the first time I saw EM, at an early ’90s show at our local community center. Their short, powerful set blew the minds of me and my teenage friends, and formed a template for how we approached our own bands.

“Numero Group reissuing EM’s work is so amazing and well-deserved. After seeing that EM were touring again, too, I decided to finally give ‘Calba’s Last’ a cello treatment, in honor of this amazing band and song that positively influenced so many emotionally-hardcore kids once upon a time. If you are near where EM is currently touring, make sure to see them if you can — it’s a beautiful second chance at ‘you had to be there’.”

Ethel Meserve kicks off another run of shows — July 10 -17 — and Withers is performing with the band at its sold-out stop at SongByrd in Washington, DC, on July 12. All dates are here.

Photo courtesy of Christoph Green.