over the last couple months, i’ve blogged about derek webb’s latest innovative project called democracy vol. 1. a couple months ago, fans could cast votes for up to 12 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 12 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album will then be recorded over the span of 2010, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. over the past 2 months, webb released the first two tracks, which was a beautiful version of the beatles’ while my guitar gently weeps and a so-so version of coldplay’s fix you.

instead of releasing the the full list of tracks, webb plans to reveal each track month-by-month. and today, we found out the third one.

march’s track (yeah, it’s april…) is none other than bob dylan’s classic, the times they are a-changin’. i was glad to see that this song received enough votes to make the cut (i’m pretty sure i voted for it). this is a song that, over the last couple years, has become more and more significant to me. keeping in line with that, i’ve heard several artists cover this track in the recent past.

as stated, last month’s fix you cover was just so-so, and while this month’s cover is definitely a step up, it still leaves me a bit wanting. by all means, the cover is great, but i think it’s relatively clear that this was sort of a rush job. on twitter, webb referenced numerous times that he was running behind on recording the track and it shows. BUT, again, i reiterate that i like the cover, but it’s simply a little poorer technical quality than the other two and i assume that’s due to time constraints.

either way, derek webb delivers as usual. ultimately, though, you can be the judge. here’s the track.

derek webb / the times they are a-changin’: