The thoughtful and expansive guitar wizard Steve Gunn clearly knows a ton about the history of folk music; it runs all through his music. But Gunn’s most formative influence wasn’t, say, John Fahey. It was the Smiths. In a new piece for the Aquarium Drunkard, Gunn writes about how much discovering the Smiths meant to him at a young age. And he also shares his murmuring, lo-fi covers of two Smiths classics, “This Night Has Opened My Eyes” and “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle.” Listen to both of them at the Aquarium Drunkard.

Gunn’s recent album Eyes On The Line is out now on Matador.