LISTEN: This Game of Thrones Cover Brings Winterfell to the Bayou

Winter may be coming, but it doesn’t feel so cold when listening to the New Orleans traditional jazz band The Swamp Donkeys play a cover of the Game of Thrones theme at BB King’s in New York City.

The signature, dramatic opening notes are picked out on a banjo, but when the rest of the instruments kick in, it’s more boogie than bleak. It’s like Game of Thrones traveled to the world and era of Boardwalk Empire, which, now that we think about it, Boardwalk Empire kind of is the Game of Thrones of the 1930s?

The Swamp Donkeys’ cover should fit nicely in with the rest of the pantheon of Game of Thrones covers, including this rendition of the theme played with floppy disk drives and The Hold Steady’s rock version of “The Bear and the Maiden Fair.” Too bad we still have to wait forever until the new season.