The Current State of Covers/Originals

[richardmac]

How many of you play covers? Originals? A mix of both? Why do you play what you play? If you are an original musician, how do you feel about covers? Do you include covers so that you can get gigs?

 

I'd love to know the answers to those questions from folks here. I think it'd be interesting. Here are mine:

 

I'm playing a mix of covers and originals. I'd play all original music but I find it too boring - I'm fairly sick of my own songs. I don't have a problem playing covers, but I only choose songs I like. If I were a total cover artist, my opinion of a song wouldn't matter - I'd pick whatever godawful songs people wanted to hear. I do include covers to open up more gig possibilities, though I absolutely suck at marketing.

[sabriel9v]

I'd love to do a few covers. Many of the original musicians I've met are against covers, but I feel that boils down to a lack of discipline and not wanting to sit and learn a song. These are usually the same people who play in "experimental" bands who "write songs," but they're really just high and jamming lol.

 

I wanna do cool {censored} like this:

 

 

[YOUTUBE]Y_t5ngR-310[/YOUTUBE]

 

[YOUTUBE]rbo65uL8n28[/YOUTUBE]

[TWSS]

We do almost exclusively originals. Maybe one cover every ten shows or so. And if we do a cover it's usually something dumb that we're doing just for fun (Poker Face, or That's Not My Name).

[Dancebass]

I play originals and have for many years. I was in a few cover bands when I was very young.

 

When I was young it was very common for your average rock band to do the 3 set a night - covers/originals mix thing. Currently, I do not see that model very often. Luckily for me there is a decent infrastructure for all original acts in most cities these days. When I say "decent" I don't mean pay to play, pre-sale ticket bull{censored}. I mean book the gig and get the door or a decent guarantee.

 

I do not have a negative opinion of covers or cover bands. It's just not for me. My need to create is greater than any other need that I may have. I do think that all criticism directed at original bands that I've seen on this site is coming from a place of bitterness. I see no other reason for it. To me, songwriting is no different than any other skill, the more you do it the better you get. When I hear criticism like "90% of the original bands out there suck and only play to their friends", I think "so what".

[crowguitar]

Doing Covers should be a decent part of every musicians growth process. In order to play music, you should learn to "play" music. Learning songs, and I mean correctly, takes some time and helps you learn new techniques, chords, and even songwriting ideas that you might have not stumbled across on your own.

 

Every opportunity to expand your musical horizon should be utilized...

Even if you're an original band musician, it can only help you to learn some tunes here and there. Most of the best bands in the world started out as cover groups.

 

Plus, its fun.

[Matximus]

Fun Thread Topic!!!

 

I play covers because I have modest ambition (and talent) as a performer, so I have about 50 to 75 covers for solo acoustic pub gigs.

 

I write original songs for me. I play covers for other people.

 

Like a lot of people, I kinda groan at the whole concept of a frumpy white guy strumming away his sensitive songs on an acoustic guitar... It can be such a self-serving act... But, you know, I am what I am. Covers makes it more palatable to an audience.

 

And I'm honest with myself: My original songs are OKAY at best. Of the dozens of songs I've written, maybe two or three have enough juice to slice through the din of a crowded bar.

 

If I had more skill as a musician I'd probably play more originals.

 

I've found that solo acoustic guys have to have serious chops as a player or singer to make their own stuff interesting enough for other people to care.

[BlueStrat]

I do both and have since the 70s.

[Mcfontio]

We've been hesitant to do covers (well that's mostly me actually) but my band mates have convinced me that not only will it be fun to "band up" a sampled hip hop song, but people at the show will likely respond to these songs too.

 

RZA "long time comin'" will be the first. There's some fun arpeggios that'll really shine on the guitar I think.

[daddymack]

Always pretty much done a mix of covers to orginals. I mean, really, for a cover band, if you don't have any originals, then you have no CD sales, unless you want to pay the licensing on every song. For an originals band, it is pretty damned hard to come up with a couple dozen really top notch songs.

[Kramerguy]

I play in an originals band that does indie originals, mixes in indie covers when the venue calls for it, but throws in "party" covers when we're playing bars or pubs where the crowds expect more mainstreamed stuff. I like it cause the mare variety I play, the better I get as a musico.

 

I also play in a modern rock cover band, that mostly just plays bars, clubs, festivals- no free gigs! except the american cancer society! pfft!

[Inazone]

My current band plays original songs only. Back in high school, when I was first learning to play guitar and bass, a couple of bands I was in dabbled in playing covers, but I really had very little interest in it. In college, I routinely jammed along with CDs, but mainly because there were no likeminded musicians to play with.

 

Over the years, I've found that the more time I put into learning covers, the less I enjoy listening to those songs. At this point, I might bust out a couple of favorite riffs during sound check, but that's the extent of it.

[Kramerguy]

 

My current band plays original songs only. Back in high school, when I was first learning to play guitar and bass, a couple of bands I was in dabbled in playing covers, but I really had very little interest in it. In college, I routinely jammed along with CDs, but mainly because there were no likeminded musicians to play with. Over the years, I've found that the more time I put into learning covers, the less I enjoy listening to those songs. At this point, I might bust out a couple of favorite riffs during sound check, but that's the extent of it.

 

 

Think of it this way: If you learned 50 popular covers, I mean really popular stuff... then you just learned 50 ways to arrange a great song. probably 30 of those ways will be new to you, and most likely helpful in the long run.

[BlueStrat]

 

Think of it this way: If you learned 50 popular covers, I mean really popular stuff... then you just learned 50 ways to arrange a great song. probably 30 of those ways will be new to you, and most likely helpful in the long run.

 

 

 

Yes sir.

 

I played in a lot of cover bands, some I absolutely hated. But I did what I had to do to make a living.

 

I learned how to play rhythm playing disco and funk. I also learned a lot of 'blue' chords.

 

I learned how to play a lot of major scale lines, diads and triads playing country.

 

I learned how to get decent overdrive and sustain playing rock.

 

I learned how to get a good sound at a low volume playing lounge music.

 

I learned how to improvise playing blues.

 

And I use everything I learned in what I play and write today.

[MikeSRV69]

BlueStrat, you hit it right on the head, at least to me. I have played all manner of original and cover gigs since starting to gig in the early 80's, from backing up solo artists with major airplay and international sales behind them to Elvis tributes in banquet halls and everything in between. My method is to approach every situation as a student, asking myself "what can I learn by doing this gig?". I still do what I need to do to make a living in music, but I am able to do a lot more because of the variety of gigs I have done. Plus, it gives me a broader base as an instructor. Like you, I also use it all to do the stuff I do now. Nothing teaches like real life experience. Peace.

[tim_7string]

My very first band in 1986 played covers as well as originals that we wrote. I remember that we were much better at performing our original songs than trying to emulate the covers. I attribute that to lack of polish and craftsmanship (and outright talent for some of us).

 

My next band in 1989 also slipped in a few original songs. Sometimes people liked them, sometimes they cleared the dance floor. One song sounded very much like a cross between Poison's "Fallen Angel" and Night Ranger's "You Can Still Rock In America."

 

Sample lyrics (chorus): "We're gonna rock! rock rock rock rock (delay)/Rockin' across the USA, yeah!"

 

I know, pretty generic. I thought so too. Hey, I just played keys in the band.

 

After that, I just played covers for many years. It wasn't until 2001 when I formed a band to perform for a radio show, then turned it into a rock cover bar band that I played originals alongside covers again. They went over surprisingly well. I was very glad about that.

 

I intend to write some new original songs with my new trio as well as perform my older original songs with my own namesake band in the future.

[Vermoulian]

I'm playing in several bands right now. The most serious band is a cover band. Another one does mostly covers but is trying to transition to doing more originals, and one is an all-original project.

 

I'm not much of a songwriter myself---every once in a while I'll come up with something I think is cool, and some of that is going into the "middle" band, but it's not enough and doesn't come steadily enough to build an act around. But I like working on arrangements in the originals band (another guy is the principal songwriter). And I like recording, and the originals band offers that eventual opportunity.

 

But I also really enjoy playing covers. I like performing, and playing covers gives us the opportunity to perform really great songs. And playing covers---at least, if you make a sincere attempt to nail them---is a great way to stretch out your playing and increase your musical vocabulary. I share the suspicion that many players who (a) don't write songs, but (b) get all Artiste when it comes to playing covers, are probably just too lazy or talent-deficient to learn the parts. Why else would a player not want to play great music? Although, I'm sure there are people out there who have reached a level of self-delusion where they think what they do really is better than everything else, if only the stupid rest of humanity would realize it.

[srspud]

I've got quite a few good original tunes that I slip into each set every night I play the mostly cover material I need to do to keep working. Most folks never even notice that the originals are something they've not heard before. By the end of the song they are singing along with the refrain like they've known it forever.

 

Like BlueStrat & Kramerguy says - I learned all that stuff and now apply it to what I write and it fits right in. There is nothing like a room full of people singing along to one of your own songs that they are hearing for the first time.

 

I'd still like to go back playing just originals but if doing covers helps me connect to more listeners then so be it. But I'm only going to do covers that I like and that work on the dance floor. I like twisting covers too like taking a Justin Timberlake song and making it bluesy or metal. That makes covers a lot of fun.

[richardmac]

I wonder if there's a correlation between age and playing covers. For me, when I starting playing guitar at 16, all I played was covers. By 19 I was in an all original band and we played NO covers and looked down on those who did in our snotty teen way. In my 20's and 30's I didn't gig and I wrote a song every once in a while. In my 40's I'm attracted to playing covers because it's FUN.

 

Maybe it comes down to the difference between being an "artist" and being a performer. We want to play our own music because that's what artists do. You don't pay to see Crowded House (yes they're still touring) and show up and find them doing 20 cover songs. You'd be pissed. So as an artist you want to emulate the successful artists.

 

But as a performer you want to put on a great show, which involves choosing music your audience will love, which probably means covers.

 

Maybe what Vermoulian said in jest is actually reality - think about Van Halen, who used to do covers as well as originals. When they were coming up, their original music WAS better than the covers they were playing. It was a natural thing for them to eventually ditch the covers, once they hit a certain level (and had enough songs for a whole show.)

[Matximus]

 

... I share the suspicion that many players who (a) don't write songs, but (b) get all Artiste when it comes to playing covers, are probably just too lazy or talent-deficient to learn the parts. Why else would a player not want to play great music? Although, I'm sure there are people out there who have reached a level of self-delusion where they think what they do really is better than everything else, if only the stupid rest of humanity would realize it.

 

 

A bit harsh, but Right on!!

 

But you'll almost certainly find that most serious and working musicians know a broad range of covers. Whether they play them or not comes down to the nature of the gig, and their act.

 

On a side note, I've only known a few people - two or three maybe - that could write really interesting and engaging original material. And all of them would sprinkle their sets with really great covers. And they tended to be masters at delivering clever or somewhat songs without pandering, which is really hard to do.

[Matximus]

And I think someone pointed this out but it bears repeating: pretty much all of the defining popular performers of the last half of the century started out as cover artists.

 

Also, John Lennon and Paul McCartney are pretty much are to blame for this misguided notion that you're not a true ARTISTE unless you write your own material, which is absolute baloney.

[plepue]

Covers, covers and more covers. I'm an attorney not a composer. I just love to perform. I'm a performer, not an artist. I get paid well in top notch cover bands and that just justifies the quality of the performance. It's so much more fun playing to a packed house of 1000 at a tribute show than to 20 of your friends and familys at some dive bar playing originals. That's just mne though. I guess if I had dreams of playing in front of 30,000 with my originals, maybe I would try harder.

 

Nah, I'll stick to covers.

[RazerVocals]

As an original artist , I think it depends on what you do with the cover. If you make it your own, then I think its cool, Think Van Halen, or more modern Five Finger Death Punch (doing Bad Company).

 

If your a cover band, I think you have to do them spot on, and if you can't don't. IMHO at least.

[Blackwatch]

Well said Bluestrat....

 

I have nothing against covers and used to play a lot of covers. But right now I'm working on original material and I don't want to take the time to learn new covers because:

"If you're learning and performing covers you're not working on your own material."

 

We all know people who are self deluded in thinking that their material is great when it in fact is not, and one of my biggest fears is that I'm one of those people. The only solid facts that I have against that is the fact that I could play 4 hour gigs weekly of all original music in a very jaded music town.

As far as the feedback you get from people it's almost worthless...good and bad....

 

But another point is that even when I played covers I always played them quite different as they were presented to the public as I would never be able to play them as well as the original artist did ....at least as the majority of the audience "expects them to sound like". I usually can't duplicate the whole band sound, I don't have the same pipes the original singer has, and frankly it doesn't interest me as much as creating the whole song myself. I can express exactly what I want then too.

 

I have friends that can duplicate any sound a band makes and more power to them but that's just not me.

 

And I've played many gigs where all they wanted was a human jukebox, but again it's not for me. But to say I'm lazy because I don't play covers....

[Temple of Light]

I sing covers to relax and have fun. I'll pop in a dvd of the flava of the band or artist that I'm feeling that day and see how many of the tracks I can nail Verbatim. It's really just an excersise in fun, my real singing happens when I'm doing my own material and tracking it... I don't think I 'd do covers for a living unless it was just for one band's songs that I already knew all the songs for...I would feel too much like ripping someone off if I let go with my impression of Jagger, Bon, David Lee, Ian, MichaelH. Jim, Plant, etc... Too bad none of those gent's need a new singer...

[kode]

All the above posts had many interesting things to say re playing covers and originals. From my own experience I have found I made the most advancement in my playing ability through learning and performing cover material on a regular basis. Regular!!! Just learning a new song and playing it once in a while doesn't consolidate material I find, especially when learning complex music such as jazz stuff or prog rock. You gotta be able to relax with it and get loose so the creativity can flow without worrying about the changes and your upcoming solo, etc. It was great to get cozy with that kind of cover material when it was required. These days I tend to play my own stuff in my "cozy" little basement away from the gigging life. But the above experience has given me a varied musical pallette to work with when recording - almost too much at times. I'm glad I did it.