New songs in your cover band?

[konodl18]

This may be a re-tread of an old topic, but how often do you guys in busy cover bands put new music into the set list? Is it usually just a song or two at a time or a whole set worth?

Just wondering,
Derek

[mrwink]

We decide on a song or two - then agree to have it learned by a particular gig, then play it. Usually only 1 or 2 new songs at a time.

[troy mcclure]

We added 8 last month...but we hadn't added any in 2 months...

On average we are learning 4 - 6 songs at any one time. When we got them close to down we try em if the club isn't crowded to see what we remember...(trial by fire). If a song doesn't sound right at practice after a few weeks..we ditch it.

[Phalex]

A song or 2 at a time.

[EddiePlaysBass]

I'm in a really non-productive rockabilly'n'roll coverband. We don't gig much, so the guys don't usually want to learn a lot of new material, which prevents me from booking more gigs, which then in turn means we don't learn a lot of new material ...

That said, I try to at least get one new song in the set every time we play, and at yesterday's rehearsal we worked on 2 new songs. Next Monday, we should add a third and work on them.

[tycobb73]

We practice fridays that we don't gig. We'll learn 1 new one for each practice.

[Richland123]

I have been on both ends of the spectrum here with steadily working bands trying to add new material. I have been in bands that rehearsed every week and learned one or two songs and played them out that weekend, which would result in about 60 to 70 songs a year. I have been in bands that rehearsed once a month and and added 5 to 10 songs monthly. One band learned 250 songs in 2 years.

My current band only gets together once or maybe twice a year and adds 5 to 7 new songs and maybe a couple throughout the year on the fly. We learn the songs on our own and then get together to work on them as a group and decide who will sound best singing which parts and polishing up the music. If it was up to me, we would learn more songs more often to keep our shows fresh. We have about 130 songs on our current list and we work about 85 gigs a year but after 9 years, some songs need a break.

[DudeistMonk]

The band I'm in now does 4 new tunes a month, but I'm the new guy still trying to catch up on back catalog so that policy is suspended until I'm up to speed.

[DeluxeRed]

We play about 3 weekends out of 4. 4-hour gigs, usually 4 sets (they vary in length a bit), usually 55-60 songs on the set list, about 30 on the alternate list.

We rehearse once a week mid-week and usually have 3 "hot" songs that we're polishing, getting ready to add to the set list, and then 3 "warm" songs that the members have on mp3 and are learning, to be ready to work with the group. We end up with 3 to 6 new songs a month, which I think is important because we often play the same places again 4-6 weeks later, and we need to have something new for them. (I also have a gag limit on a lot of songs; some I can only play so many times.) That varies, of course, as some older rock songs that everyone is familiar with and has three chords are easier to learn than some newer studio composition that no one has heard much.

I think a cover band is like a shark: it has to keep moving--quickly--or it will die.