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Guys Who Only Play Covers: What Happened?
- Thread starter matante
- Start date
I think anyone who took up the bass with the dream of being a famous rock star picked the wrong instrument.
I picked up bass due to an extension of my own personality. Well, that and the fact that a sound like Geddy Lee and Chris Squire was the coolest sounds you could have in any band... Never obsessed about being a big famous star.
I left that to the rest of the band members while I lived in reality.
To the OP: I never tried playing originals. Never wrote a song or even attempted it. I just started playing because my father played. Then I got hooked and that was that. Been playing covers since I was in my teens. It's still a very enjoyable hobby, with a little spending money on the side. 
Been playing guitar & bass for 37 years. Started out just jamming which evolved into gigging parties. Became established enough to start playing the bar circuits. Gradually morphed into playing all originals...and watched the audiences drift away.
We were told repeatedly that we were a good band, but crowds wanted to go out & party to music they knew. Didn't care, we stayed the course.
That band eventually drifted apart & I shifted gears. Got away from the hard rock/ metal style and started playing what I liked...guitar based jazz & fusion, maybe even crossed into what some would define as "new age." Didn't play out much anymore. Focused on composition, crystal clear recording & production and self distribution of our cd's. 4 releases over 7 years. Moderately successful. 7 - 10,000 units is a "fail" for a major label artist, but when you do it all yourself, it ain't a poke in the eye.
That project finally ran it's course as well. Disillusioned about the whole band thing after the politics, aggrivation & stress of trying to keep everything together. Didn't do anything much for several years. Then I was approached about playing bass in a tribute band (loved the music to begin with). Whaddya know...I'm enjoying it again. The pressure's off, show up, play the gig, have a blast and get paid.
More than a hobby, not quite a job. Having fun...what other motivation do you need?
We were told repeatedly that we were a good band, but crowds wanted to go out & party to music they knew. Didn't care, we stayed the course.
That band eventually drifted apart & I shifted gears. Got away from the hard rock/ metal style and started playing what I liked...guitar based jazz & fusion, maybe even crossed into what some would define as "new age." Didn't play out much anymore. Focused on composition, crystal clear recording & production and self distribution of our cd's. 4 releases over 7 years. Moderately successful. 7 - 10,000 units is a "fail" for a major label artist, but when you do it all yourself, it ain't a poke in the eye.
That project finally ran it's course as well. Disillusioned about the whole band thing after the politics, aggrivation & stress of trying to keep everything together. Didn't do anything much for several years. Then I was approached about playing bass in a tribute band (loved the music to begin with). Whaddya know...I'm enjoying it again. The pressure's off, show up, play the gig, have a blast and get paid.
More than a hobby, not quite a job. Having fun...what other motivation do you need?
What a reductive conception of music.
Are Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Maria Callas to be considered lesser artists because they didn't write their own music?
Please consider that most people don't play covers because they lack the discipline and skill to do it properly.
From a musician's side, writing your own music is often a way to shortcut you weaknesses and avoid working on them to rely on what you master. Anyone who played in a serious cover band will tell you how difficult it is.
Are Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Maria Callas to be considered lesser artists because they didn't write their own music?
Please consider that most people don't play covers because they lack the discipline and skill to do it properly.
From a musician's side, writing your own music is often a way to shortcut you weaknesses and avoid working on them to rely on what you master. Anyone who played in a serious cover band will tell you how difficult it is.
To the OP--- Do you write original stuff?
Do you have an original band?
Do you play out doing originals?
How many tunes have you written?
No bashing here, just curious.
Do you have an original band?
Do you play out doing originals?
How many tunes have you written?
No bashing here, just curious.
The vast majority of adult men start out as kids wanting to be a policeman/fireman/astronaut. Do you ask "what happened?" to the vast majority who grow up to do something else? I think your question is entirely related to age, as evidenced in many of these responses.
When I first read the post, I have to admit, it came across as somewhat argumentative and accusatory. But I slept on it. I thought about it. When I was young, I swore I would return to my hometown someday in a limo like Rod Stewart.
I thought, as most youthful spirits, that I was very special in the world and it was my oyster. I started out in cover bands, and, living in Seattle for a number of years, I met some young guys who I didn't think were particularly great musicians, but, they had a HUNGRY look in their eyes. They waited tables daytime and at night every rehearsal was their national venue concert, every song was their hit album. And boom, they signed a contract, became stars and I never saw them hanging around American Music anymore. Oh, they'd drop by, give "clinics" and visits.
I guess I'm saying they had the same attitude you do... and they kept that dream so alive in their head, it drove them to success. The rest of us, well, we have stories to tell about them. Then we got older. Gravity pulled at us and we had kids and homes and mortgages. We were in that big pool of players that only yeilds oh maybe 1 percent success. So now that some of us are older we can afford to buy nice equipment and show off our 5,000 dollar basses and boutique amps, but in the end we're cover song musicians. And that ain't bad. You ask what happened? Life happened and we missed the boat.
If you're driven and passionate about what you're writing, then follow that dream, but don't do it halfway. Eat and breathe your music and make sure the girls can hum it. Know your material in your sleep. Keep writing so every song gets better. But when you perform, mix the originals in with covers and see how the audience reacts. It is very rare for an originals band to break out without paying their dues first.
Keep the eye of the tiger, and maybe one day we'll be saying we knew you when ......
As a band once said, time is your most valuable commodity. Don't waste a moment of it:
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then the one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
And shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way
The time is gone the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Pink Floyd
I thought, as most youthful spirits, that I was very special in the world and it was my oyster. I started out in cover bands, and, living in Seattle for a number of years, I met some young guys who I didn't think were particularly great musicians, but, they had a HUNGRY look in their eyes. They waited tables daytime and at night every rehearsal was their national venue concert, every song was their hit album. And boom, they signed a contract, became stars and I never saw them hanging around American Music anymore. Oh, they'd drop by, give "clinics" and visits.
I guess I'm saying they had the same attitude you do... and they kept that dream so alive in their head, it drove them to success. The rest of us, well, we have stories to tell about them. Then we got older. Gravity pulled at us and we had kids and homes and mortgages. We were in that big pool of players that only yeilds oh maybe 1 percent success. So now that some of us are older we can afford to buy nice equipment and show off our 5,000 dollar basses and boutique amps, but in the end we're cover song musicians. And that ain't bad. You ask what happened? Life happened and we missed the boat.
If you're driven and passionate about what you're writing, then follow that dream, but don't do it halfway. Eat and breathe your music and make sure the girls can hum it. Know your material in your sleep. Keep writing so every song gets better. But when you perform, mix the originals in with covers and see how the audience reacts. It is very rare for an originals band to break out without paying their dues first.
Keep the eye of the tiger, and maybe one day we'll be saying we knew you when ......
As a band once said, time is your most valuable commodity. Don't waste a moment of it:
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then the one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
And shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way
The time is gone the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Pink Floyd
The word "artist" has to be used in context. The above mentioned are not artist in the sense of creating and crafting songs. The are recording artist. They create a uniqueness to a given song or if you like a cover. Very different kind of artist.
I don't consider myself a musician I consider myself an artist seeing how I write all my own material. The bass for me is only a tool to create with. It is my brush of choice and I have a total lover affair with it.
I now a lot of guys in cover bands who consider themselves musicians and not artists. They are still artistic in the fact that they can give songs/cover there own personality but it is not the same.
One is different than the other. One is not better than the other. The important thing is that we are all bass players and however we use the instrument to bring us enjoyment is the important thing.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
I just want to say, I find it astonishing that on a board full of musicians, we still have people who cannot distinguish between a "musican" and a "composer" and post threads that treat all musicians as wannabe composers.
Well said!
Sheesh how many times does this have to be discussed in here, aren't the other 1,000,000 covers vs. originals threads enuff?
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
I do both. Playing bass is my trade and I should get paid for it, so I play in a good paying cover band that keeps me busy (and paid!!!). I also love creating/arranging/improvising music, so I have an outlet for that as well. Unfortunately it doesnt pay as well. Call it what you want to call it, but I have a family to feed and I want to put my 10,000 hours of practicing bass to use doing that. And in the end, people are smiling and dancing so it makes me feel fulfilled, because I am an entertainer as well as a bassist.
You ever hear the phrase "different strokes for different folks"? Hey we should make an acronym for that...DSDF...
You ever hear the phrase "different strokes for different folks"? Hey we should make an acronym for that...DSDF...
Everybody doesn`t dream of becoming a star. I started playing in my teens / early 20s. The crowd of friends I hung out with had a couple of guys that played guitar. So I bought a bass, another guy bought a drum kit. We drank & smoked and had awesomely good times at the weekend parties. The end.
When I started trying to play guitar, then bass, 48 years ago, I had no desire to write and perform originals. It was just to play the same songs I was growing up with. It wasn't until five years ago when pushed by a friend to write a song based on his idea to that I'd tried my hand at that. My guitarist and I put out a cd of 'demos' that have had some minor sales. One song has actually become quite popular at a club we play for the 'grand generation.' But, we have more fun constantly doing new arrangements on old tunes, always danceable, both country and pop/rock. Familiarity combined with a fresh approach keeps us busy working and making money, too.
People who buy instruments have a great interest in playing music IME.
People who have an interest in writing music buy pencils and staff paper.
Musicians play what composers compose. There can be crossover, but there doesn't have to be.
People who have an interest in writing music buy pencils and staff paper.
Musicians play what composers compose. There can be crossover, but there doesn't have to be.
My guitarist and I were discussing this last night with some friends in another band. The two main questions were "Why do we(my band)only play covers?" and "Why don't we travel more for gigs?"
The guys from the other band are 25-30yrs old,play reggae/ska originals and a handful of covers redone in a reggae style,and will take a gig anywhere for any pay..their last gig was 110mi away and they played for burgers,beer,and the $32 that found it's way to the tip jar,but they got "great exposure"...They also still live with their parents
In my band,we're all pushing 40,live in our own houses,have day jobs and a better(if somewhat jaded) understanding how 'real life' works. We only play covers,but not the standard bar-band fare(BrownEyedGirl,MustangSally,etc.). We charge $500/night-$800/weekend,and have been booked EVERY weekend for the last four years,all within 50mi of home. I'm forced to think we must be doing something right because the establishments call us for bookings,not the other way around..
I spent my early twenties living in a van chasing the 'Big Break' and discovered you have a better chance of getting struck by lightening. It was great fun,but not profitable.
The guys from the other band are 25-30yrs old,play reggae/ska originals and a handful of covers redone in a reggae style,and will take a gig anywhere for any pay..their last gig was 110mi away and they played for burgers,beer,and the $32 that found it's way to the tip jar,but they got "great exposure"...They also still live with their parents
In my band,we're all pushing 40,live in our own houses,have day jobs and a better(if somewhat jaded) understanding how 'real life' works. We only play covers,but not the standard bar-band fare(BrownEyedGirl,MustangSally,etc.). We charge $500/night-$800/weekend,and have been booked EVERY weekend for the last four years,all within 50mi of home. I'm forced to think we must be doing something right because the establishments call us for bookings,not the other way around..
I spent my early twenties living in a van chasing the 'Big Break' and discovered you have a better chance of getting struck by lightening. It was great fun,but not profitable.
I bought my first bass and learned to play to have fun and relax. The thought of making my own music, much less performing never even crossed my mind when I decided to buy a bass. Having fun and relaxing is still the reason I play bass and it just so happens that right now doing 80's metal covers fits the bill and as a bonus I earn enough to cover my transportation and food/drink costs.
:scowl: Sigh! It's threads like this that make me wanna go smack somebody! They serve no purpose at all!
I don't think the 'vast majority' just play covers but many do play in cover bands. I have played in both situations but I love playing the music I love be it originals or covers. I also have a ton of original compositions I recorded myself (on bass and keys). In any case, I don't see an issue with the desire to be a musician who plays covers. It's no different than Orchestral musicians who desire to be professionals who play in city orchestras or plays/operas! Pop or Classical.....it makes no difference. I wouldn't spend another minute even worrying about this nonsense! C'mon man................really?!?!
I don't think the 'vast majority' just play covers but many do play in cover bands. I have played in both situations but I love playing the music I love be it originals or covers. I also have a ton of original compositions I recorded myself (on bass and keys). In any case, I don't see an issue with the desire to be a musician who plays covers. It's no different than Orchestral musicians who desire to be professionals who play in city orchestras or plays/operas! Pop or Classical.....it makes no difference. I wouldn't spend another minute even worrying about this nonsense! C'mon man................really?!?!
