True, it is limiting your opportunities as a musician. But if you have a specific goal for a project in mind (like an original group trying to make it in the national and international scene), playing covers and dive bars to people who would NEVER be your fans to begin with is a waste of resources and counter-productive. But, I agree, by not playing in random wedding bands, or cover bands, or jazz trios, I am stuning my short-term musical growth. Which is something I'd like to rectify once I'm satisfied with this band!
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I have a problem with cover/tribute bands.
- Thread starter T-Forty
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True, it is limiting your opportunities as a musician. But if you have a specific goal for a project in mind (like an original group trying to make it in the national and international scene), playing covers and dive bars to people who would NEVER be your fans to begin with is a waste of resources and counter-productive. But, I agree, by not playing in random wedding bands, or cover bands, or jazz trios, I am stuning my short-term musical growth. Which is something I'd like to rectify once I'm satisfied with this band!
I couldn't agree with you more. I've just never had an emotional reaction to a cover band, other than being mildy embarassed for people on the stage.
Why would you have an emotional reaction to a band (I mean unless you had like a huge man-crush, idol-worship thing for the singer
)?I don't go to art shows and have emotional reactions to artists, though I do react to their work. Same thing with bands. I have emotional reactions to live music. Doesn't matter much to me whose doing the playing.
To be embarrassed for the cover band musicians onstage says more about you than them. In fact, judgment of others is always about the person judging, not the one being judged.
Everyone we meet is a mirror reflecting back on ourselves. What you feel about others says everything about you, and only you.
You don't see it.
You make a conclusion... cover bands = no path to fame and fortune - then you fill up your discussion with stuff that makes you believe it to be true.
You don't even give yourself a chance to see that maybe you're unnecessarily restricting your perspective. Of course every person has a right to their opinion - and I am not even disputing your opinion - I am trying to acquaint you with how making such a blanket assessment of the value or lack-there of, of being in a [whatever] band FIRST - automatically fulfills your prophecy.
In your case, if you were in a cover band, you are 100% right. You wouldn't succeed (by your definition). You'd just play in that band and know that it's a nowhere gig and accept it.
Others, who don't hold that view, will play in cover bands and completely blow your prophecy away and will succeed. Why? Because they have not already decided that simply playing in a cover band ruins all chances of "making it".
Your opinions and comments about "cover" and "original" only demonstrate that you've already concluded what those types of bands can and cannot do - who will and who won't like them and so on. You also only choose to see the side of the story that supports your opinion and use that as justification for sharing and spreading your views as if they are actually factual.
None of which will HELP you succeed as a musician, celebrity, artist.
Trust me, trying to make a living playing music in ANY way is not an easy task these days. Some of the local people I know that are doing it fill the weekdays with solo acoustic shows. No overhead on those. I saw Deerhoof play to a meager crowd a few years back. When they weren't playing, they were running their own swag booth. I think I'm fortunate to have done it for a living for 5 years, in a time when there was both work and an audience for ANY good band. FWIW - Chad Smith was in a cover band in Michigan that were top dogs in the circuit I played a lot.
To your questions:
Ha, maybe, but show me the last Spin/Rolling Stone/Pitchfork review of the lastest and greatest cover band?
I'm sure one of them has covered RHCP in the last few years
When was the last time any A&E section of a paper did a feature on a cover band (other than Lez Zeppelin, because they rule)?
Major newspapers have pretty much never done that, but local/regional papers have been known to cover any band that is hugely popular
What cover band do you remember from your youth?
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Foghat, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie
What cover band songs did you blast on the last day of classes in high school?
Probably LZ
What was the last cover band that mattered?
See answer 3, and add RHCP.
To your questions:
Ha, maybe, but show me the last Spin/Rolling Stone/Pitchfork review of the lastest and greatest cover band?
I'm sure one of them has covered RHCP in the last few years
When was the last time any A&E section of a paper did a feature on a cover band (other than Lez Zeppelin, because they rule)?
Major newspapers have pretty much never done that, but local/regional papers have been known to cover any band that is hugely popular
What cover band do you remember from your youth?
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Foghat, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie
What cover band songs did you blast on the last day of classes in high school?
Probably LZ
What was the last cover band that mattered?
See answer 3, and add RHCP.
Six months ago, The King Bucks, a "cover band" of "old country favorites" was featured in the A&E section of the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].
A Johnny Cash "tribute band" in Dallas (Boys Named Sue) just got signed to Idol Records this week as featured in the Dallas Observer. They were signed based on the strength of their live shows after being in the running for Best Cover Band and Best Country Band for the past three years.
Not the point either. My comment was regarding assessing such descriptors to any version of band.
It's surprising to me how difficult it seems to be for people to detach from the need to be able to quantify being in a band so simplistically. Maybe it's youth, maybe it's fear, whatever it is, it's amazing that people feel such a compelling need to label things and declare them "good" or "bad" - and hide behind the "hey... everyone's got an opinion..." cloak of unaccountability.
The inane bickering - it's so comical. "Cover band blah blah blah blah blah...." - "Well, original band blah blah blah blah "...
Pot, meet kettle... kettle, pot... OK. NOW can we talk about dinner?
- Oct 7, 2000
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I'm pretty sure the cover band The Nerds have been written up in the big NY papers. If I'm not mistaken they're known nationwide too.
The Chilipeppers do play some covers, but they covers songs in a way that fits with their own style (Higher Ground, for example). And calling the Beatles and Stones a cover band? Nobody who knows the distinction would never make that claim!
And if the Best Country Band for the past three years is a COVER band, country is is worse shape than I thought...
And if the Best Country Band for the past three years is a COVER band, country is is worse shape than I thought...
Exactly. It's ALL good.
What is wrong with just playing music? If you wrote it, good for you!
If someone else wrote it, but you find it inspiring and wish to play it for others too? Hey great, let's all enjoy it! Seriously everybody...it's ALL good. All music is great, no matter who wrote it or who plays it.
Got a quick question for you...
If your original music got so popular that cover bands wanted to play it, how would that make you feel?
Hahaha, touche!
I think it'd make me feel good. Unless their bass player was better than me!
Hahaha, touche!
I think it'd make me feel good. Unless their bass player was better than me!
Why?
Well, it'd mean that my music was good enough to be heard by enough people that cover bands would want to cover it!
And if he was a better bassist than me, it'd just be plain jealousy!
And if he was a better bassist than me, it'd just be plain jealousy!
First off, the point that several people have been making throughout this thread is that MANY bands have began their career doing both covers and originals. One key is picking cover songs that will stand up well alongside your own songs.
Which is also why you are missing the point of the Beatles reference. They began almost solely as a cover band doing skiffle stuff. It's what they had to do to get stage time and make money to live.
Which is why I made the comment about living from your music. When you do that you realize that you can't simply throw out things like "well, that's not our crowd" or "we don't do cover songs". You learn to work a crowd and MAKE as many of them into fans as you can. You also occasionally learn some hard truths about your own music.
But the larger point is that when your goal is to make sure the venue that booked you is satisfied and the customers coming to see a live band (and not really to see you per se) are entertained, your perspective changes. And I say this because you sound like me when I was 18. But when I was 22 and 1000 miles from home and needing to make sure we sold enough T-shirts and CDs for food and gas money to get to the next gig I suddenly wasn't against peppering the set with more covers than usual if that's what it seemed like the crowd wanted that night.
Hahaha, touche!
I think it'd make me feel good. Unless their bass player was better than me!
Well, it'd mean that my music was good enough to be heard by enough people that cover bands would want to cover it!
And if he was a better bassist than me, it'd just be plain jealousy!
So are you saying you'd feel good about feeling embarrassed (or embarrassed for feeling good) for someone doing a cover of your music?
Or are you saying you'd feel good if someone was covering your music, and only feel embarrassed if they were covering someone else's?
I understand the point you were making. It was more of a side note that the word pair "artistic integrity" is generally brought up by the people who don't consider them selves to be in the group in question. It fits the: "Cover band blah blah blah blah blah...." - "Well, original band blah blah blah blah "... -description well.
Last time I looked Country Music is doing just fine, Thank You.
So now you not only look down upon cover bands, but an entire genre of music deserves your disdain? WOW ! just exactly how high is that horse you're riding?
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