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What in the Hells goin' on ?
I expect to catch a lot of flak. Personally Scarlett, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN !!
O K, so the new trend is,... everybody is NOW a song writer. Yeah, it's the new wave. BUT WHY, is everyone, especially young musicians, SO addicted to the idea, that, that will assure that their Band is going to become famous !! ???? Sure I've tinkered with song writing. I 've written some decent, amusing songs (Just In my opinion). I think, that I still realize my capabilities, as well as short commings. After listening to some original bands, and their "songs". I feel, that they don't have a clue. In other words, they definitely aren't competition to worry about.
Perhaps, I'm missing something. After all I am from the old school. But, How in the Hell, can an unknown Band play gigs, with all original material and expect to be discovered. Seems to be the mind set of todays youth. To me, that sounds, Bass ackwards. Shouldn't you establish a sound, a following with cover songs, get noticed,... THEN, and only then, record an original. That is providing you are a GOOD song writer, the REAL DEAL.

Oh Groove I love this
I'm not one of those yea mentions, in fact I don't consider myself that much musically compared to many but.........

The best and most promising times for me in the past were with originals. Some bands I was in nearly got that dreaded contract too, butcha know how fickle musical demons can be I expect.

Groove-in wrote:What in the Hells goin' on ?
I expect to catch a lot of flak. Personally Scarlett, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN !!
O K, so the new trend is,... everybody is NOW a song writer. Yeah, it's the new wave. BUT WHY, is everyone, especially young musicians, SO addicted to the idea, that, that will assure that their Band is going to become famous !! ???? Sure I've tinkered with song writing. I 've written some decent, amusing songs (Just In my opinion). I think, that I still realize my capabilities, as well as short commings. After listening to some original bands, and their "songs". I feel, that they don't have a clue. In other words, they definitely aren't competition to worry about.
Perhaps, I'm missing something. After all I am from the old school. But, How in the Hell, can an unknown Band play gigs, with all original material and expect to be discovered. Seems to be the mind set of todays youth. To me, that sounds, Bass ackwards. Shouldn't you establish a sound, a following with cover songs, get noticed,... THEN, and only then, record an original. That is providing you are a GOOD song writer, the REAL DEAL.

The answer on my / our part is quite simple.

(1) We play for the love of it and for the fun, not caring if we get discovered or get rich and famous in the process, in short we are not interested in being anyone's competition.
(2) Nothing written by someone else can ever express what and how I / we feel.

You claim to be old school ( not meant to be offensive ) yet the oldest school of music, before electronic recordings and even written music. The musician had to rely on his own talents.
Some will like our music, some wont.
And in my not so humble opinion many of the "discovered artist" whom are rich and famous, well ... their music sucks. Rife with over complications, negative and or cliche' lyric all for the sake of sales.

With all the advancements in home recording it is an inevitable progression of the art of music.

I guess the end result is ... to each his own.

On the other hand, why do covers if you can't do them better than the original band? I hear a lot of bands that would be far better off doing their own material. A lot of times they simply butcher some one else's material.

I only do covers that I really like, for one reason or another but never any requests since I quit gigging. Very few songs inspire me, and I have to be inspired to want to play. And I never do covers as they were performed. There are many remakes of older songs that are as good or better. So does semi original count for anything?

Like a lot of the musicians I know, I also prefer to write and perform my own material. I don't care to perform in public. But I love doing it on a DAW. I don't care or need to make any money at it. I just enjoy being able to destroy music in the privacy of my own home. That's what makes it fun.

The more you write, the better your chances of writing those great songs.

How else to tell how they will be accepted than by playing them to audiences?

Nah. Sorry, but I disagree. I'll admit there are an awful lot of piss-poor writers out there, but, with practice, they could get better.

There are lots of good writers out there, too. I've worked with some who were exceptional, imo. I've seen & heard some others that were damned good, too.

Singer-songwriter acts have not just recently become popular. Look at the entire music industry. Since the Beatles, ppl have been mostly preferring to record thier own material, & perform it live, over covers.

While covers can help you get your chops up, if you want to develop your own sound, you should world on your own sound, don't you think?

Your question is... "Shouldn't a band spend their time doing covers to get noticed?" The answer is another question... "Get noticed doing what? Sounding like "Santana"? There is already a Santana. Get noticed sounding like Ozzy? There is already an Ozzy. If you really hope to make it in music, the surest way to fail, is being a cover band.

The more time a band spends, trying to sound like other bands, the more they... "WILL" sound like other bands... rather than developing a style all their own... a sound all their own... and originals all their own. Probably the only person who "may" benefit from being in a cover band, would be a lead singer. And an A&R rep will IMMEDIATELY tell them to leave their band, and they will give them a personal development deal.

When an A&R rep wanders into a club, they want to hear the next best thing. They don't want to hear a version of Hotel California that is the closest to the original that they have ever heard! They will sometimes be in that club less than 15 minutes. They need to hear GREAT original music and a see a GREAT PERFORMING band, from the first minute they walk in the door!

Spend all the time you can developing YOUR BAND'S sound and writing YOUR BAND'S distinctive original music.

Otherwise you are just a good cover band.

And there is nothing wrong with being a good cover band. Plenty of people love hearing their favorites by a good band.

But make a decision WHAT YOU WANT TO BE.

Cause it is, pretty much one or the other.

You are going to be a cover band making decent money and having fun.

Or you are going to be a starving original band, trying to MAKE IT.

Make the choice, and work towards that goal, which ever it is.

But DECIDE first.

Don't play games like... "We just do covers to make money right now, but we slip one or two originals into each set too. We really do want to make it, but we just need the money right now."

That path doesn't work.

It just doesn't.

for me personally, I just think that if I'm going to be in front of an audience, why perform other peoples music when I have a chance to do my own?!


"good or bad, as long as they're talkin about ya"

CraigMaxim wrote:


Your question is... "Shouldn't a band spend their time doing covers to get noticed?" The answer is another question... "Get noticed doing what? Sounding like "Santana"? There is already a Santana. Get noticed sounding like Ozzy? There is already an Ozzy. If you really hope to make it in music, the surest way to fail, is being a cover band.

The more time a band spends, trying to sound like other bands, the more they... "WILL" sound like other bands... rather than developing a style all their own... a sound all their own... and originals all their own. Probably the only person who "may" benefit from being in a cover band, would be a lead singer. And an A&R rep will IMMEDIATELY tell them to leave their band, and they will give them a personal development deal.

When an A&R rep wanders into a club, they want to hear the next best thing. They don't want to hear a version of Hotel California that is the closest to the original that they have ever heard! They will sometimes be in that club less than 15 minutes. They need to hear GREAT original music and a see a GREAT PERFORMING band, from the first minute they walk in the door!

Spend all the time you can developing YOUR BAND'S sound and writing YOUR BAND'S distinctive original music.

Otherwise you are just a good cover band.

And there is nothing wrong with being a good cover band. Plenty of people love hearing their favorites by a good band.

But make a decision WHAT YOU WANT TO BE.

Cause it is, pretty much one or the other.

You are going to be a cover band making decent money and having fun.

Or you are going to be a starving original band, trying to MAKE IT.

Make the choice, and work towards that goal, which ever it is.

But DECIDE first.

Don't play games like... "We just do covers to make money right now, but we slip one or two originals into each set too. We really do want to make it, but we just need the money right now."

That path doesn't work.

It just doesn't.

We were hammered one night, and this guy started talking to us about how he was an A&R guy, felt there was some good talent to work with, etc, etc...He gave us is card and all that jazz.
He asked us if we were willing to change up our sound a bit (this was the 90s), and if we would relocate.
We were pretty much all like "yeah, whatever dude...", the whole time because we were all trashed and we didnt believe him.

We checked him out a few days later, and really 'was' A&R for a indie label.

oops.

Change my sound and relocate ??

Relocate ? humm where to and how much does it pay ?

Change my sound ? Not only no but ...
I suppose if I were a professional guitar slinger I might have a different attitude.

Then again, probably not.

This argument covers vs. originals has been discussed ad nauseum (that's Latin for until you puke) both here on this forum and by countless musicians everywhere else. What gives anybody the authority to tell somebody they can't create their own music? Who created the rule that you have to do covers first? Creative people who have a need to write and perform their own material should have complete freedom to do so. Whether their material sucks or not is immaterial. It is not up to any "authority" to censor anybody else's originals. I've heard tunes that I thought were worthless that made MILLIONS of dollars for the artist. I say it is up to the individual to do whatever thy want to, to perform whatever songs they want to whether originals or covers. I've been told by a-hole barowners that originals don't go over at their venue. I tell them we'll do all covers then. We ALWAYS perform a few originals each and every set. Nobody knows the difference. We nearly always get repeat gigs. I've even played entire sets of originals at the same places where they "don't go over" and nobody knows the difference. I say if you don't want to do any original then that's fine. Don't tell other people what they can and can't do. Don't judge whether anybody's original material sucks or not. The only thing that truly matters is that the people performing their own material ARE HAPPY DOING IT. Whatever happens after that is immaterial...

I am NOT putting anyone down, because they write or play, original music.
But, I have witnessed this trend toward original music. What suddenly spawned this ?? I have been around long enough, that I realize it hasn't been on the horizon but just a few years.
It seems as though the "young" Bands appear driven, by this , solely because they are certain this will open doors for them.
Almost every musician classifieds ad, that I see today, states "I have a ton of songs I have written" (or) "I am busy writing songs almost every day" (or) "our Band is looking for someone to collaborate with in writing new material". This mentality reminds me of an assembly line in a factory. I am of the opinion, a really good song, comes to a person naturally. It should not be a forced task, such as accomplished under pressure, deadline.
In summation; I PLAY covers, I LIKE covers, the places I play LIKE covers, I make "GOOD" MONEY playing covers. I Play; Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Traditional Country, and Blues. I have been doing this since 1964. BUT, I do ocassionally add my own twist, and make it mine.
Hope I haven't made any enemies. I am here to ask questions, and offer my advise, and experience.

We've been in a musical recession longer than a financial one! So, who is going to be the next arena band? The next groundbreaker? Are they out there? Do the suit and ties know? Do they care?

Back to the underground gents. We gotta build this thing up ourselves...with sacrifice. Who's willing though?

where i live if ya go into a club and say ..(i would like to get a show ...) they say sure what kind of music ?..u say metal...NO.NONO.we want to hear the same songs that have been played on the radio 7,00000129128447042 times and can ya play some skynard?....its been that way here forever....ya have to go 25--100 miles either way just to get heard.....metalheads get no respect

My two cents…

Musicians are, by their nature, delusional. They think that playing originals in a club in BF Egypt will get them a major label “Deal”. It won’t. Take a trip to the Strip in L.A. and you will hear some really great musicians playing some really great songs. Are they getting deals? No. They are working as landscapers during the day and paying to play in the L.A. clubs.


The business has changed drastically from its heyday, when a label might sign a hundred new acts in a year. Now, they might sign five. Chances are, those five have already built a following, toured on their own, and produced saleable product.


As for the originals vs. covers debate; that will never go away. If you want to amaze your friends and feed your ego, play originals, by all means. If you want to feed your family, you ain’t gonna do it playing originals.


I think the following statement hits the nail on the head:


“(1) We play for the love of it and for the fun, not caring if we get discovered or get rich and famous in the process, in short we are not interested in being anyone's competition.”


If you’re playing music for the love of it, you are already a success.

Trend?? WTF? Musicians have been writing their own music forever. Most have no illusions regarding their chances of "making it", they know the odds are long. This subject has been explored competely in the past but still comes up. If you aren't very creative and can't write original music it's not a crime, do covers if you want. And on the other hand, just because you write some tunes does not mean you're better than musicians who don't. The world is a big place, plenty of room for both.