General Music Chat

I don't want this to turn into another one of those original vs covers debates.
So try to look at this from my perspective if you can.
I'll keep the description brief.
Gig coming up right. So the event organizer (or at least our contact) said we were "just what their looking for" then said he wants us to play 3 or 4 "praise and worship songs".
So I'm like ????
All of our music is "praise and worship" ( I was not the one talking to him from our band so I could not iron it out right then)
I have to assume at this point he's talking about requests or covers.

I see it this way. We are a God-rock band. We write and perform original music. That is our strength, it's what we do. It's what we are all about.
We are different. It's our show.
I don't want to be pushed into some one else's "box".
I don't want to be some generic "praise band".
Sure, we may get more local "entertainment gigs" is the short term if we sound like everyone else.
I think it would be a sell out on our goals. And in the long term degrade our mission.

What do you guys think?
Am I just being an ass?
Or could there be some merit, in not being, just another cookie cutter contemporary "praise band".

No, you are not being an ass, you are being an artist but fans of all genres of music like to hear certain songs from performers. It's like when we went to see Ian Anderson he played tons of Jethro Tull songs along with his other songs which were exemplary. When you perform, you are not just there for you...you are there for fans and potential fans which is where your bread is being buttered. As a Christian band you hafta give and give well. Suck it up and enjoy some traditional praise tunes with your audience and then shredd some of your own praiseworthy originals.

That was nice Black.

Your point is well taken Mary.
I've never been good at "sucking it up" when it feels like just "sucking up"
Would the BEATLES go on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW and do STONES covers ?
I just feel a fierce allegiance to our music.
If someone wants to hear CASTING CROWNS well, hire them or buy their CD.
Maybe it's the old fighter in me, I don't want to compromise.
I am not a professional musician, but I have seen the crowds response to our music and energy. I have faith in our show being worthy on it's own merits. I feel very strongly that, that is where our future is.

I respect and appreciate your input Mary.
Thanks

Anyone else ??

?? I don't recall a covers vs. originals debate here!! Did I miss it?!

I handle requests like this. If somebody asks me to do a specific song by a specific artist, I never do the request unless by chance I know the song AND I like the song. I ask the person requesting the song if they ever heard of musical reciprocity. If the particular requested artist is still alive I tell the requester that I don't perform any song by that artist unless that artist will cover one of my songs, and I leave it at that...Don't EVER do any request by a venue owner or event organizer. Just tell them about musicial reciprocity and play YOUR OWN material the way you normally play it. What's the worst that could happen? Well you could bomb, but it sounds like you haven't bombed yet so there's nothing to worry about.

Maybe it's the old fighter in me, I don't want to compromise.

Who are you fighting? Does adding 3-4 traditional songs=compromise your artistry? or does it actually expand your repertoire, your versatility. What if someone someday is looking for a really cool God-Rock band who also plays 3 or 4 traditional praise tunes and out of 10 bands under consideration, you are the only band that can offer this...offer it, man.

I'll shut up now and let someone else speak.

That was nice Black.

Thanks

George,

A couple of thoughts...

I think Bob and I are close in our feelings about being ORIGINALS artists, but we do covers sometimes too. But if possible, we do them OUR WAY! Put a new twist on them, which is...

1) Still being creative
2) Maintaining your band's sound
3) Doesn't require any sucking up!


But still, this is an interesting question, not as easily answered I think, because you're band is also a ministry.

You're probably going to have to avoid PRAISE & WORSHIP type gigs, and be sure they are booking you for a SHOW!

Cause that is what they are expecting when they hear "Praise & Worship" is the sing-a-long variety of praise music. Which is lovely and spiritually uplifting, but it is a different animal.

I say, just be clear up-front that you are putting on a SHOW, but that you also incorporate a "few" standard praise and worship songs, and invite the people to sing along, here and there, throughout the show. (if you decide to do covers, but do them your own way)

So then, they are getting the best of both worlds!

And I think doing a few praise songs your own way, maintains your musical integrity!

And here's one for ya...

WHAT'S WRONG WITH WRITING YOUR OWN PRAISE SONGS TOO?

Write a few of your own. Who knows if they catch on?

Praise & Worship songs should be fairly simple, and easy to pick up fast, so that they have the melody by one or two passes.
And then brother... the people get to sing with you on some songs, but they are still ALL YOUR SONGS!

If you write a P&W song or two...

1) easy to remember
2) simple hooks
3) repetitive, so they can get it after a few passes

It sounds to me as if you were hired for a specific purpose - to play 3 or 4 p & w songs. You took the gig. If you can't do the job, you should tell them to hire someone else. If you can do the job, you should do the job.

The organizer wants the audience singing with you, rather than going to a concert event.

I don't see this as a problem, but more like a regular part of being a christian musician, but perhaps I'm missing something...

While the Beatles didn't do Stones songs on Ed Sullivan, sans, they DID cover other bands' work in thier LP's & live before they toured doing thier own songs. They did it for years, btw, as they toured England & Germany. There are lots of recordings of it. Try not to take yourself too seriously. I mean, are you equating your band to the Beatles, or this performance to the Ed Sullivan Show?

Some very good points again lady and gents. Ray (our front) sent me a letter today entailing some of these very points.
We have some covers we do that I suppose would be considered P&W.
And now that I come to a realization that the "sing along" aspect is what P&W is all about. I feel better about it all. Unlike most all of you guys I am not good enough to just pull a song I have never played before out of my hat. A frightening thought indeed. Yet we have one Audience Participation song. AMEN, I don't recall ever recording it though.
We have another Ray & Tony began writing and arranging just this week.
The gig is confirmed. I will allow Ray to construct the set list. He has never failed to do a fine job and I trust his intuition on this kind of thing.
And I'll shut up and play my guitar.
After all that is my job.

I think you might be worrying over nothing again Sans ! When you show up and play your tunes for this gig your going to kick ass and make that crowd very happy. Don't let someone on the sidelines upset your desire to shine like we know you will.

And its another day in Paradise !!!!

Oh yea , leave the covers alone.

Thanks #1

It's a done deal however, so I'll just have to suck it up like the lady said and enjoy the show.
We will likely do 15-20 songs, so I don't think 3 or 4 covers will kill me.
May weaken my force a bit, but I will recover when the head banging begins.