Is It Necessary To Cut Your Teeth In A Cover Band?

[P-Nutz]

I say do what moves you.

I’ve played in nothing but cover bands since I started over 40 years ago. I do not have an original bone in my body.

I currently play in two, both popular (one for 22 years, one for 15). I’ve been able to open for huge acts, play for a POTUS three times and in front of crowds of more than 20K. People like our music and we have all the gigs we want. I haven’t played a bar in years, enjoy a great day job, and sleep in my bed (almost) every night.

Plus, Ms. Nutz plays bass in one … what’s not to love?!

Be you; play what moves you!

 

[loopfinding]

if your objective is making originals a living/commercial venture, then yeah, it might be necessary...if you want to make a polished product like what you're covering.

if your objective is making originals to make something original, it's not really too important. i was in cover bands when i was in middle school, and that plus school jazz band was a good way to learn playing with people, and that's about it.

i've never been in a cover band since that age, and i've played hundreds of gigs. as far as stuff that wasn't self-released, have been on three records and a couple comps. and comparatively speaking, that's lagging way behind as far as friends' gigging amount or output in the same scenes. i haven't really made any money off of either things. but that wasn't the point, i have a day job, i just did them for the sake of doing them.

if a) making a living off of it is not important to you, b) you live near a big city or college town, and c) you're into a specific niche with a scene...you can play almost anything you want, whenever you want, so long as you make friends with people/become part of a local scene. and who knows, maybe it actually does hit. unfortunately you're kind of out of luck if you're just into vanilla rock, you gotta find your thing.

i will say the way that people on music forums present it is very black and white - you're either a professional hired gun or you're a hobbyist at home. that hasn't remotely been my experience (or the experience of others in my scenes).

 

[Kandinskyesque]

Did you really do everything exactly like the original?

Yes, it was a Pink Floyd tribute, I joined them after their singer left. Probably 20 years ago now.

I like Pink Floyd and thought it would be good fun, not realising they were obsessively trying to achieve the impossible.

Nobody seemed to be enjoying it, zero camaraderie (apart from the post rehearsal and gig weed smoke-athon) because they were never going to achieve their goal.
I lasted 4 or 5 months.

As far as I'm aware they're still going.

 

[Red Ryder]

Not to be snarky, but does anyone here have any originals we may have heard of?

I'm sure everyone here is familiar with my solid gold hit, "Fatty Liver Lana Licked My Ukalale."

 

[uriah1]

All power to you. Usually we only did covers because you have to sell food and drinks. Many places are based on customer needs. Probably bigger markets or younger you don’t have to worry.

 

[nojazzhere]

It seems to me that there are many that think that you need to pay your dues doing covers before you can make the jump to doing originals.
Is that the right approach?

Why not just do your originals right out of the gate? Blow everyone away.

I originally came from the world of classical music and traditional church music. With VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS.....that is "cover music".
I want to play the very best possible compositions available. IF your original music is honestly better than all of the other songs out there, then by all means.....play your own compositions. But I'd be willing to bet real money, it's NOT. Play the best of the best music that's out there UNTIL your own songs are better. AND... don't get a chip on your shoulder about how good or bad your own songs are. Be objective.....AND humble about how your songs compare to other stuff......not every song on The Beatles' earliest albums were perfect......there's always room to learn from your "betters", and benefit from their "knowledge".
And, by the way,.....there's a lot of great music by people other than The Beatles......BUT they're really the "touch stone" if you really want to "start".

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

I took a different but not deliberate path. Started out on originals with various bands through my teens and twenties, then joined a cover band. The guys in that band were mostly a decade ahead of me and seasoned players, and knew how to land gigs. I learned a lot. A whole lot.

 

[4pickupguy]

You can hone your chops in a cover band. You will be fluent in more styles. You meet a network of musicians. You will have more gigs.

I personally have found playing in cover bands soul crushing. I have to write music. I wound up in a cover band again and its getting frustrating.

Good luck with your music and go where it calls you and stay true to yourself.

 

[bottlenecker]

Not to be snarky, but does anyone here have any originals we may have heard of?

People here haven't even heard of clubs where original bands play, apparently.

 

[CalebAaron666]

No

I’ve played in original bands for over 20 years, playing my songs, or bandmates songs, but I’ve always enjoyed throwing a cover song or two into a set list.

If money is important to a player, then a cover band is where it’s at.
Original material feeds the soul not the wallet.

 

[teletimetx]

It seems to me that there are many that think that you need to pay your dues doing covers before you can make the jump to doing originals.
Is that the right approach?

Why not just do your originals right out of the gate? Blow everyone away.

The only “right” approach is what’s right for you. If you think your material will blow everyone away, you’re going backwards getting opinions on playing covers.

There have been a few gifted people who managed to blow everyone away right from the start, but almost all of them had some serious economic struggles before finding their footing.

You prepared to live in your car?

How serious or dedicated or ambitious are you?

You can learn a lot by playing really great songs. Your choice.

 

[Frodebro]

For me, my time in a cover band (four years @ 150 nights per year) absolutely took me to another level as a player. I had been doing my own stuff in my home studio for quite a few years prior to that, and resumed that hobby a few years after the band ended. The stuff I was doing afterward was definitely of a higher caliber, as I had assimilated many things from the songs we covered into my own natural style.

 

[beyer160]

Not to be snarky, but does anyone here have any originals we may have heard of?

I don't understand this way of thinking. Are you saying that only songs that are popular are good? Popularity and quality are totally unrelated concepts. To relate this to a TDPRI-level analogy, Nick Jonas is a more famous guitarist than Joe Bonamassa. Does this mean he's "better"?

It's a shame that so much time has gone by that those of us ( maybe older folks now) that love playing/gigging the fantastic music we grew up with ( for me '50's-'70's) keeping it alive, are relegated to being characterized as 'playing in a cover band'

Playing in a cover band isn't really "keeping music alive", that's what recording technology is for. I'm guessing that on any given day, more people heard the original recording of "Brown Eyed Girl" either on the radio or through their own music collection than heard cover bands play it. If you enjoy doing it and people enjoy hearing it then great, but if every cover band in the world folded tomorrow, music would survive. Hell, this basically happened between 2020 and earlier this year, and music didn't die.

As if it were not as good, artistic, something lesser, as doing original music..

It's certainly not creating anything, though. And if no one created anything then there'd be no songs for cover bands to play, so yeah, it's an important distinction. That's why Mick and Keith are famous, and Stones cover bands are not.

*admittedly touchy about the subject, as I have put in a lot of (fun) work learning the music I play

If it was fun, then the work was it's own reward. I've played gigs in front of less people than I have guitars, but had a good time anyway because playing those songs with that band was fun. We weren't contributing to the overall culture of the late 20th century in any meaningful way, but it was a rewarding way to spend our time.

 

[Linderflomann]

The idea that you need to "cut your teeth" in a cover band before you get to write originals sounds like gatekeeping nonsense to me. Almost none of the artists I like took this route, they just started writing, and picked up musical skills along the way.

 

[bottlenecker]

Here's someone from my town who played in an original band called Phox, playing in clubs that book primarily original acts. I used to see Monica sing around town regularly, but now I see her on the tonight show. I don't think she was ever in a cover band.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

Its more an issue of getting gigs. If you want to play local pubs and bars...people want to hire bands that play the standards. You can always work some originals in, but its tough to get gigs playing originals.

 

[Aldus Bunbury]

I don’t know that playing in a cover band is necessary, but, as others have suggested, it is instructive. It will certainly improve your chops, and it will give you exposure to a world of ideas.

However, in my experience, more important than performing in a cover band is learning 200-300 songs that you find particularly impressive. This is the best way I know to sharpen your writing chops—the most important skill set if you want to do originals.

 

[Hodgo88]

No but it is somewhat necessary to spend an uncomfortable sweaty summer in a garage covering Sabbath

 

[Timbresmith1]

Roll your own. There are artists and there are interpreters of art. I detest playing covers unless I’m trying to master a particular technique.
It really depends on the “Why?”
Are you trying to make a living?
Pick up Boomer chicks (cougars)?
Be a minor celeb in your neighborhood?
Become a guitar teacher?
Hear music in your head and you want to flesh it out?
If you have an artistic temperament, it’s going to express itself somehow/somewhere in your life. If you like to express yourself within the fairly rigid confines of what the public cares to hear, go for the cover band.

 

[staxman]

People here haven't even heard of clubs where original bands play, apparently.

To be clear, I was wondering if anyone reading this thread had ever been involved in writing a song that was picked up by a recording artist. Someone mentioned hearing their song played by others. We have a lot of talented folks on the forum—it is possible. No disrespect intended to anyone at any level.