Might not be a completely popular position, but here it goes.
Cover bands suck anyways. Either make your own awesome music or get out of the way for people that do! I will straight leave a “music venue” that has a cover band playing. That’s fine when your learning to play as a kid, but grown ass men playing horrible renditions of another grown ass mans music is just sad and pathetic IMO. They’re one step down from tribute bands.
I have played in original bands in the past. My experience was that most bars want cover bands. Ive booked WAY MORE gigs as a cover band than an original band. Not saying one is better than the other. Just my personal experience.Nobody wants to hear original music at restaurants and pubs these days. Music has become a commodity. I enjoy being hired.
Not...And then your only options are give up music altogether, become a bedroom player (I'm not sure if that's any better then giving up music altogether, but hey, if you like it, go for it!) , or join a cover or tribute band.
Not...
My band plays only original music, and has done so since 1993. You don't have to be "trying to be a rock star" to play original music and enjoy doing it.
I started a family and a career at a very young age (20) and I'm a realist. I know the odds and the industry (and the fact that talent doesn't equal success!). I never had big dreams because I knew the likelyhood of getting that lucky was pretty slim.
We made a conscious decision about 15 years ago to mostly forego bar gigs. We didn't have a problem booking them, but there were long hours for little to no money (not our motivation, but it's nice to get paid) and the audience was just not all that interested. They were mostly there to try and "hook up" not to listen to music. And the bar owners do NO promotion... And when you're an adult, most of your friends are only going to make 1 or 2 gigs a year, even if you're only playing on the weekend.
So, we focus on fairs, civic events, etc that draw much larger audiences and we get people that are actively listening to us play. That is what we want as performers of original music - an engaged audience.
Of course, we are a fairly "family friendly" so that helps. If you're playing death core you might have a bigger challenge
Anyway, my point is that there are always options.
Congrats that you can make it work. You and your band are doing something right. Good for you and keep it up. But do keep in mind that your experiences are not the rule, but the exception.
Right now there is little market for original rock music. As Rick Beato said, rock has become the new jazz. Music for and by musicians, but not the mass public. EDM, pop and rap are king. Only classic rock still does well, because it has the power of recognition. There's a reason most musicians start out playing covers and end their careers in cover bands. It's easier to get gigs playing covers and its more lucrative to play covers. There are cover bands nowadays playing arenas, something 99.9% of original rock bands will never reach. It may not be to everyone's liking, but like I said, as you get older and older at some point in time one has to realize that that big break into rockstardom will not happen. And then its either sell your gear and focus on other things, become a bedroom player, or start playing covers. At least the last option is still the most fun of those three.
And before we diss cover bands for taking the easy road, the really good successful ones also work very hard to reach that kind of level.
I’ve seen rap cover gigs, or at least rap songs in cover band sets. I think it just depends on the specific venue and audience more than the band. Those things determine what the band can get away with. That’s how I approach it anyway. I always scan the audience and change my sets in real time depending on who arrives and leaves.Know what is interesting ? No one seems to do rap covers. Rap stuff always seems to be original.
No one says they are going to do a night of Tupac covers, NWA covers etc
I don’t know if it’s that fans would go for it or what, but if you want to rap, you seem to have to do your own stuff, BUT, if your a dude with guitar, you can say your going to play Jack Johnson, Sublime etc, solo gigs and get booked (likely for little money) at tons of places around town.
Just kind of strange when you think about it.
I do plenty of rap stuff (Tupac, Dre, Eminem, House of Pain, Kanye, Flo Rida, Chris Brown, etc.).Know what is interesting ? No one seems to do rap covers. Rap stuff always seems to be original.
No one says they are going to do a night of Tupac covers, NWA covers etc
I don’t know if it’s that fans would go for it or what, but if you want to rap, you seem to have to do your own stuff, BUT, if your a dude with guitar, you can say your going to play Jack Johnson, Sublime etc, solo gigs and get booked (likely for little money) at tons of places around town.
Just kind of strange when you think about it.
Might not be a completely popular position, but here it goes.
Cover bands suck anyways. Either make your own awesome music or get out of the way for people that do! I will straight leave a “music venue” that has a cover band playing. That’s fine when your learning to play as a kid, but grown ass men playing horrible renditions of another grown ass mans music is just sad and pathetic IMO. They’re one step down from tribute bands.
I'm gonna write a song called DGAF... Guess what the chords are gonna be?I generally DGAF what otherguitaristspeople on a forum think my band should or shouldn't be playing. There's a certain peace of mind that comes with that mindset.
I enjoy a cover band that plays a certain style, and does it well, on occasion. I typically like proper stage show, dress etc. if your going to do it, do it well.
What I don’t really enjoy is just a few regular looking dudes on stage, playing covers. Usually they don’t give a unique take on the songs, it doesn’t sound as good, and I’d probably be just as happy with a jukebox.
I jam on covers myself, at home, for fun, but don’t really see the point in most cases of being a cover band, or at least one that doesn’t try to do some original stuff.
All the bands that wrote the music the cover bands are doing only got to that level becasue they did original work.
Playing your own stuff always seems like the real point of being, creating, not just performing.
I’d rather hear a bad original that hear a good, yet by the book cover of some done to death pop or hard rock song for the 1000th time.
I love Floyd but don’t want to hear a bad bar cover of Comfortably Numb, or god forbid Sweet Home Albama etc
Brown eyed girl ? Sorry, I’m leaving lol
Know what is interesting ? No one seems to do rap covers. Rap stuff always seems to be original.
No one says they are going to do a night of Tupac covers, NWA covers etc
I don’t know if it’s that fans would go for it or what, but if you want to rap, you seem to have to do your own stuff, BUT, if your a dude with guitar, you can say your going to play Jack Johnson, Sublime etc, solo gigs and get booked (likely for little money) at tons of places around town.
Just kind of strange when you think about it.
Sorry, basically already been done. If you write a new one it’s basically a cover.I'm gonna write a song called DGAF... Guess what the chords are gonna be?
Yep! I almost never listen to anything resembling classic rock radio, and rarely listen any more to most of what I would call "my favorite bands" - Zep, The Who, Yes, Genesis, U2, Beatles, Stones, Floyd, the Dead, etc - even though I have all their tunes, I rarely spin them unless they happen to show up on shuffle. That way when I do hear them somewhere I'm like "cool!" instead of burnt out on it. And when I play some of them in a band I can still enjoy it a lot more.As for being tired of the classics, they're called the classics for a reason. For better or for worse, those are the songs most people want to hear.