Cover Songs

Ask any band that survives by writing their own music playing live what are their recurring band "discussions" and you are sure to receive any number of answers.  They might range from things like ... "our bassist is always hammered," to "our lead singer constantly complains about her hair."  However there is always one band discussion that gets more heated than most, and the topic would seem so petty and simple to most people outside the band ...

Recently our band had a heated discussion about whether we should cover the Fitz and The Tantrums tune "Moneygrabber."  Some guys in the band really liked the tune and felt that it played to our strengths ... it has a horn section, it has a cool groove, a female backup singer, etc.  Others in the band were strongly against the tune as the Fitz version doesn't even have a guitar and we have two!

We played the song through a couple times at practice and it sounded good for a first run, but not everyone was sold.  Over the next few days a heated battle ensued.  The battle lines were drawn over how to choose a cover.  Why is this such an important thing for a band?  We suggest you think about some of your favorite concerts that you have ever attended.  What do you remember most?  Surely you remember the two or three 'hit' songs, when the crowd was singing along or waiving their lighters to "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," but you probably remember when Dave Matthews played a freaking 10 minute solid "Burnin' Down the House," or when John Mayer covered "Free Fallin'."

The fact is, choosing a cover song is an important decision, because with that single choice, you have the opportunity to give a fan attending your show an insight into your band; an insight into what your band likes and to how we can creatively adapt to fit someone else's song into their style.  One way to consider the cover song as a band, is to consider it as your opportunity to showcase your personality outside of the songs and lyrics people have associated with you.

Our story ended like this ... We decided to do "Moneygrabber."  We all committed to the song, came up with a guitar part that fit the tune, and even put in some theatrical pieces to really turn it into a great performance.  We performed it this past Saturday at Double Door in Chicago and the response was awesome.  Whether or not people knew the song was irrelevant.  We had so much fun delivering the song ... and THAT is the key.