On the Strangeness of the Cover Band

People that know me in the embodied world, often know that I play music as often as I can, usually with two or three different groups - sort of a mercenary guitarist, if you will. I have an original band that is currently and slowly working on an album, a duo that plays lots of funky/bluesy originals and a few covers and a bar band that plays mostly covers.

A lot of people hate on cover bands. In fact, for a particular kind of hipster, it's almost a hobby. And I get it. I really do. Most of the music I cover is not music I listen to. However, that being said, I love playing bar rock for strangers and the handful of people that become regulars, almost like family.

And in the bar rock world, I've ran across some of the absolute best musicians I've ever encountered - at least since I was attempting to be a classical guitarist many, many moons ago. The reason these guys are so good is because one thing that is rarely thought about is what is really asked of a bar rock guitar player. Every night you must not only be able to sound reasonably similar to, say, Stevie Ray Vaughn, but also to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and so forth. This is not an easy task for any player.

Then there's the other factor. I enjoy getting paid for my work. And if you want to get paid, it helps to play songs people know. Now this does bring in an incredibly fun-to-think about issue for me. What are people really getting into? Is it the song? Is it the band's version of the song? Is it ever, can it ever be, the band?

Finally, I will say this. Even though I don't go out of my way to seek out cover bands on my nights off, when I hear a really good one, I totally get the joy of being able to sing along with overplayed songs that I usually didn't realize I still loved. And even if that band isn't doing exactly what they desired - who wouldn't rather get paid to do their own music - they are workers and what worker gets to love every minute of his job. Or to be snottier, you don't get to work for IBM and then claim I sold out because I'm playing a Tom Petty tune.