Cover Songs

I have been preparing myself to start performing here in the UK. I have played at a few open mics since being here, but have not done any real "gigs". In the past I have always focused my attention on my own original material. I have had this deep rooted aversion to playing cover songs. Why spend all this time writing music if people just want to hear what they already know.

But that is the problem. People really like the songs that they are familiar with. When they know what is coming and what the words are, they can get into the song more and in turn enjoy the overall performance more. I started to think about concerts that I have been to in the past, and artists almost always play a cover song or two, and people always love the cover songs. And these are established artists playing covers even though they have plenty of their own material to draw from.

So, the tide has turned. I have been learning some cover songs. My goal is to do about 1/3 covers to 2/3 original. I think this combination will help people to enjoy my original songs more. I can hopefully keep their attention with the occasional familiar tune.

There has been a side benefit to learning these cover songs. I am playing chord progressions, and singing melodies that are different from my own natural song writing style, and I am already seeing the influence of other's songs on my own. For example, I am learning a couple of Bob Dylan songs (lots of words to remember). I recently wrote a song that started with the following line: "today the wind was with me pushing at my back". Heather asked if the new song was a Bob Dylan song. I didn't notice at first, but it does kind of have a Dylanesque ring to it (especially when you add in the melody).

Of course my writing has always been influenced by the artists that I listen to most, but actually playing and singing the songs of others seems to be even more influential. I do look at the influence as a good thing. I want to be careful not to be copying what others are doing because that would defeat the purpose of original music. I do believe that the influence is actually helping me to grow in new and unique directions that I could never accomplish on my own.

I heard about a writer that never read any other books or newspapers because he wanted his writing to be original and all his own. While I see the merit in this, I think it is a bit sad. I have been reading a book that is a compilation of interviews of song writers. In the interview of Pete Seeger, Seeger talks about song writers being links in a chain, and carrying on the songs, stories, and music of the ones that have come before. I think this is true not only by playing the songs of other song writers, but by allowing other writers to influence my own style and thus carry on their musical spirits in the new material that I write.

JE