Life in a cover band

When I started to pick up bass guitar, late in life to some, at 16, what I really cared about is how it might help me be perceived as more appealing to girls. I was already an avid surfer, and if there was surf, that was what I did. A couple of my friends found girls content to sit on the shore and sun bathe as we pursued our passion. I never found such a girl, and I needed some kind of edge. Being in a rather small pond, I got gigs in punk and garage bands, and developed some small degree of ability.
I think it all changed (as referenced in my last post) when I rented the Van Halen video " Live Without a Net". I don't know what year that was, but it was obviously after 86, when the video was released. Eddie looks live he's having the time of his life on that video, and he's tearing it up in his prime. I knew that was the life for me.
I took what little lessons I could afford. We had a local guitar hero, Steve Jurich, who really knew his stuff, and when ever I could scrape together the cash I'd have him show me some stuff, and truth be told, he did a lot of pro bono work too. (We were broke because my parents spent a load of money renting our beach front apartment, for which I will be forever grateful. It was a great way to grow up)



So, anyway. I took it seriously. I did a few bands. I wanted to be a pro musician. I watched a few people around me make pretty good runs of it, but I only ever made one record. Thanks to Duane Taylor for that.

Now I'm going to be 35 this weekend. Rock Stardom is waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of the question. And it seems like when ever your church band starts to get good, people start whining about how your heart is not in the right place. (Like we'd tolerate a pastor giving lousy sermons all the time and just call it "heartfelt") So, what I do to get my groove on is play in a cover band.

I've been with That 70's Band a few years now. When we gig, the pay is ok. But the great thing is the caliber of musicians I get to jam with. We recently began prepareing to be That 50's band, That 60's band and that 80's band as well. Really, I'm playing tons of my favorite tunes with guys who have become like family to me.

So, some guys younger than me have asked how I can sell out and give up my art like that? It's easy. No one wanted to hear my art. (Or more specifically, no one wanted to invest in my art to expose it to people who might want to hear it.)Maybe one out of, what 10,000 bands has any success at all. And anyone who has been in the industry knows it's not the most talented, most visionary bands that make it. It's the most marketable. (It's even more rare to have a marketable band with vision) Anyway,I'm no longer marketable. So do I give up on music because of that? No way. Making music is FUN. And I've made far more money playing other people's music than I ever did my own. My only regret is that I didn't hit on this cover band thing sooner.

My band offers costumes as an option, which adds a bit of anonymity that really lets you cut loose on stage. All the cliches that seem so goofy when you are trying to get signed become "what they're payin' ya for!" Acting like a ham can get you tips.

The one down side ( if you want to call it that) is that people really want to accurately reproduce the song. You're in the nostalgia business, and the more you remind them of their youth, the better you'll do. This means, yes, "Louie Louie" is pretty boring for the bassist. Getting feel for the crowd can give you a bit of freedom though. Still, watching my buddy John nail Berton Averre's athletic guitar solo onMy Sharona night after night is a talent unto it's self.

Treating music as a product to be marketed might bother some art minded individuals, but really, it's a more honest version of what the music industry does every day. Metallica may talk a good game, but really they manufactured a product that appealed to disenfranchised youth, and slowly built market share until they had mass market appeal. They never would have even made that 1st record on Megaforce if somebody didn't smell money first.

So, I like my cover band. I'll keep doing it until I can't anymore. And, I'll keep finally getting paid to play music.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

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