Calling all Cover bands

[GodWentPUNK]

Hey guys:

Just a quick question to all those 'working' cover bands. And when I say 'working' I mean 2-3 shows per month and perform a 4 hour show. These are the parameters of what my current band does.

A question arose the other day at a gig as to when we were going to have our next practice to learn some new songs. We were bringing on board about 3-5 new songs every two-three months but since March, all of us have been really busy and so we've not had a practice since then.

So, how many new songs do your bands bring on-board on a yearly basis.

joe...

[Newc]

When I had a band, we wrote new material every time we got together. We had 40 songs in various stages of development (main rhythm established and a working vocal melody/lyrics, up to completed songs) in 3 months. We couldn't stop writing new stuff long enough to finish the old stuff, much less learn covers.

Too bad we couldn't get along as people

[thetroy]

Your band is well-established enough that you can measure things on a per-year basis? I'm impressed.

[Soap]

Learning that many new cover tunes that often and throwing them into the mix?

Three things:
1. Top 40 cover tunes?
Other bands tunes and no originals just copy cover tunes, right?
Top 40 of what? Metal's top 40, radio rock, contemporary, country, a mix of everything...?
2. Congrats if your adding that many that often into the overall mix.
Your definitely established indeed.
3. I hope this doesn't happen to you, but, you may take on too many to quick and end up biting of more then you can chew. Feel it out.

[Genebaby]

i voted 6-10. We could do more but these days we find it tough just selecting new songs that will work with the crowds we play to. Currently going through a singer replacement process so al new stuff is on hold.

[GodWentPUNK]

We have a female singer and do a lot of party/rock songs. Our goal is to attract the late 20 female crowd. So far we've been pretty successful. Our reason for learning so many different songs is so that all of our regulars that see us regularly can look forward to a different show every other month. Plus, we are learning to rotate many of our songs that we dropped when we brought on the new songs. We have a standard set list but many times when we get to a club and notice more male's there we'll bring out the AC/DC, Def Leppard, Zepplin.

joe...

[VitaminG]

i voted 6-10. We could do more but these days we find it tough just selecting new songs that will work with the crowds we play to. Currently going through a singer replacement process so al new stuff is on hold.

again? You'll have to get a new singer bedded down in time for your next drummer replacement process....

[Genebaby]

Tell me about it....we spent three months with a replacement drummer last year while our drummer moved/renovated, so we stuck with the same songs for that period and now our singer wants to move on but is giving us heaps of time to find a suitable replacement. We're working with this new girl now, getting her up to speed on our set list. Other than the singer, I think the rest of us are pretty stuck together now. We'll see how long this new girl lasts, ha ha.

For those interested, there are some samples at our myspace: http://www.myspace.com/undercoveract

[zeegler]

We added approx. 3 songs a month. However, that didn't mean that everyone showed up having learned the songs. Plus, sometimes, songs just don't work for us as well as we think they will. Those get dropped. I'd say realistically, we probably learned 24 songs a year when we were gigging. Unfortunately, we seem to be on an extended hiatus at the moment.

[Rsmacker]

Our goal is to attract the late 20 female crowd.

<sigh> Yeah, mine too.

[GodWentPUNK]

We added approx. 3 songs a month. However, that didn't mean that everyone showed up having learned the songs. Plus, sometimes, songs just don't work for us as well as we think they will. Those get dropped. I'd say realistically, we probably learned 24 songs a year when we were gigging. Unfortunately, we seem to be on an extended hiatus at the moment.

When we go through our new song list we'll try to have 5 songs ready, not gig ready but enough for us to decide if the song is a keeper. Usually from there, we'll end up choosing 3. But yeah, a major block is when 1 member doesn't have their parts ready. Put's a damper on the whole thing.

joe...

[skorb]

we rotated in about 15-20 new ones over the past year. and yeah working band is right, we play out 3x a month or more, sometimes both Fri and Sat nights too LOL, and always the 4 hr show.

2 new songs per month is what I want. I tend to get bored with the same old songs.