We all grew up listening to “Cover “bands in bars and at parties. Give a young guy a guitar and watch as they learn to play music that was popular in the day. Give a girl a microphone and listen to the songs of the artists who became her influences. After all, this was how many musicians got their start. Most never got past playing those cover tunes. But others discovered their talent for songwriting as the result of the musicians they listen to on the radio and record.

Fast forward to the present and plainly see that playing the songs of others have become the sincerest form of flattery in the Rock community. If you want to know who a musician’s influences are/were, look no further than their song list and the tunes others have written and made popular.  Musicians all over the country have been honoring the music of the giants in the industry for years now. Unfortunately, many of today’s tributes are for those who have recently passed. When Prince died, all manner of musicians paid tribute to his genius. I was fortunate to hear Pat Benetar and Neil Gerardo perform his music last March at the Music Hall.

Over the New Year, I read several articles reviewing the New Year’s Eve shows by Warren Haynes, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Phish and others  performing significant  tunes by many artists, alive and in the past. Dave Matthews, now 50 years old, recently reflected about his 10 favorite cover tunes. Relix magazine include videos of his interpretation of John Prine’s, “Angel from Montgomery,” Dylan’s, “All Along the Watchtower,” “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” by Procul Harum, Neil Young’s , “Down By the River,” and Peter Gabriel’s, “Solsburry Hills.” That’s a real nice cross section of music and the others not mentioned were equally impressive.

It’s evident today that musicians are happy to play the music of others and their audiences are very receptive to their offerings. When you went to a show recently, did you hear a tune from another artist? Did it surprise and please you or did you feel that it was replacing a song you really wanted to hear but did not?

With rockers getting up there in years, we are guaranteed a steady stream of R&R Hall of Famers leaving each year for the foreseeable future. There’s no limit to the artists we will be paying tribute to at the Award shows, music festivals and clubs. A bond occurs when you hear a band you like plays the music of another band you like. The song goes on forever.

I, for one, love it when the band I came to see surprises their audience with a tune or more from an influence on their careers. Recently, I saw the Mavericks, a band who combines Tex-Mex and Latin influences open their 6 song encore with covers of Pink Floyd and Neil Young. I didn’t see that coming but I was happy to have heard it! As a life-long Deadhead, there was a time in nearly every first set where they would slide in a Dylan tune. I have become a huge Zac Brown fan as he has brought his Southern Ground Music Festival to Charleston for the last 5 years. Every show he and his band of uber talented musicians will include 5 or 6 covers of artists that you would never associate with a Country band. How they can go from “Chicken Fried” to “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen) or “Comfortably Numb”(Pink Floyd) and make it all sound so good? Hootie and the Blowfish, hometown favorites, also perform others’ songs that made them the artists they are today. Indie and Americana musicians are regularly surprising their audiences with alternative versions of great tunes played with a lead mandolin instead of an electric guitar. Click or paste this address for a nice sample of a cover tune from Yonder Mountain String band, which may surprise you!     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLrUISUU_8s

Here in Charleston, we have a vibrant local music scene and one example of that is a series at the Music Hall titled, “Women and….” Local female singers have come together to pay tribute to Tom Waits, Neil Young, David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Radiohead in the last year plus. Next month they will perform their latest tribute, “Women and the Rolling  Stones,” with 2 full backup bands. It will surely be several hours of one of my favorite bands, and yours, being honored by talented singers you may never heard from. If you go, chances are it won’t be your last time!

If you have a ’Cover tune’ experience that surprised and delighted you, please share it here. This is a forum for my audience to share great memories. We look forward to a gem that was magical.

For me, I recall the Grateful Dead performing Warren Zevon’s, “Werewolves of London” as their encore one night and  Warren Haynes leading “The Dead” in 2004 with U2’s “One” and Pink Floyd’s, “ Shine on You Crazy Diamond.”  I’ll never forget those performances!

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