Quote:
Originally Posted by capefisherman
Well said. "You are there but for the grace of the audience." Not sure who said it but one of my professors in college where I was a music major drilled that into us and it has been proven to me time and time again in my 40+ years as a professional musician. If you are lucky enough to play venues (probably listening venues, not bars or restaurants) where original music is expected, by all means go for it. But most of us are not that lucky. Slipping in an original very occasionally is OK but you very well may lose whatever engagement you had with the audience when you do it - and it's often very hard to re-establish that.
Taken to the extreme, a brief story. Back in high school a friend of mine was the most talented singer and guitar player among our circle of friends. Everyone knew it, he knew it, many of us secretly envied his abilities. Well, soon after high school he began writing music and stated that not only would he only perform his own songs, he had no intention of even listening to anyone else. His favorite artist at the time (before he stopped listening) was Gordon Lightfoot. His own songs were quite good, some of them anyway, but he struggled to find an audience and even went to extreme lengths to sell his songs, with no success. To this day, as far as I know, nothing has changed. The upshot is that all his songs sound like Gordon Lightfoot tunes, circa 1972. Sad. He could have been very successful I think if he'd just opened his mind a bit......
Gene
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If your friends idea of success was to be playing only original music, and being recognized for his songs, opening his mind to playing covers would most likely not be his idea of success. There have many been great musicians like your friend, and some found success many years later when a new generation tuned into their songs (ie Nick Drake).