I had this debate with a guy I jam with and he always wants to play covers! Thats it, thats all and it really bothers me! In my mind, to call yourself a real musician you should be able to just plug in and go! Not that I'm bashing cover tunes or anything, I just think that if you call yourself a musician then you should be able to compose original music. Granted if you are learning an instrument, covers are a great way to learn your way around your instrument but there comes a time when you have to rely on your own abilities and find your own sound. I guess i'm just tired of hack wanna be's who learn a few covers act like druken retards and call themselves musicians. I tend to lean towards thinking that people like this have no right to call themselves musicians as real musicians have it in there blood from the get go. Music is not just fun if you are a real musician, music is a life and a lifestyle. which do you prefer, covers or composition and do you think straight cover players are real musicians or wanna be's?

Covers are good, but its so much more talented & natural to just go with the flow and play whats inside you...Its rewarding & Interesting to see who connects with you when you give your own vibes out

I agree, people are always going on and on and on about how they are looking for the next new sound. thats a load of BS in my mind because music will never "sound" different. No matter how hard you try, you are dealing with the same frequency set. Music will never sound different unless you delve into the realm of music set theory. What music WILL do is feel different and that is the special touch of individual musicians.

i agree to a point. it is true that writing ur own material is the sign of a "true" musician, don't belittle the guys that just do covers it did take time and effort to learn those songs. i know a cpl guys that just do covers, yet when they can play eruption... that takes talent man, even if they don't know enough theroy to write their own riffs.

also, if the person is in a band that's struggleing to make a name for themselves in the local scene, it helps to throw in a few covers to get the crowd into it. if they already know the words and can sing (or mosh) along, so much the better.

ps: i write this as a musician that's half way between, i know a lot of covers, but i have helpped write and written a few of my own.

I know what you are getting at, I like playing covers too, its just the people that make a career out of other peoples music that drive me stupid! I like to have some beers and cut loose in the basement too but I also realize that if I want to pursue a career, I need to rely on my own talent. Look at that Puffy Combs or what ever he has changed his name to now. Have you ever heard him release something that he has actually written! He rides coat tales and has no business calling himself a pro! I wouldn't mind if he did stuff like that in his own basement with good friends but he chose to put it to disk and release it for money! He shouldn't ge a dime out of stealing from someone else! Hip Hop artists seem to be the worst for this kind of thing for some reason. The nerve of some dough head to make a dance version of smells like teen spirit, what kind of garbage is that! Using samples should be considered a copyright violation.

Over here it's pretty hard to break in doin your own material.Not a lot of rock clubs where i live(just 1 actually) so you have to do the pubs.Not many willing to give you a slot if your doin your own stuff,so we are going down the covers route and slowly slipping our own stuff in when we feel a song is good enough and doesn't feel out of place in a set with the established songs