There is something kinda refreshing and joyous about playing other people's
music - it's not your own and you can have fun with it. In an interview I
did with Jim Bryson last year, he talked about the difference between
being a frontman and playing your own music and being a support player
while playing someone else's music. I think I'm starting to see the
importance of that dichotomy.
Playing your own music is such a serious thing. The hours you've spent
crafting a song in a bedroom and the translation of that to include
other players in a band, and the furthest extension from that in playing
it live for other strangers, is a massive process and one that requires a
lot of head space. Playing as a support player (which is basically what I'm
doing in this cover band as a bassist) is a pretty fun thing. You can move
around more. You don't have to worry about the microphone so much
and how you appear to the folks in the audience.
You can have fun with it and get the energy level ramped up.
Tonight is our second cover gig. We are playing for a bunch of wild
teachers who want to dance the night away.
I'll let ya know how it goes.
