…and it’s a ticket giveaway for shows in both New York City and DC this week! Olivia explains:
Right, right. It’s fine to talk over the bar band playing “The Joker” and some people still think it’s funny to yell “Freebird” at someone’s show. It’s not cool when someone gets famous off a cover song. Why can’t they come up with their own material? You wince when an established artist falls back on another band’s old hits to have something to throw up on the charts. Cover bands and cover songs are generally where musicians go to die (or at least bring home a paycheck).
Yet there are beloved covers (Jimi Hendrix, “All Along the Watchtower”), and covers you didn’t even know were covers (Prince via Cyndi Lauper, “When You Were Mine”), and collections of covers that gain indie cred (Cat Power). Covers actually seem to be the cool thing to do these days according to credible sources like NPR.
When it comes to covers, not all is created equal. Music presents a unique opportunity: it’s the only art form that is at once a finished product and a totally accessible pile of raw material. Musical tradition shows that certain songs can transcend their original authors and performers, and continue to influence and inspire in the hands of different singers, instruments, tempos, and production.
Others can fall flat, but we’ll try to avoid that this week as Olivia Mancini & the Mates are take over The Vinyl District blog and present some of our favorite cover songs in video format. Send us your thoughts on cover songs and we’ll pick two of you to go see us at the Mercury Lounge in New York on Tuesday, Aug. 9, and two of you to come see us tear it up at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Aug. 12. Ticket winners will also receive a free copy of our new 7-inch single, “For Ricky.”
“California” by Mason Jennings (off Mason Jennings, 1997)
I first heard this song when I “borrowed” my sister’s iPod a few years ago. I had never heard Mason Jennings but recognized the name while I was flipping through her song collection. I fell in love with it upon first listen and haven’t stopped playing it since.
—Olivia Mancini
Band photo: Keith Mellnick
