I can haz name for music nightz?

May 12, 2008 8:24 AM

I want to start a night where a variety of local musicians cover the music of one musician with a large repetoire, or cover songs from one particular period/style of music. I'm looking for a good name for the (hopefully monthly) event and feedback on my ideas and "rules".

A lovely local bar/bistro has had a continual problem with Tuesday nights. Presents the opportunity to try something cool to bring people in.

My idea: Repetoire Night. Basic idea, get local musicians in town to come and do two covers of a song by that months chosen artist.

These were my guidelines, aka "the rules":
1) Each solo artist does 2 tunes, no exceptions.
2) Tunes have to be either by the artist or famously covered by them.
3) Duets and trios are highly encouraged. They get 3 tunes as long as one tune has a different vocalist.
4) instrumental and improv versions are highly encouraged.

The basic goals would be:
Goals would be
1) Have some great music
2) Get musicians of various scenes in town to meet each other
3) Make Tuesday nights rock

Some theme ideas I was thinking of (reflecting, of course, my tastes)
Tom Waits
Willie Nelson
Bob Dylan
Joni Mitchell
Elvis Costello
Bluegrass Covers
Old Blues Covers
Jazz Standard Night
Aimee Mann
Nick Lowe
Gillian Welch
Elliot Smith
Cat Power

So my questions are
1) What should we call this? I'm looking for something classy, not web 2.0ish. I want to avoid anything like Pecha Kucha Night, which is embarressing to say. I thought of calling it Jukebox night, but that would sort of indicate that we would be doing music by different artists, which we wouldn't be.
2) My guidelines/rules: makes sense? Overbearing? Underbearing? Am I missing anything?
3) Not sure if we should provide a simple drum set and amplifiers, or keep it acoustic. The place is small, the stage is smaller. They can get a band on stage but it is cramped. But it would be cool to have little bands get up on stage. I was thinking one amp, and a really stripped down drum set available if someone wanted to use it.
4) Does this sound like a good idea? What would make you want to participate?
5) What are some cool themes I'm missing? I'm looking for things that would appeal to a large variety of performers, that would be adaptable to a wide variety of styles of playing, and have a quantity of music for people to choose from.

Thanks

posted by sully75 to media & arts (16 comments total)

1) Tribute Tuesdays
2) Sounds good to me
3) Amp and drums would be good
4) Yes
5) Leonard Cohen, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Beach Boys
posted by ludwig_van at 8:49 AM on May 12, 2008

Motown. You cannot forget the joy that is Motown.

This sounds like a pretty great idea. As for your rules, I think they're pretty solid, though I was a little curious about the focus on duets and trios. But that's probably just a matter of personal taste, so I won't quibble about that.

I'd be in favor of the possibility for a tiny band. Drums help make things good.

No title ideas are jumping at me, but I think if nothing else "Cover Night" has a nice "this is exactly what is happening" quality to it. But upon preview, I think "Tribute Tuesdays" is pretty good.
posted by ictow at 8:52 AM on May 12, 2008

There's an annual event in Champaign-Urbana (Illinois) that has local bands covering artists (even dressing up as them, etc) ... it's called The Great Cover-up...

I don't think the name is patented, as I'm pretty sure there are Great Cover-Ups in other places...
posted by twiggy at 8:57 AM on May 12, 2008

1) No Cover Cover Night
2) Seems reasonable
3) Amp and drums yes
4) Sounds like a great idea. My daughter organized a Neutral Milk Hotel cover night last year that went over well.
5) Donovan, Neil Young, Dylan
posted by bricoleur at 8:57 AM on May 12, 2008

I think Tribute Tuesday might take it.

Thanks for all the great ideas...I'm glad this seems like a good idea.

Another question: how frequently? I'm thinking 1x a month is good. It would be fun to do 2x a month, but I think it might take longer than that for people to come up with material and develop a convincing cover.
posted by sully75 at 9:04 AM on May 12, 2008

slightly tangential, but if you're into covers, be sure to check out the Coverville podcast.
posted by Wild_Eep at 9:43 AM on May 12, 2008

Don't be afraid to feature artists that are famous, but not necessarily talented. I saw a great college rock band successfully cover 2 or 3 Britney Spears songs, for example. So maybe a "90's pop" of "Music of TRL" night, or something like that.
posted by muddgirl at 9:46 AM on May 12, 2008

Around here, whenever a bar has a bunch of musicians all playing covers of the same artist, it's called a "[name of artist] hoot night."
posted by adamrice at 9:58 AM on May 12, 2008

1) In Austin, we call it a Hoot Night.
posted by 23skidoo at 10:02 AM on May 12, 2008

awwwman, too slow
posted by 23skidoo at 10:02 AM on May 12, 2008

Don't be afraid to feature artists that are famous, but not necessarily talented. I saw a great college rock band successfully cover 2 or 3 Britney Spears songs, for example.

Yeah, don't be a rockist like that.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:10 AM on May 12, 2008

I would totally attend. LMK when and where!
posted by grateful at 11:01 AM on May 12, 2008

The only rule I would disagree with is the two song minimum. If the idea is to get people up and playing, some musicians who perhaps haven't performed solo before may be put off by that. I know I'd be more inclined to bring my guitar and try to knock out a Nick Lowe song but I wouldn't necessarily want to do two.
posted by gfrobe at 11:48 AM on May 12, 2008

Gfrobe...it's a 2 song maximum, not minimum. I want people to put a lot of effort into a small amount of music, rather than vice versa.

Grateful...it will hopefully be in Portland Maine. You nearby?
posted by sully75 at 12:07 PM on May 12, 2008

Not very classy name: One night band stand?
posted by monocultured at 12:17 PM on May 12, 2008

My band has run three of these over the past year or so, a Springsteen night, a Clash night, and a Replacements night. Our guidelines were pretty similar, here's a rundown of how we did it:

- Every performer did two covers plus one of their own originals that they thought would fit with the theme
- Provide as much of a backline as possible to reduce the time for equipment turnover
- In your schedule be sure to account for 5-10 minutes between sets for turnover. We accounted for 15 minutes and stayed pretty well on schedule, but were working with full bands
- Since we were looking more for participation than money, we promoted each show as a fundraiser for a charity linked to the artist we were covering: Local food bank for Springsteen, Strummer Foundation for Clash, a local filmmaker working on a Replacements film. Was a great angle for getting local press.

One difficulty was all the coordinating that needed to happen - not just booking the performers and figuring out the time slots, but also tracking which covers each performer wanted to do so we didn't end up with a 5 versions of "Thunder Road." It made for a more diverse selection of songs, but was definitely more work.

Oh, also, count on a couple performers flaking out a the last minute because they put off learning the songs until the day before and just realized they aren't prepared enough to play.
posted by platinum at 12:38 PM on May 12, 2008