Different people have different ways of expressing themselves. \nWhen it comes to music, some try to create and communicate a unique style to their audience. Others admire the work of others, recreate it and put their own personal touch on it. Original bands and cover bands will always defend their own method and possibly bash the other, but they can both be argued as forms of musical expression.\nTonight, there are choices to be made. The Dave Matthews Cover Band will be playing at the Bluebird, while a new local original band, Big Saturday will be playing at Uncle Festers.
Round One: Cover bands defend \n"We basically just want to play music," says David Koons, guitarist and vocalist of the DMCB. "We don't envision this as an long-term thing, but everyone in the band just loves music and wants to continue to play it."\nThe DMCB was assembled in 2001 in Athens, Ga. They had an infatuation with the music and chose to share it with others. They were just having fun playing in clubs around Athens and doing small gigs until one night they hit it big.\n"We played in the Georgia Theater and sold it out," he says. "So then we were like, 'Damn, where else can we go?'"\nTraveling all over the United States, the DMCB will be back in Bloomington tonight just in time to start off Little 500 weekend. While Koons says he doesn't really know all the details about the race, he says based on past experiences in Bloomington he's planning on having some fun.\n"A lot of how we play is how we feed off the energy of the audience," he says. "The crowd at Bluebird has always been great, so it should be a good time."\nHearing music by the Dave Matthews Band is what attracts most people to the show. Nevertheless, Koons says it's not just about DMB's music, but about the experience as a whole.\n"We play our own show," he says. "We basically learn the most important part of the song. And when it comes time to improv we leave that up to the members of the band to do their own thing."\nFor some, this splash of originality mixed with the synthetic flavor of cover songs is even more appealing than the actual DMB. Koons says that some people go so far to tell them they are better than DMB. This is something he has trouble agreeing with. \n"It's flattering, but it's a strange comment," he says. "We don't consider us better than them. You know, they write the songs."
Round Two: Original bands defend\nIn contrast, local bands such as East Race, Right Side Down and Big Saturday take pride in writing their own music and sharing it with audiences. Right Side Down mainly plays covers, but does mix in original work from time to time. East Race and Big Saturday try to fill the majority of their sets with original tunes. \n"We try to keep the ratio 2-to-1 originals to cover," Big Saturday bassist Brian Waxler says.\nThe motivation, he says, comes from the feeling he gets from expressing himself to his listeners. "It's all about the original," he says, and although cover songs are sometimes necessary, he would like to stick to playing original music. \nDave Dickerson, violinist for East Race, agrees.\n"With cover music you're taking other people's feelings and regurgitating a representation of their emotions," Dickerson says. "You're simply a proxy. When you do original it begins this dialogue with the people around you, without using typical conversation to express your emotions."\nRight Side Down drummer Rob Herbert says the Talking Heads song "Burning Down the House" always gets the crowd pumping. He says it is the most requested of their covers, and that they try to play it at every show. Herbert admits it feels good to play the song, but says it's even better to have people request his own music.\n"It's really energy packed. We like to put it at the beginning of a set," he says of the popular cover. "But our focus is on our original music. We only have a certain amount of original music written."\nHerbert says Right Side Down's original music has been well accepted. An album it released last October has sold around 300 copies, and he says people have started to request their songs at the shows. This has allowed the group to devote more time to performing original songs.\nDickerson says East Race tries to fit one or two covers into a set, but they have about 28 original cuts already produced and are working on about 15 others. He says the covers are basically there to add to the show, and they try to pick songs which people wouldn't normally think of. Anything from Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch to Stevie Wonder can be heard at an East Race show.\n"We try covering artists that we really respect," he says. "But other songs are obviously there for sheer humor value."\nWaxler says playing covers keeps people interested becuase they already know the songs. He says Big Saturday only has about 20 to 25 originals at the moment, so mixing in a little Michael Jackson or Led Zeppelin can't hurt. But creating its own style is something Big Saturday still strives for.\n"We draw influence from bluegrass and reggae," Waxler says. "We like to put a reggae beat over some interesting chord structures."\nIt wasn't that easy for Dickerson to narrow down East Race's style. While he and the band's guitarist are classically trained, he says the influences are countless.\n"There's not one genre," he says. "It's rap, soul, blues, R&B, rock 'n' roll. It's everything."\nDickerson says the reason he keeps playing is obvious -- once you start, you can't stop. \n"Once you've created something that's really your own, it's addictive," he says.\nOriginal group Big Saturday is playing at Uncle Festers tonight and Right Side Down's funk-rock style will be showcased at Uncle Festers April 29.
