Oren Masserman is a damn genius. That’s what we all thought.
In 2008 my wife and I were walking past a sushi joint in Kaanapali when we heard it.
Zeppelin.
Led FUCKING Zeppelin.
Then we heard Sublime, and it was good Sublime, not the garbage. Oren crushed it, and he had this Hawaiian vibe he put on it. His own Hawaiian style.
He played his own stuff too, which sounded great after the butterfish and sake. It was a late-night happy hour, half-priced fish from midnight to 2AM. It was a damn party.
We talked about Oren for the rest of the trip, but we didn’t know his name. I had to email the restaurant manager once we got back to Seattle.
The manager wasn’t sure if Oren had an album, but we found it. Spread the Aloha. Sold.
In 2002 I was in Walla Walla with some friends.
Walla Walla. So nice, they named it twice. That’s what my mom always told me and who was I to argue.
A small rural town in southeast Washington State. Home of the state penitentiary, Whitman College, and some of the finest taco trucks you’ll find outside of Austin, Texas.
But that’s not why I was there.
I was in Walla Walla for Weezer. The sweater song, Jonas. I loved Weezer, I loved the Blue Album. And I had some of my best nights with Weezer as the soundtrack.
This would be no different.
One catch, Weezer had never been to Walla Walla. Maybe they should have, but that’s a conversation for a different day.
The band I had the pleasure of seeing that night was called Wrestle with Jimmy. I think that’s who it was. They played Weezer. And they played it well. A cover band. We tell stories about them to this day.
Two bands we may have never known, but they were kind enough to pull us in with those familiar sounds of Weezer, Zeppelin, and Sublime.
Those covers made a connection. The covers told us these guys can play. Told us these guys have good taste in music…or at least they share MY taste in music. And if I could play, I’d probably play this too. We were off to a fast start on the relationship.
In 2009 I was on the road to Florence Italy and found myself at a McDonalds.
The Italian McDonald’s was different. I don’t like McDonald, at home or otherwise, but the golden arches, seeing them from the road in a country that was so foreign, it felt comfortable. I knew I wouldn’t need to deal with languages and foreign menus and questioning myself and being taken advantage of. At least for that one meal. When you travel, it is all about adventure, but all that adventuring can wear you down. So, I caved. I was seeking comfort and I got it. And it was delicious. And I haven’t been back.
The case for covers goes like this.
When you go to see a new band at your local club, of course you are looking to hear something new. That’s the type of person that goes to the club on a Tuesday night. But often times it’s the cover that catches you. The young R&B singer playing Fleetwood Mac, the bluegrass guy ripping Justin Timberlake, or the rock band with a throwback to Zeppelin. It’s different, but not entirely, you hear those familiar notes, and it brings a smile to your face. You recognize it, you know the words, it catches your attention. And it tells you, hey, I’ve got something in common with these guys. Maybe you are not a fan, but they’ve got you involved and listening, and away we go.
You can’t up and change someone’s worldview, at least not all at once, but you can nudge them a bit. That country band we talked about, I know you hate country, but their cover, that was solid. Your vegan friend is not getting you to quit bacon, at least not all at once, but their pizza was good. No meat, no dairy, so now you can see it, see their point of view.
Nudge.
“A spoon full of sugar,” as Mary Poppins would say, “helps the medicine go down”.
Make things palatable for them. Make it easier for them to get with the program.
My number one album last year was by Will Sessions. I know so little about Will Sessions that I thought it was a guy named Will. It’s a Detroit funk band. A damn fine one.
But they got a lot of spins from me. Mostly from an instrumental cover album of Nas’ Illmatic. I know all the tunes and like the instrumentals while I was writing. Words throw me off when I write. So, Will Sessions has a fan now.
Guns N Roses filled out their albums with covers from Wings and Bob Dylan. My friends would kill me if I called Axel, Slash, and Duff, a cover band, but they certainly made a great case for covers.
And after GNR pulls you in, they hit you with November Rain.
Steven Pressfield famously used the Bhagavad Gita as his framework for Bagger Vance. The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell was instrumental in George Lucas writing Star Wars.
The world has enough cover bands, we need more originals.
But the case for covers goes like this. To catch the eyes and ears and hearts and minds, give people just a taste of familiarity. Give them some point of reference that says, you and me, we are part of this same tribe. At least for one song. And make it easier for them to walk off-trail with you to the next one.
