Bands do covers because that pays the bills, but there are so many other good songs, like Soul Sacrifice that is never used as a cover.
But we have a couple of really cool things going on in Tallahassee. The Jazz students do a set of covers of particular jazz artists, then they jam and do some far out stuff.
The same things happen with the blues bands and blue grass.
I have a number of friends that do "Americana" with a lot of originals. One of my favorites in Tallahassee is Finn and the Kingsnakes. They do a lot of covers and do them well. They do a great job of reggae.
In the old days, way before your time, Brian, singing all the protest songs of the '60's and '70's was considered a cover. Everyone played "The times are a changin'" , Dylan song.
We have people in town that have recorded a lot and have performed in NOLA, NYC and Nashville.
Dan Owens, Mae West Band is right here.
That's just to name a little bit of the stuff.