[Sean Conolly]

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
Things seem a little slow around here. So here's a question to provoke
discussion. Let's say you're a musician who desires to perform, or make a
recording, of a song, of the kind strongly identified with a particular
performer, either by authorship or simple association. This is the case
with a lot of blues, jazz, and rock. Let us further stipulate that you
want your performance of the song to emulate one the performer(s) who is
associated with the song.

I am not a performer myself, but I see two choices:
1. Try to copy the technique and the style of that performer by sheer
technical tour-de-force, analogous to the "camera eye" of a Dutch Masters
painter.
2. Try to get inside that performer's head, to be that person, to
"channel" his vibes.

Perhaps many of you would say, "all of the above." But perhaps there's
more to it than that.

To me, it's more about capturing the feeling of the song from the audience's
viewpoint. I want to recreate how people remember the original, to help them
recapture the way they felt at the time the song was part of their life. To
me a good 'close' cover lets people connect to their memories, not yours.

So you need to get the basic stuff like the progression and the signature
licks and kicks right, but after that it's much more important to get the
feel right than the exact notes.

Sean