As a songwriter, I try to respect other songwriters - no matter how talented or famous they may be. So naturally, one thing that really bothers me is when a musician plays a song by someone else, and doesn't give that person any credit for the song! Lately I've been noticing more and more people performing covers at open mic nights and letting the crowd think that it is an original song, or even worse - leading them to believe that its their own original song - and never mentioning later that it was a cover! Why does this seem to be a growing trend? In fact, it has probably happened more times than I've realized since there are so many songs out there that I'm unfamiliar with. I'm not against people covering songs; in fact, I think it can be beneficial for musicians to learn covers.
It should be common sense to acknowledge the original artist and give them the credit they deserve. Its the least you can do if you are using their creation to benefit yourself, whether it be compensation, popularity, or the personal joy and sense of accomplishment you got from learning it. As a songwriter, I would hate for someone to use my song for their own gain and then not give me credit for creating it!
Its gotten to the point where I have come very close to exclaiming, "Nice COVER of that song! Gotta love *insert band name here*!" because leading people to believe that a cover song is your own is a very selfish thing to do. Lets all learn some manners and stop stealing, please.
...with that said, here is a cover song that I decided to record today!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
8 Months Pregnant & Still Rockin' It!
I am thrilled to announce that my pregnancy has been going very smoothly all this time. I feel like my body was made to do this! Hopefully I don't change my mind when it comes time to deliver! Don't get me wrong, I have had many pregnancy symptoms, but nothing too painful or irritating to stop me from exploring my new home of San Diego and doing what I love - which is making music, of course.
My new guitar has been treating me good. I still have that I-can't-believe-I-own-this feeling, but on the flip side, I feel more professional and SHINY when I'm on stage performing. So of course I have been playing lots of shows. The funny thing is that I haven't really been trying to book shows! After the first few, people just started offering to book me at different venues around town. Its also nice to have musician friends. Celia St Croix (check her out at www.celiastcroix.com) has become a close friend, and since we're both singer-songwriters we attend many open mics together, play the same venues, and share venue gossip (we are girls ya know). Other San Diego performers that have helped me along the way include Brain Bosen, Craig of Suede, Jimmie Lundsford, Robin Wilbanks, Rod Worth, Sindi Somers, Mario Armando and many more that I'm sure I'll regret not mentioning!
So far I have performed shows at Portugalia Restaurant & Venue in Ocean Beach, Rebbecca's Coffeehouse in South Park, Cafe Libertalia in Hillcrest, Lestat's West open mic in Normal Heights, Kadan's open mic in North Park, The Stage Bar & Grill downtown, and last night at Bar 11 in Normal Heights (loved this little bar). And yes, even at eight months pregnant, I have more shows scheduled for this month! This Friday, April 8th, I'm playing at a coffeehouse on the UCSD campus in La Jolla called Muir Woods Coffeehouse and according to the facebook event, about 50 people are going to be there! On April 21st I am playing a show at Winston's (another venue I've never been to yet) with Celia, and on April 23rd I'm performing at Cafe Libertalia, opening for Ukulele Ray, a comedian musician from Las Vegas. I might be setting up a last minute gig with Chad Taggart and Jaron Eldon at Claire de Lune Coffee Lounge sometime this month, but we haven't heard back from them yet, so we will see what happens.
The funny thing is that last month I was telling everyone that I wasn't scheduling any shows in April (and obviously none in May since my due date is the middle of that month), and now I am still feeling great and craving music! Last night in fact was very exciting! After playing coffee shop after coffee shop, it felt so good to bust out a few of my louder, rowdier tunes for this little dive bar! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and I handed out many demo CDs after my performance. I also enjoyed the other performers that were there, and Brian and Craig (the hosts for the night) have decided with the bar tenders and sound guy to make this a bi-monthly event! So I'm sure that I'll be invited back to play there again someday.
But back to my point - since performing still feels great and my pregnancy hasn't slowed me down, I don't think I will have any problem continuing performing right up until my due date!! And if my water breaks on stage... that'll just make it all the more interesting, won't it? ;)
p.s.
Go to Facebook.com/KatieDwyerMusic to see some recent photos of my performances (unfortunately most are cell phone quality, taken by audience members - still awesome though). MusicologySD.com is a website designated to helping San Diego musicians! My interview and performance was filmed Sunday night and will be up on the website TOMORROW night - Wednesday, April 6th. So watch it!
My new guitar has been treating me good. I still have that I-can't-believe-I-own-this feeling, but on the flip side, I feel more professional and SHINY when I'm on stage performing. So of course I have been playing lots of shows. The funny thing is that I haven't really been trying to book shows! After the first few, people just started offering to book me at different venues around town. Its also nice to have musician friends. Celia St Croix (check her out at www.celiastcroix.com) has become a close friend, and since we're both singer-songwriters we attend many open mics together, play the same venues, and share venue gossip (we are girls ya know). Other San Diego performers that have helped me along the way include Brain Bosen, Craig of Suede, Jimmie Lundsford, Robin Wilbanks, Rod Worth, Sindi Somers, Mario Armando and many more that I'm sure I'll regret not mentioning!
So far I have performed shows at Portugalia Restaurant & Venue in Ocean Beach, Rebbecca's Coffeehouse in South Park, Cafe Libertalia in Hillcrest, Lestat's West open mic in Normal Heights, Kadan's open mic in North Park, The Stage Bar & Grill downtown, and last night at Bar 11 in Normal Heights (loved this little bar). And yes, even at eight months pregnant, I have more shows scheduled for this month! This Friday, April 8th, I'm playing at a coffeehouse on the UCSD campus in La Jolla called Muir Woods Coffeehouse and according to the facebook event, about 50 people are going to be there! On April 21st I am playing a show at Winston's (another venue I've never been to yet) with Celia, and on April 23rd I'm performing at Cafe Libertalia, opening for Ukulele Ray, a comedian musician from Las Vegas. I might be setting up a last minute gig with Chad Taggart and Jaron Eldon at Claire de Lune Coffee Lounge sometime this month, but we haven't heard back from them yet, so we will see what happens.
The funny thing is that last month I was telling everyone that I wasn't scheduling any shows in April (and obviously none in May since my due date is the middle of that month), and now I am still feeling great and craving music! Last night in fact was very exciting! After playing coffee shop after coffee shop, it felt so good to bust out a few of my louder, rowdier tunes for this little dive bar! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and I handed out many demo CDs after my performance. I also enjoyed the other performers that were there, and Brian and Craig (the hosts for the night) have decided with the bar tenders and sound guy to make this a bi-monthly event! So I'm sure that I'll be invited back to play there again someday.
But back to my point - since performing still feels great and my pregnancy hasn't slowed me down, I don't think I will have any problem continuing performing right up until my due date!! And if my water breaks on stage... that'll just make it all the more interesting, won't it? ;)
p.s.
Go to Facebook.com/KatieDwyerMusic to see some recent photos of my performances (unfortunately most are cell phone quality, taken by audience members - still awesome though). MusicologySD.com is a website designated to helping San Diego musicians! My interview and performance was filmed Sunday night and will be up on the website TOMORROW night - Wednesday, April 6th. So watch it!
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