The difference between cover and tribute bands

Allen Stokes doesn’t think he’ll ever be famous.

The 53-year-old lead guitarist of local cover band Karmic Revenge has been in and out of local cover bands since the ’80s. His is not a tribute band, he is quick to tell you.

While sometimes confused, tribute bands and cover bands are two different musical groups with communities all their own. While tribute bands take on one specific persona, cover bands take on any personality they choose.

Stokes and his band are just one example of the many people in North Central Florida who live out their dreams on the weekends while still clocking their 9-to-5 jobs during the week.

But any band, cover or creative, can benefit from covering songs, UF journalism professor David Carlson said. Among the courses Carlson teaches is Rock ’n’ Roll and American Society, both at UF and online through Coursera.

By learning other musicians’ material, performers improve their talents and learn more about the music that came before them.

“Imitation is how everyone begins,” Carlson said.

Stokes works as a system operator in the Engineering Department at the Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Although he didn’t seriously pick up a guitar until he was 22, Stokes said he never considered professional musicianship to be a viable career for him.

“My family — we’re farm people,” he said. “I lived out in the middle of nowhere in Lake City, Florida. I taught myself how to play out of a book.”

On a good week, Stokes and the band rehearse once for the gigs that take them around a few times a month.

Usually clad in a graphic T-shirt, broken-in blue jeans and a baseball cap, he plays extended guitar solos during songs like “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton. You’ll know he’s about to start when the lead singer says, “Play it, Allen.”

The concept of suffering for his art is lost on Stokes. He doesn’t feel a cover band — or even a local tribute band — is a worthy occupation.

He would say the music he plays in his band is one step up from a hobby; it’s just something he has to do.

Tribute bands are too narrow for Stokes. For him, playing the songs, with little interpretation, pays enough homage to the artists without trying to resurrect them.

Because cover songs are not always complete imitations, musicians who only play them can still have a full and creative career, Carlson said.

Jimi Hendrix’s famous version of “All Along the Watchtower,” for instance, effectively overshadows the fact that the song was originally written by Bob Dylan. The same is true of Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding’s “Respect.”

In some ways, Carlson thinks it might be harder to try to sound like somebody else than sound like yourself. Creating a bona fide facsimile as a tribute band is not an easy thing to do.

While cover bands seem to cloud the live-music scene, local tribute bands do exist. Some are no longer active, but others exist, like the popular tribute band Heavy Petty, which plays songs by one of the Gainesville greats, Tom Petty.

Another active tribute band, Weeze, is a nod to the ‘90s rock band Weezer. But Niles Austin, 35, who plays guitar in the band, didn’t grow up hoping to form it.

Weeze wants to pursue creative avenues but still caters to its base foundation of diehard fans, usually playing one Weezer show each semester. The worst part of committing to a tribute band persona is losing originality in the process, Austin wrote in an email. The time spent perfecting the onstage authenticity takes time away from producing original music.

“We kind of live in different worlds with all of us having original projects and also Weeze,” he said.

The divide between communities of tribute bands and cover bands is a small but noticeable one.

Austin doesn’t seem to think the difference in communities is important. What’s important is

appreciating music styles that might not be your taste.

“I’ve always thought that music has the power to bring people together, and there is room in the world for all types of music and all types of shows,” Austin said.

Still, the lines between interpretation and innovation can sometimes blur when on stage. For the most part, Karmic Revenge plays songs as they are written, sometimes embellishing them with guitar solos.

Stokes doesn’t know how long his band will last together. To him, cover bands are less of a destination and more of a stop along life’s musical journey.

Stokes isn’t in this for the money. If he were, then he would starve, he said. Because playing rates can vary among groups, local bands like Karmic Revenge only discuss payments with the venues.

Although the band does play events for money, they’ve never been known to turn a gig down because it didn’t pay. That’s one thing he said he hopes to pass on to his son — that and his love of music.

“It’s what you grow up with for the most part, that sticks with you,” he said.

There’s no way to learn to play music without first imitating others. Whether it’s Ludwig van Beethoven, Chuck Berry or Johann Sebastian Bach, it’s the way musicians begin. Presumably, overtime, imitating those musicians helps to internalize that talent.

“It’s an essential step, and some people choose to stay,” Carlson said.