Key West, FL April 12, 2004--"I feel a certain amount of pride from playing my own songs live...", says Paul Rader, a solo acoustic performer from Key West, Florida who plays a mix of originals and a variety of cover songs at his live shows, "...but I think something should also be said of performers who can take someone else's song and make it their own". He will release an all-cover song “tribute to classic rock and more” in May, 2004 titled "Land of the Cover Band Live - Vol. I"("LOCB - Vol. I"). The disc will be sold at his live shows and at online distributors like CDBaby.com and Amazon.com.
Rader says, "Pop music today is littered with cover artists...just because a singer like Britney Spears, Cristina Aguilara, or even Aerosmith introduces a song into the mainstream doesn't necessarily mean that they wrote it." Even though most of the Pop Rock genre is fueled by bands that do their own writing, almost ALL of the songs in other Pop genres are written by someone other than the performer.
So why do "cover bands" get such a bad rap from the industry they ultimately pay tribute to? Could it be that a lot of them are playing "less-than-flattering" versions of these songs? Rader thinks so. He says, "Some cover artists make gaining any respect as a legitimate singer harder...sometimes people judge us as mediocre before listening...it can be discouraging.”
Paul would like to “dispel these myths about cover artists” with his fourteen track “tribute to classic rock” recorded live in Key West, Florida during Spring Break ‘04. Paul admits, “After fifteen years I still enjoy playing these songs and fans tell me that they like the energy of my live shows. I recorded this CD for them”
He hopes to show that, "...not all cover performers are the same. “My experience taught me to play with the melody and phrasing of a song...I can make my act unique by the way that I play.”
Will "Land of the Cover Band Live - Vol. I" make an impression? While he waits to find out, Rader continues to plug away, singing his originals but, most ironically, gaining most of his respect as a “cover artist”. You can find more information about Paul Rader on his website, www.paulrader.com.
