08/18/2026
Read this, share this, absorb it. From our friend over at Long Beard Productions!
This is a frustration I feel as a booking agent, and an artist, and a music fan.
My rule on this roster and it will never change is we do not book cover bands. Nothing against them whatsoever. Cover bands can be cool, and they have their place in the music buisness, and if i wanted to book them I could make buckets of money. At the end of the day though, i want to book the next Zack Topp, not book the next guy that can do the best Zack Topp cover. Zack Topp was raised and started his music path 60 miles from where I'm typing this and nobody in his own area new who he was he until he moved to Nashville. Probably because he couldn't get a show in his own area because everyone was yelling play Chattahootichi, or Friends in Low Places while he was trying to play his next number one hit, that you guys will probably yell at some other artist while they are trying to play their own music a fee years later.
There's a huge talent pool of great artists writing their own songs right in your backyard, and my honest observation from booking over 700 shows since we started two wolves is your lucky if you get a night where at least half the crowd doesn't expect you to be a juke box.
We don't mind playing some covers, it's esental to fill a 3 hour set usually, but just try to open your mind up, just because something isnt viral on tiktok, or wherever people are listening to new music these days doesn't mean it's not good.
Also, does it get frustrating? Yes! But for every ten people that don't listen we will go back for the one that does. God willing as long as venues want us, we will be there and we will appreciate that they want us there, and we appreciate everyone that listens, and if you like cover bands and hearing covers that's cool, but just remember not all of us, want to play covers all night, and maybe if you just change your thought proccess a smidge, you might find your next favorite song or artist.
This is the driving force behind me choosing to build this Company, but I need the listening public’s help to succeed:
One of the biggest challenges facing emerging independent musicians isn’t necessarily the quality of the music—it’s getting people to give unfamiliar music enough time to become familiar.
People tend to like songs they already recognize. Radio, major playlists, social media, television, and advertising expose listeners to the same artists repeatedly. After hearing a song five, ten, or twenty times, it begins to feel comfortable. The listener knows the chorus, recognizes the voice, and develops an emotional association with it. An independent artist usually doesn’t have that repetition working in their favor.
That creates several hurdles:
Familiarity beats curiosity. Most people would rather hear a song they already know than gamble three or four minutes on an artist they’ve never heard of.
Radio creates perceived credibility. If someone hears an artist on a major station, they unconsciously assume somebody important has already decided the artist is worth listening to.
Algorithms reinforce what people already consume. Streaming and social platforms can help independent musicians, but they also heavily reward engagement. Established artists begin with an enormous advantage because millions of people are already interacting with their music.
There is an overwhelming amount of music available. Listeners once chose between whatever was on a handful of radio stations or sitting in a record store. Now essentially the entire history of recorded music is sitting in their phone. Being good isn't enough—you have to somehow get noticed.
Independent artists have smaller promotional budgets. Major artists have publicity teams, playlist campaigns, radio promotion, advertising, professional content, touring infrastructure, and established fan bases repeatedly putting their music in front of people.
People often discover music socially. Someone saying, “You have to hear this band,” carries tremendous weight. Emerging artists haven't yet accumulated that social proof.
Live music has the same problem. People will spend $100 or more to see an artist whose songs they know but may hesitate to spend $10 to see an outstanding local artist they've never heard of.
That last point is especially important. The hardest sale in independent music is often not convincing someone that an artist is good. It is convincing them to listen long enough to discover that the artist is good.
This is why successful independent music promotion is really about creating repeated exposure. Posters, live shows, opening slots, short videos, local radio, social media clips, recommendations, collaborations, recognizable branding, and word-of-mouth gradually turn:
“Who is that?”
into:
“I've heard that name.”
then:
“I've heard that song.”
and eventually:
“I want to go see them.”
That progression is incredibly important for venues and promoters too. A great independent artist may actually put on a better show than a nationally recognized act, but recognition sells the first ticket. The performance sells the second one.
So the battle for independent musicians isn't simply competing against other musicians. They're competing against familiarity, enormous promotional machines, algorithms, limited attention spans, and decades of listening habits.
The good news is that once an independent artist starts building genuine local loyalty, it can become extremely powerful. A fan who feels like they discovered an artist often becomes far more passionate about spreading the word than someone who simply heard another hit song on the radio.
