Musical Ethnography

Musical Ethnography: The Big Daddy Band of Dallas
Introduction: There are many “cover” bands around the world today that play the music of their favorite artists whether it is in tribute or just for the sheer pleasure of getting paid to perform the songs that move them. This particular band performs the music starting from the 1960’s to the music of today.
Most of the information provided in this ethnography unfortunately had to come from the internet, and previous knowledge about the music culture. The band didn’t seem to be to open to the public outside of networking. I began sending emails to the band members two weeks before the performance, with no replies. I went to Sherlock’s Pub where they perform every Tuesday night at 9:45pm in Addison, Texas on Belt Line Road. I was only allowed to stay there for fifteen minutes, because I was not of drinking age. It was about enough time to get in three songs and a glass of water. I was hoping, since an interview with a band member wasn’t likely, to get a interview with one on the “regulars”. But to my surprise I found that many of the people next to my closely monitored table, where already very inebriated. But I must say if you are of drinking age and are looking for a nice break from the sounds today, this would be a great get away.
• Ideas about music: When dealing with cover bands like The Big Daddy Band there comes this general consensus that the music being performed or the music or going to listen to is music that everyone seems to appreciate. Sometimes it comes in the form of just hearing something that was familiar during one’s younger years and enjoying that familiarity or it may even be simply “I love that song!” Music in this culture is usually selected by popularity. Here in the United States we would most likely associate this with our “top ten lists” when it comes to pop music. Lesser known areas of the culture tends to involve musical styles like classical. All though classical music cover groups necessarily don’t have a “top ten list” to report on, their choice of music still depends on popularity. They may use record sales or scholarly assessments to determine popularity amongst their listeners. Bringing back the music of the past helps bring the worlds of the new and old together. The radio (not xm satellite or it counterparts) is playing more of the popular music today, and it is getting harder to find the music of previous times. This particular band is of the many bands that help keep the music of the 20th century alive.
• Activities Involving Music: The music played is music that can be found where ever it will be had. Cover bands serve more of a public and social source of the music, which is one of the reasons cover bands have been able to sustain themselves. Big Daddy is usually found in adult venues like bars and pubs as well as personally booked venues. Apart from getting itunes or pirating these songs off your favorite torrent site, there is really no other way to bring an unfragmented music database (fragmented source i.e. radio). Usually we find that the same people who are looking for social sources of this music become the source they crave. They may be people musically inclined or not, but all of them will start out playing and performing for personal enjoyment or for the enjoyment of friend with similar interests. The groups a little more musically trained may find that they are decent in the recreation of the music. This is where an amateur group may become professional. As time progresses music preferences change inspiring the addition of new music groups, fans, and followers.
• Repertoires of Music: Music played by cover bands range from one genre to the next, it all depends on popularity. The music played by the Big Daddy Band has lyrics, some of the songs may have dances that came out with the song during its time; songs like “The Twist” or “C’mon and Swim”. A main goal of the band is to inspire listeners to get up and dance. Popularity is truly a personal preference. If it can inspire just one person, one person can become a true basis to build on. The music is of course composed by people ranging from “still in the game” to deceased. A great example of the two extremes may be Kiss tribute bands and Elvis Presley fanatics.
• Material Culture of Music: Cover bands have many different ways of meeting the demands for the recreation of the music they choose to play. Usually in these bands the music being performed is performed just as it would be if the real deal where there. Bands may sometimes choose to stick to one genre and one genre only because of preference or due to the fact that they do not have the capacity to take on the instrumentation of other genres or pieces from other composers. The Big Daddy Band only has two guitarists, one drummer, and a single vocalist. But because their repertoire entails a wide range of music they must use a synthesizer to make up for missing instruments and to beef up the sound. There is an example of this below. Clearly there is no synthesizer on stage, but yet it is heard. By no means is alcohol a material culture of all cover bands but it is a great factor in the Big Daddy Band. Where this band is alcohol isn’t too far away.
Conclusion: The Big Daddy Band is the epitome of cover bands in Dallas. There are well known musicians and have become extremely popular since coming out in 2000. Got to their website to learn more (not that much more) about their band, listen to some clips, and maybe even check out their calendar.

Here are a couple more clips of the Big Daddy Band.

this one cut off early….sorry the kicked me out 