It's easy to make fun of cover bands, but I'm a big fan of remakes, and most times I like the remake better than I like the original. I know, that's a major crime in some circles, but for me it's the truth. Covers tend to be a bit out there, the more unexpected the better, and since we all know what the orignial sonds like, covers are sortta like an inside joke, a knowing wink that says, 'hey, we know this is not the way it's supposed to be, but it's the way we hear it.' Today I dropped $30 on cover songs on itunes including:

• a country western version of the Ramone's Blitzkrieg Bop done by The Twang
• a jazz version of Billy Idol's White Wedding redone by The Bradford Truby Trio
• a ukulele version of the Beatles Penny Lane performed by Greg Hawkes
• a reggaeish version of the jazz classic The In Crowd, redone by Monty Alexander, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespear
• a reggae version of Robbie William's She's the One, done up by Winton Reedy

Cool tunes all - go check 'em out. 

What does this have to do with writing? They say that there's no new stories out there, just retellings of the classic myths, new interpretations of stuff that's been done since people started telling stories, updated to fit the audiences. In sense then, all writers are the literary version of cover bands. I'm cool with that. You?