Female or High Vocal Songs

Beej

Beej

Supporting Member
Feb 10, 2007
13,493
26,552
5,251
Vancouver Island
#1
My cover band is looking to expand our song list a bit. We're in our 40s/50s and mostly do rock tunes and the usual cover fare that tends to do well up here in canadaland. That said, 90% of our songs are pre-2000 and we'd like to bring more in from the last 20 years. We have two strong lead vocalists, male and female and our female vocalist has deep pipes and can sing stuff like Janis easily. We do Greta Van Fleet and she sings it no problem.

We are comprised of Bass, Drums, 2 lead guitarists (one has a keyboard emulator and can do pads, washes and pretty good organ and key tones). We have two lead vocalists who sing nearly everything, but four of us can sing leads. All five can also sing background vocals, and multi-part harmonies are workable for us.

What songs in the last 20 years might fit this?

I've recently floated Paramore, Dua Lipa, Florence & the Machine but we haven't picked any up so far. What say you TB hive mind? Know some bangers or tunes that can be adapted to a rock band? Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:
 
#2
My band was fortunate to have a great female singer fall in our laps this year and thus we've been learning lots of new songs to fit her vocals. You mentioned Paramore and so far we do 'Decode' which is fairly simple but be prepared for alternate tunings. We've also added Halestorm, Carrie Underwood, Adelie and Kelly Clarkson (most of those I was not even aware of prior). She also loves Motown so we added some Tina and Aretha. Again, stuff that's not too difficult basswise. Or at least not as difficult as the Jaco/Weather Report, Rush, Deep Purple, Ozzy/Sabbath and Zep that I was brought up on.

Before she joined we were primarily a Hendrix tribute band, but we've added a few 60's female songs from Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin so that we can include her in gigs of that genre as well. We were also a Heart Tribute band so we can do that stuff too although it would be better with a second female vocal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beej
#3
pingvuiini said:
My band was fortunate to have a great female singer fall in our laps this year and thus we've been learning lots of new songs to fit her vocals. You mentioned Paramore and so far we do 'Decode' which is fairly simple but be prepared for alternate tunings. We've also added Halestorm, Carrie Underwood, Adelie and Kelly Clarkson (most of those I was not even aware of prior). She also loves Motown so we added some Tina and Aretha. Again, stuff that's not too difficult basswise. Or at least not as difficult as the Jaco/Weather Report, Rush, Deep Purple, Ozzy/Sabbath and Zep that I was brought up on.

Before she joined we were primarily a Hendrix tribute band, but we've added a few 60's female songs from Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin so that we can include her in gigs of that genre as well. We were also a Heart Tribute band so we can do that stuff too although it would be better with a second female vocal.
Click to expand...

Halestorm, good call... can't believe none of us have brought up Grace Slick either thanks!
 
#5
Having been in a similar position of a classic rock band needing to drag itself in into the 21st century, one song that we learned that realy hit the sweetspot of being new(er) and still fitting in that kind of set was Behind These Hazel Eyes - Kelly Clarkson. It's 2004 so still 20 years old but at least its not 60 years old... As an aging classic rocker it stuck with me.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Beej
#6
So much of the music post 2000 has been the 'power lead vocal' thing that American Idol jumpstarted. I don't know that you will find a ton of songs that really feature great harmony extensively. As far as artist suggestions:

Pink
Katy Perry - she has a lot of hit songs, you'll be surprised lol!
Kelly Clarkson - if your vocalist can pull off Since You've Been Gone - that's a banger.
Paramore for SURE. Ain't It Fun is a great tune.
Billy Eilish - duh!
Taylor Swift - love her or hate her, she's got a TON of hits
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shenron, Killing Floor and Beej
#7
Beej said:
My cover band is looking to expand our song list a bit. We're in our 40s/50s and mostly do rock tunes and the usual cover fare that tends to do well up here in canadaland. That said, 90% of our songs are pre-2000 and we'd like to bring more in from the last 20 years. We have two strong lead vocalists, male and female and our female vocalist has deep pipes and can sing stuff like Janis easily. We do Greta Van Fleet and she sings it no problem.

We are comprised of Bass, Drums, 2 lead guitarists (one has a keyboard emulator and can do pads, washes and pretty good organ and key tones). We have two lead vocalists who sing nearly everything, but four of us can sing leads. All five can also sing background vocals, and multi-part harmonies are workable for us.

What songs in the last 20 years might fit this?

I've recently floated Paramore, Dua Lipa, Florence & the Machine but we haven't picked any up so far. What say you TB hive mind? Know some bangers or tunes that can be adapted to a rock band? Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
On a worldwide scale, Wet Leg, and Amyl and the Sniffers, have been huge in last couple of years. WL pretty much owned 2022/2023 with their sing-along new wave throwback stuff, but have so far stalled out in coming up with a follow-up. On the other hand, the Sniffers have had several albums, one just came out, but with their retro-punk/hard rock riffs and Amy Taylor’s sprechgesang vocals, it might be a little rough for a casual cover band audience, who knows? At least it will seem like you have your finger on the pulse.



 
  • Like
Reactions: Beej
#8
Michedelic said:
On a worldwide scale, Wet Leg, and Amyl and the Sniffers, have been huge in last couple of years. WL pretty much owned 2022/2023 with their sing-along new wave throwback stuff, but have so far stalled out in coming up with a follow-up. On the other hand, the Sniffers have had several albums, one just came out, but with their retro-punk/hard rock riffs and Amy Taylor’s sprechgesang vocals, it might be a little rough for a casual cover band audience, who knows? At least it will seem like you have your finger on the pulse.
Click to expand...

"Chaise Lounge" by Wet Leg is so damn goofy and catchy. I have to imagine it could turn into a pretty raucous audience chant-along. There's definitely room for some fun on-stage vocal back-and-forth. Seems like a pretty good dance tempo too.

Some time earlier in the year, someone here posted this from Descartes a Kant (thank you, whoever you are). It's a banger, IMHO.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Supadope, Michedelic, Killing Floor and 1 other person
#9
turf3 said:
You know, you can actually CHANGE THE KEY of songs! In every other genre, it's done commonly; only in rock and roll cover bands do people's heads explode if you suggest this.
Click to expand...
Yes, transposition is a thing but not sure how it applies here. Our lead vocalists have a wide range and between them we can play most anything - I was asking for high vocals as our female has an agile voice well suited to this. :thumbsup: We also always learn tunes in their original versions which makes it easier to just send out an existing recording and everyone comes prepared. It's a waste of time to fiddle with arrangements in a rock cover band IMHO. The audience wants the song they know with all the signature parts.
richntiff said:
So much of the music post 2000 has been the 'power lead vocal' thing that American Idol jumpstarted. I don't know that you will find a ton of songs that really feature great harmony extensively. As far as artist suggestions:

Pink
Katy Perry - she has a lot of hit songs, you'll be surprised lol!
Kelly Clarkson - if your vocalist can pull off Since You've Been Gone - that's a banger.
Paramore for SURE. Ain't It Fun is a great tune.
Billy Eilish - duh!
Taylor Swift - love her or hate her, she's got a TON of hits
Click to expand...
True dat! We do "Raise Your Glass", I've floated Katy Perry but no takers yet, thanks for that one too. I'd love to do Last Friday Night. We play Since You've Been Gone and she has no trouble at all hitting that high G anytime. We do Eilish's Bad Guy and that's well received too. Swift is hard to work into straight rock though, I've been looking through songs lately - anyone has Swift suggestions, I'm all ears! :woot:
Michedelic said:
On a worldwide scale, Wet Leg, and Amyl and the Sniffers, have been huge in last couple of years. WL pretty much owned 2022/2023 with their sing-along new wave throwback stuff, but have so far stalled out in coming up with a follow-up. On the other hand, the Sniffers have had several albums, one just came out, but with their retro-punk/hard rock riffs and Amy Taylor’s sprechgesang vocals, it might be a little rough for a casual cover band audience, who knows? At least it will seem like you have your finger on the pulse.



Click to expand...

I'd heard of Wet Leg but not Amyl and the Sniffers - they rock hard! I've sent some songs to the singers, thanks for that :thumbsup:
 
#12
srosenthal13 said:
"Chaise Lounge" by Wet Leg is so damn goofy and catchy. I have to imagine it could turn into a pretty raucous audience chant-along. There's definitely room for some fun on-stage vocal back-and-forth. Seems like a pretty good dance tempo too.

Some time earlier in the year, someone here posted this from Descartes a Kant (thank you, whoever you are). It's a banger, IMHO.

Click to expand...

You’re welcome. They are so freaking cool.
 
  • Like
Reactions: srosenthal13
#13
Beej said:
Yes, transposition is a thing but not sure how it applies here. Our lead vocalists have a wide range and between them we can play most anything - I was asking for high vocals as our female has an agile voice well suited to this. :thumbsup: We also always learn tunes in their original versions which makes it easier to just send out an existing recording and everyone comes prepared. It's a waste of time to fiddle with arrangements in a rock cover band IMHO. The audience wants the song they know with all the signature parts.

True dat! We do "Raise Your Glass", I've floated Katy Perry but no takers yet, thanks for that one too. I'd love to do Last Friday Night. We play Since You've Been Gone and she has no trouble at all hitting that high G anytime. We do Eilish's Bad Guy and that's well received too. Swift is hard to work into straight rock though, I've been looking through songs lately - anyone has Swift suggestions, I'm all ears! :woot:

I'd heard of Wet Leg but not Amyl and the Sniffers - they rock hard! I've sent some songs to the singers, thanks for that :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
If it appeals to them in the slightest, have them check out other songs by both bands to find one that’s a perfect fit. I didn’t want to clog up the thread with a bunch of videos, just wanted to give a taste.
Also on the rise, the Linda Lindas.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beej
#16
We honestly just look at the Billboard Hot 100 every few weeks and pick out some stuff we know our crowd would like.

We have always played Paramore (you should definitely play a bunch of Paramore people love it), Whitney, Heart, Madonna, Alanis, etc... lately we have played T-Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, etc.

We played Lizzo too before the, uh, incident.
 
#18
How about some Roadcase Royal - Nancy Wilson (Heart) and Liv Warfield (Prince's the New Power Generation). Some powerful tunes IMHO. The entire LP is pretty good.



Seven years old. And a side note, their bass player (Rothchild) is stage right rear on keys. A synth bass line?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beej
#19
Beej said:
Yes, transposition is a thing but not sure how it applies here.
Click to expand...
Well, how it would apply is if someone wants to do a song, and it sounds great for their voice, but the key you're doing it in is just too high (or just too low) for their range. Then, instead of making them strain, you change the key.

LIke I said, the viewpoints expressed in this forum are very different from the viewpoints I've seen on the bandstand, where in my experience it's quite common to change key due to vocal restrictions. But I will say that I haven't been on the rock and roll cover band circuit since the late 80s and I"m quite ready to accept that there could have been changes in performance practice since then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beej
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back