I learned a new way to use this word, which is one of the sexiest words in the English language.  Say it. Homage, Homage, homage.  Doesn’t it just fall out of your mouth?  Now say the word “cover.”   Cover, cover, cover.  Not as beautiful?  Not as liquid?  Not as whole?  Well, because of that, I will never again use the word “cover” to refer to a Song which I perform, but did not write.  I believe wholeheartedly in reworking homage songs so they are different than the original recording.  I also believe in picking songs which I am passionate about, or which drum up positive memories or feelings.  In other words, my homage songs have to derive from awesome originals.

Recently I had the privilege of meeting and learning from a great musician, Eric Hendrix.  When I first saw Eric perform, he used the word “homage” when he performed songs written by other artists.  I noticed that he played the songs with passion and respect.  He wasn’t just playing through them as they were written but instead was bringing them to the surface via a new path.

Paying homage can be practiced in many forms.  I am not a religious person, so I don’t pay homage to any deity.  In fact, I often wish I were more devout to some spiritual practice so as to reside in a humble, “homage-ready” mode.  But that is not the case.  So, thanks to Eric, I will be “homage-ready” and humble to the artists who have come before me, to the ones who wrote the songs I wish I had, to the ones who made their living off the song that I humbly attempt to pay homage.   I will not cover, because I simply can’t.  I can’t cover-up anything they did.  That just seems disrespectful.

So I encourage you to do the same.  Don’t just play a song and definitely don’t play a song in an attempt to sound just like the original.  So rude.  Instead, make it your own, and pay homage to the poetry within it and the artist who made it great.