Although an artist may write their song and play them on their own, many singer-songwriters have chosen to perform those songs as part of a band. There are many reasons that can motivate a person to chose to do so. One, a band can give additional dimensions, perspectives and textures to the music. If these additions are well balanced, the song is still at the heart of the process, for its three singer-songwriting aspects, lyrics, melody and performance.

Another common reason is just the ‘security’ of a group (hence the title ‘band aid’). It allows the singer-songwriter to share some of the pressure and requirements of the music industry field with those who in effect become allies. It also potentially offers an opportunity for a wider audience. In effect, it is not uncommon that bands have introduced or help prepare solo acts, although many singer-songwriters have stuck to having bands. Sometimes, some artists are just lucky enough to find a bunch of great guys to share their passion at all hours of day and night and create something beautiful!

Singer-songwriters in a band have invariably less control over the performance of the material they create and sometimes where the band has a veto on the song, over the material itself. In that sense, they belong with more difficulty to the genre. For this project, we assume that they chose to relinquish part of the process (which can be very little), retain the original creation rights and are part of the performance and therefore are singer-songwriters.

The music styles vary and can include anything from Rock and its sub-genres (e.g. Mick Jagger in the Rolling Stones) or Indie (Fran Healey in Travis) to traditional Folk.