Ox,
     I've been in nothing but cover bands in the past. One of them dabbled with 6 or 7 originals sprinkled into the set list. However, I've got a very good friend who left his original band after 8 years because he spent more on gas then he got paid. Also, his gear would get damaged every so often by stage hands yanking his set off to set up the next kit.  He did say, in all fairness, that he loved the experience of creating/recording his own music. Unfortunately, they were never signed, and the monster that is an original band has a huge appetite for cash. CD's, advertising, merchandise, and gear/supplies gobble cash. The line"twenty minutes and twenty bucks" is pretty accurate.  The key is to get signed, and even then, you'll need to pay a good lawyer to prevent you from getting F'd over.  If you're married, it's tougher to handle. Good luck.

Our manager says the bar owners on occassion ask if we do originals and when she says "No" they say "Good".  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.  These aren't little rural bars either *which I find the most fun to play*- they are larger clubs.

The problem with original bands is that most of them are 18-22 year olds who have no real clue what's going on in the music business, or in music.  They feel that they are the first band to do what they are doing and that all the places that book cover bands are a bunch of sellouts and corporate suits who have no desire to help the original music scene.  Unfortunately, the original music scene in most towns consist of less than adequate players writing awful songs.  Plus, the fans are usually a bunch of high school or just out of high school age kids who can't get into the clubs anyway!

The sad reality of the matter is, bar owners don't book bands for the sake of the band, it's a business venture for them.  If the band plays what the crowd wants, and people stay and have drinks and fun, the band has successfully completed it's task.  The best way to do this is to play covers appropriate to the scene.  I'm not thrilled to be drumming in a classic rock/oldies band, but the players are good, no one wants to be a rock star, and the money is good, because it's what people around here want to hear.  Fortunately, I also have an original project with some of the guys in this band, and it is creatively satisfying.

Oh I'd be less than honest if I said playing covers was my favorite! Although I DO indeed enjoy playing a lot of the songs we cover. I also like to write occasionally and feel inspired to write often! I consider myself to be fairly creative. But I don't kid myself in to thinking that all my creativity is good enough for everyone else to enjoy!   That my friend is where a lot of "original bands" get totally lost. Just because you write a song, doesn't make it a good song!
Tony hit the freaking nail on the head about local bands. We have the same crap going on here! We even have a local website built around this "original bands" idea. Their forum is full of "the local live scene sucks" "nobody supports local music" and "the only thing we have around here is cover bands!".
The fact is my "cover band" stays pretty busy....around here! In fact we play to full clubs even on Thursday nights! Not bad for a town of 50,000 +. But go to their website and it's "only a few people showed up and you all missed a great show!"
I had an original band back in the early 90's. But we never forced our songs on anyone. We played a mixture of covers and only our best original songs. I guess being a radio guy kind of helps me pick out the good stuff I know folks would want to hear.
Don't get me wrong, being in an original band with great musicians is very cool indeed, but the fact is it's a much harder sell to most clubs. I enjoy the little cash flow to keep fresh heads and sticks on hand!
 

Well, the last paragraph sums it up for you.  Athens is one of a handful of cities in the US that really supports it's local music scene.  More importantly, even though some great bands, both musically and commercially have come from Athens, it's refreshing that they've resisted the corparate raiding that often goes on when a geographical area has a band or 2 hit.  Look at the way the "Seattle Sound" created an entire subculture in America!

Louder, in Montgomery, there are a few similar websites up.  Montgomerysux.com is one, and there is a local club that has a local musicians forum that is really ridiculous.  It is nothing more than a place for a bunch of disgruntled kids to come and complain in profanity laced posts.  It does nothing but discredit the local original music scene even more.