Covers, Funked Up | How The Why Store Makes Them Their Own

Covering songs is an art. Anyone can play a hit, but making it your own? That takes something special. That’s what we try to do every time The Why Store takes on a classic. The Why Store cover songs aren’t just played — we make them our own

Sure, we’ve got over 150 original songs written by Chris Shaffer, but every once in a while, we like to pay homage to the legends. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton — you name it. We’ve probably thrown our spin on it at some point.

But we don’t just play these songs straight. The Why Store cover songs get the full treatment — our own funked-up style, jam band energy, and of course, Chris’s unmistakable voice giving it that extra edge. It’s what turns a familiar tune into something brand new.

We don’t pick covers lightly. With a catalog of originals we’re proud of, it takes a special song to earn a spot in our setlist. Chris puts a lot of care into choosing each one. A cover has to mean something. It needs lyrics that hit, and it has to be open enough musically to let us make it our own.

That’s the fun part. Taking a song everyone knows and seeing how far we can push it — without ever losing respect for the original. We’ve done everything from “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” to deep cuts that catch people by surprise.

Whether it’s one of our originals or a cover, every show is its own journey. We don’t work off a script. The crowd fuels us, and sometimes that’s what leads to a cover sneaking into the set when we least expect it. That’s part of the magic of The Why Store cover songs — you never know what’s coming next.

A recent cover of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

Check out some of the greatest cover songs of all time: Rolling Stone – The Top 10 Greatest Cover Songs