In reading the comments after the various articles, it's interesting to see the various points of view.

Some bands see themselves as a commercial venture that provides entertainment that has to appeal to a very broad demographic... Which generally means cover songs. As the demographic becomes less broad, the cover songs might focus on a specific genre. Hirability is directly proportional to the broadness of a band's appeal. Proficiency in many genres brings more opportunity than proficiency in one.

Once the songs become originals instead of covers, broad appeal gives way to fan appeal. Unless an artist has already gained a following, he is more of a liability to a business than an asset. The AVERAGE customer wants to hear his/her favorite songs, and they aren't interested in hearing new stuff. I always make it a point to ask cover bands if they play any original material, and the usual response is: "we have several CDs worth of original music. We try to slip our songs into the set, but people don't want to hear originals. If we focused on original material we wouldn't get hired anywhere"

People go to live concerts for different reasons than they go to clubs, bars, parties, festivals, parks, wineries etc etc. Each type of venue has its own listening expectation. If you're playing fan music, you'd better have fans.

If you don't have your own fans, the next best thing (from a commercial standpoint) is to appeal to other bands' fans by playing their covers

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0