Although best known as the perpetually smiling leader, vocalist and braintrust of Waterdog recording act, The Bad Examples, that role is only the tip of a creative iceberg.
At the tender age of 33, Covert is already somewhat of a musical renaissance man as tunesmith, a composer of film scores, an international touring performing, a record producer, a playwright and a teacher.
Driven to achievement, Covert has to his credit four nationally released albums (with Bad Examples) and two international solo albums with a third one nearing completion.
"Ever since I was a little kid, all I ever wanted to do was to create or be creative," said Covert during a phone interview. "It was never specifically music per se. It was just the idea of creating something from nothing that intrigued me."
Recalling a youthful passion for writing fictional stories, scribbling poetry and acting out original skits, Covert's creative well ran deep as a child. Music became his primary focus when he was about 8 or 9, after winning the admiration of his teachers and classmates with an original song called "Old Man Dan." Covert said that silly little dittie is still being used by a school-teacher acquaintance in her kindergarten class.
Hundreds of compositions have followed "Old Man Dan" out of Covert's inspired pen - some cute, some serious, and some painfully stark and disturbing. In the last category falls "Adam McCarthy," a warm and loving song that details a relationship with a dying friend. Heartfelt and poignant, "Adam McCarthy" has received significant radio airplay on stations such as WXRT, WCBR and others. It is among the artist's most well-known songs. Proceeds from the four-song "Adam McCarthy" EP (recorded live on WGN radio in 1994) are donated to the Leukemia Research Foundation.
"Songs are little windows into your life," Covert says. "That's one of the things I teach to my students during my songwriting classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music (in Chicago). When you write a song, you show a little piece of yourself. You look within and reflect upon how something you have seen, heard or experienced has affected you."
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello and David Bowie are all influences Covert cites as having had an impact on him as a songwriter.
A native of Iowa, Covert came to the City of Big Shoulders to absorb the rich culture and fast became a fixture in the local music scene.
"After college, I decided to try and take a shot at paying the rent with my music," he said. "I was alien to the whole band scene, so I hung out and watched a lot... I soaked up as much information as I could about recording, booking agents, night clubs and the whole live scene."
Bad Examples formed in 1987 and within a year were among the most popular bands in Chicagoland. Their first album, "MEAT: The Bad Examples," was self-released and hailed by the local media. College radio jumped all over "MEAT" and offers began to flood in from a variety of indie labels. In 1989, the Bad Examples signed with the Chicago-based Waterdog Records, who quickly repackaged and reissued "MEAT" for area retailers.
The band's sophomore album, "Bad Is Beautiful," was released in early 1991 and spawned the cult hit "Not Dead Yet."
A live recording, "Cheap Beer Night," followed in 1993. Last year, the group released its critically acclaimed album, "Kisses 50 Cents," which featured the local radio hit, "Every Poet Wants to Murder Shakespeare."
This summer's release of "Popscape: The Best of Ralph Covert & The Bad Examples," a well- rounded 18-track anthology that blends the best of the band's output with that of Covert's solo outings, has been selling briskly according to the folks at Covert's Chicago-based recording label, Waterdog Records.
With "Popscape" to keep his fans satisfied at present, Covert is completing mix-downs on his newest solo project, "Birthday."
"It's called 'Birthday' because I started it on my birthday last year," he said. "It began as just a fun project after turning a friend's basement into a temporary recording site. Musician friends would drop by and leave as their schedules allowed and we had all these instruments lying around and we just jammed and made music together all day and night. It seemed the perfect way to spend one's birthday."
Covert is primed for the big time after having undertaken two European solo tours and one U.K. tour with the Bad Examples, all in the past year. Another European tour will find the band in Belgium, France and Holland from Sept. 30 thru Oct. 23.