Myself, I use Cubase SX3 for recording, i find it reliable and professional in quality. (although the supplied VST plug-ins are kind of weak, but there are some great ones available)
Recording for a band would not be a problem with Cubase, Sonar, Nuendo etc..
What is important is the quality of your sound card or external audio interface.
If you are on windows XP then you have a great choice of cards, great value for money cards are the M-Audio and EMU cards. If you are on Vista (like me) then you may have to bite the bullet and fork out for something new (the ignorant lack of drivers for vista from said companies) I went for the firewire Edirol FA66, nearly £200 but enough live inputs for one guitar and one sure SM58 microphone (the FA66 is phantom powered) and a plethora of other inputs and outputs.
If you are looking to record a whole band playing in one take, then i would say 'not a chance' your better off looking for some dedicated hardware multitrack recorders, but even they are not that great and cost a bomb.
I would go to a reputible Music shop and discuss your needs, or post some more detailed information here about what exactly you wish to record when you say "Some songs by his band" because it just is not as simple as that.
Home computers can do it, but you need a mother of a rig with specialist hard and software to carry it off.
This is why quality studios charge soooo much.
It's not impossible though
EDIT: You did not mention what type of band it is, 3 piece, 4, 5, electronic ?
