Playing in the band...

guitarslinger

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I'm playing with two groups right now. In one, the musicianship is pretty decent, but, the personalities not so much. In the other it's a bunch of great guys, but, "meh" abilities. I guess it's a rare treat anymore to find oneself in a group where capability, courtesy and comity prevail on a high level. Oh, well. There's always "alone time" in the guitar room with the Guilds.
 

walrus

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I think I'd rather play with people who are fun, and work on practicing!

walrus
 

crank

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I am lucky in that my main band are both good folks and good players. We have a lot of fun both at practice and at gigs!
 

Guildedagain

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Ahhhh, to be in a band with "the perfect guys", wow... that would really be something!

And there would be no heavy gear to carry either ;-)
 
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Well, I am extremely fortunate to live in Southern California, the east SF Valley in particular, where there are so many first-rate musicians, and really decent people at that, living and working! AND a few nice places to play!

Admittedly, my gigs are not typical bar gigs, and my "band" has a rotating roster, so much so that we have never had a rehearsal. But I am able to round up some pretty impressive players, all around my age, and we just king of know these songs already! And on songs I don't think that they might know, I do "pull-downs" from youtube and email them to the guys, with the key I want to do them in, and any other notes I have.

It also lets me be pretty flexible on the shows I do. I can use just my keyboardist (who also plays left-hand bass) and a drummer, or I can bring in a bigger band with lead guitar, bass, drums, keys, female singer, horns...or any combination thereof.

I really do NOT like charts! I don't want the guys "on the page". I want them interacting with each other and the audience, and watching me to see where I'm going to go within the framework of the song or set!
ALL the guys have been playing professionally for DECADES, and have played in or with some really big name groups or singers (Neil Diamond, Brian Setzer, Pat Benetar, Spyro Gyra, America, lots of jazz cats and some have done TV commercials, film scores, etc).

These guys LISTEN as well as play! I play rhythm guitar and I am the singer and can lead pretty effectively (even when we are moving into un-charted "medley madness"!). On songs where I put down my guitar, or where I'm SO out front the guys can't read me, the keyboardist is the musical director. If I'm doing a gig without keyboards, then I just don't get too far out in front. But nobody plays so loud that they can't hear the other guys.

And I always make sure everyone gets to shine...lead guitar solos, keyboard solos. drum solos, bass solos...and calling out the guys by name frequently during the show, so the audience knows who they are. The guys tell me they have more fun on my gigs than most of the gigs they play!

AND I pay the guys well. Because of the types of shows I do, we usually draw pretty good crowds, which translates to above-average money.
And, we play so frequently that the band sounds tight, regardless of which guys I have on the gig!
 

Bikerdoc

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Retro Rocker, is it true that before bands can even begin to get paid or noticed they are often "paying to play" in clubs?Oh my!!! Have I asked this question before?
 

crank

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Retro Rocker, is it true that before bands can even begin to get paid or noticed they are often "paying to play" in clubs?Oh my!!! Have I asked this question before?

I think RR is talking about cover bands. The pay to play thing is for original bands. Not super prevalent in NY there are plenty of small clubs to play. I don't know about LA.

I have played in a few originals bands and most of the time the pay sucked. The pay for classic rock bands where I live is around $400. We play modern country and get at least 2x that amount. The really popular cover bands that are agency booked and can draw a good crowd can make 2-5K (from what I am told. We started playing a room that was paying a younger, better looking, better all around, agency repped modern country band $2,500 so they went with us old farts for $800 instead.

The clubs care about their bottom line. They don't care if you suck so long as you bring a crowd. Conversely they don't care if you sound great - no crowd, no return gigs.
 

titanNV

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I guess if you had to choose one or the other - might be best to choose which is more fun for you.

For me (trying to) play is relaxing and fun - dealing with jackholes isn't fun. So the choice would be pretty clear for me.
 

Taylor Martin Guild

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When you are playing to the general public, a good band will be as well received as a very good band.
With that said, I only play in a band where the people are all friends and love to make music together.
In the end that is what it is all about.
 
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No...I never did "pay for play", but I do know a lot who did.
I only played a handful of clubs back in the day that had 2 or 3 bands per night...and even then we got paid.

( cue 'authoritative grandfather voice') Why, you young whippersnappers don't know this, but "back in MY day" clubs were packed and bands were busting their butts to get good enough to be worthy of a booking. Then you'd play to a full house, build your following, get offers from other clubs...agents were always prowling around looking for great acts...and it just went from there. BUT you had to be GOOD! And ENTERTAINING!
(I actually used that as a stepping stone so that when I started doing my original stuff, I made a smooth transition from specialty-cover band to all-original band with a decent draw).

Then things changed. (disco, MADD, changing social values, punk rock, new wave, grunge, karaoke, DJ's, etc)
Club owners brought in ANY band that could guarantee a draw, regardless of how good (or bad) they were. Problem is ANY band could bring in 40 friends to see them...ONCE! LOL! Over time, the bands would bring their friends, drive out the regulars, then the second time in that band would draw maybe HALF...a downward spiral that eventually led to "pay for play"...with some exceptions.

And where a band used to be able to hold a weekly residency, say, every Wednesday night, where they would introduce new stuff and see how it goes over, or see how it feels in a live setting and fine-tune it to perfection...it's now "karaoke night" or "trivia night".

There are still a few hold-outs around. Clubs where they'd rather have live entertainment. If you're not well-known, you might have to go in once or twice at a reduced rate and earn your way to a better rate. But NEVER for free!

AND THERE'S NOTHING MORE FUN THAN PLAYING WITH MUSICIANS YOU LIKE IN FRONT OF A CROWD, AND GETTING PAID FOR IT!!!

But, again, back in the day, the bands that excelled weren't just bands...they were entertainment! They got the place jumpin'!
And you NEVER wore your street clothes onstage! ;)

Yeah, I'm a dinosaur, stuck in my old-school ways. But it STILL works for me!

YMMV!
 

rampside

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Works for me, too! I knew I was a dinosaur when a few students in my class (college) tried to convince me a DJ is a musician...

walrus

"Let's Talk Turntables"

Hmmmmm...."Turntables"??? Predominantly dinosaurs we are, here at LTG. I believe, depending on the software, some of the better DJ shows, may use little tiny turntables?

Maybe the much younger members here can expound on that?:smug:
 

NEONMOONY

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Was playing "Sylvia's Mother" the other day and realized, though a good song, how dated it is with the house phone, phone and talking to "the operator". It's like a song from some ancient times.
 
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Well, I am extremely fortunate to live in Southern California, the east SF Valley in particular, where there are so many first-rate musicians, and really decent people at that, living and working! AND a few nice places to play!

Admittedly, my gigs are not typical bar gigs, and my "band" has a rotating roster, so much so that we have never had a rehearsal. But I am able to round up some pretty impressive players, all around my age, and we just king of know these songs already! And on songs I don't think that they might know, I do "pull-downs" from youtube and email them to the guys, with the key I want to do them in, and any other notes I have.

It also lets me be pretty flexible on the shows I do. I can use just my keyboardist (who also plays left-hand bass) and a drummer, or I can bring in a bigger band with lead guitar, bass, drums, keys, female singer, horns...or any combination thereof.

I really do NOT like charts! I don't want the guys "on the page". I want them interacting with each other and the audience, and watching me to see where I'm going to go within the framework of the song or set!
ALL the guys have been playing professionally for DECADES, and have played in or with some really big name groups or singers (Neil Diamond, Brian Setzer, Pat Benetar, Spyro Gyra, America, lots of jazz cats and some have done TV commercials, film scores, etc).

These guys LISTEN as well as play! I play rhythm guitar and I am the singer and can lead pretty effectively (even when we are moving into un-charted "medley madness"!). On songs where I put down my guitar, or where I'm SO out front the guys can't read me, the keyboardist is the musical director. If I'm doing a gig without keyboards, then I just don't get too far out in front. But nobody plays so loud that they can't hear the other guys.

And I always make sure everyone gets to shine...lead guitar solos, keyboard solos. drum solos, bass solos...and calling out the guys by name frequently during the show, so the audience knows who they are. The guys tell me they have more fun on my gigs than most of the gigs they play!

AND I pay the guys well. Because of the types of shows I do, we usually draw pretty good crowds, which translates to above-average money.
And, we play so frequently that the band sounds tight, regardless of which guys I have on the gig!

Wrong section. Sorry.
 
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