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2 bands - same musicians


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I realize many of you play with more than one band.

How many of you play with the same group of people but book as two different bands, with different styles to cover different markets?

I did a variation of this a few years back. We had a 6 piece variety band that played private clubs (the Moose/Eagles/Elks circuit) guitar/vocalist; keys/male vocalist; female vocalist/some keys; sax/vocalist; drums/vocalist; and bass. Four of us also booked under a different name to play a more rocking mix of music - guitar/vocalist; keys/male vocalist;drums/vocalist; and bass. It worked out very well. I did most of the booking for the variety band and drummer handled the rock band. We were in constant contact, so it worked.

I wouldn't mind doing this again in a new project and was just thinking that others must also do the same thing.

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From May 2011-Oct 2012 I did the 2 band thing. There & Back Again is a 5 peice variety/dance band and the guitar player, soundman and I also did Ostrich Hat which is a trio. As of Oct 2012 TBA is on "hiatus" so started concentrating on building up our trio, which has been going great.

 

Originally OH was all acoustic based covers, now its something closer to what TBA was. 

It was mainly me who booked both bands and TBA only did 2X per month and only Saturdays. OH we would book on Fridays so that was never a problem.

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It's something I've thought about doing before. I wouldn't mind having another version of us playing more of the 80s rock (hairband stuff) with a different name, different approach and different clubs. We'd probably need a higher-voiced frontman to pull off that stuff (Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Queen, etc.). Meanwhile, we'd keep the current band more focused on classic rock and country-rock, which is basically our bread and butter.

The closest I've come to having two bands made up of the same people was having a five-piece (vocal/guitar, guitar/vocal, keys/guitar/vocal, bass/vocal, drums) that jammed on different tunes in the guitarist's basement. I was the keys/guitar/vocal guy in the 5-piece, but I sang lead and played lead guitar, the lead guitarist switched to drums and the bass player stayed on bass. It was fun, but we never played a gig with that lineup.

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One of my project's line-ups consists of the bass player, guitar player and keyboard player (me!) from the horn band project that we all work with.   We drop the female front, forego the horn section and play in front of a different drummer.   The project started almost a year ago when the drummer was working with another band that suddenly imploded - leaving him (the drummer) with a number of firm bookings and no band to play them with.   Our guitarist heard about his situation and talked to him an hour or two before he was going to simply cancel the dates.   We threw together a playlist (50% of which was culled from our "horn band's" set list, 50% pulled from other material we had all done previously - and played the first gig.  

The night went so well that we've continued to work it.  The drummer does pretty much all the bookings - and usually at places on his side of town (no venue overlap with the horn band).   If he finds a job - he gives us a call and if we're available books it.   It's a win-win for everybody.  The horn band works once or twice a month - and we typically pick up a 3rd in the 4 piece configuration.

 

 

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SpaceNorman wrote:

 

 

One of my project's line-ups consists of the bass player, guitar player and keyboard player (me!) from the horn band project that we all work with.   We drop the female front, forego the horn section and play in front of a different drummer.   The project started almost a year ago when the drummer was working with another band that suddenly imploded - leaving him (the drummer) with a number of firm bookings and no band to play them with.   Our guitarist heard about his situation and talked to him an hour or two before he was going to simply cancel the dates.   We threw together a playlist (50% of which was culled from our "horn band's" set list, 50% pulled from other material we had all done previously - and played the first gig.  

 

The night went so well that we've continued to work it.  The drummer does pretty much all the bookings - and usually at places on his side of town (no venue overlap with the horn band).   If he finds a job - he gives us a call and if we're available books it.   It's a win-win for everybody.  The horn band works once or twice a month - and we typically pick up a 3rd in the 4 piece configuration.

 

 

 

 

 

cool. Keeps things fresh!

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I play in a backing band. We back different front men. We just picked up another front man who the bass player and I are going to back for some shows. The band leader has some things going on where he is going to be out of town more ,, so we need a band to cover some dates at the bar. This guy also has subbed for us on lead guitar quite a few times over the last few years so its should go pretty smooth. He is in a duo where the front person does a lot of solo gigs so it fills in some dates for him. Its gonna be a good time because we do a lot fo country and this is gonna be a rock and roll show. The sweet thing is ,, ,i still dont have to haul gear ,, since most of it is gonna be on the home stage.

 

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I think it is pretty common to want to work with people you work well with.  Obviously bands who are made up of musicians who are compatible both musically and personality wise will last longer than those that clash.  I think if everyone is on the same page then it makes sense to do as much as you can together. 

The backup band mentioned above is interesting to me.  I am currently playing with an original band that is made up of great musicians.  It is instrumental.  We could find a good vocalist and be a solid cover band.  However, I don't think the band leader of the instrumental band has any desire to play covers or the type of venues that have cover bands. 

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I can't quote on my iPhone but the post above is excellent. Once you get a core of guys that can move quickly on any agenda given your skill set it makes sense to go for that and use it for all you can use it for.

 

It's fun and profitable. It keeps you busy and keeps you thinking about getting better at a large range of ideas and circumstances.

 

Think The Band here, backing up Bob Dylan.

 

I've also used this modus operandi in my recording business. Me and a certain old friend drummer work very well, very quickly, and very intuitively together. It's not a stretch for us to come in and have me operate the recording remotely while I track on bass and he does drums and the artist works his guitar, piano, whatever, for basic tracks that can pretty well smoke out of the box.

 

As mentioned in the above post, if you have people that work well together, why not parlay that into as many situations as you can so all can benefit easily and profitably?

 

It's fun!

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Lee, I may bring it up.  The band leader has specifically said he does not want to play bars or be a bar band.  These guys are incredible musicians though and could definitely do it... influences across the board from things like Billy Cobham to Stanley Clarke to Rush to Zeppelin to Jonas Hellborg to Level 42 to the Beatles to Korn etc etc.  And they can play the stuff convincingly and with conviction.  And these guys do their homework and there is no drama.  Of course, we are working on an album right now and have not played out or been in a studio with the clock ticking.  IMO, drama comes with stress and we haven't had any yet.

 

I may still bring it up.  We are working on an original album and met with a producer last week who gave us an estimated budget higher than the band leader anticipated.  Why not play out 3-4 times a month and put the money into the recording instead of pulling it out of our pocket?

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Well, exactly. And the other thing is that you can still do things that you don't consider in character. For instance rehearsing to back up a singer-songwriter for a recording project. It's a total gas playing to a particular genre. To not pull out the Cobham fill and just play the quarter note on four on the tom-tom for instance. Even if there's no money in it can be a real bonding experience for a group of guys. And you can always break up into little segments of the band for needed projects. Anyway, I love thinking this way and seeing all the opportunities for fun and great musicmaking. And frequently for making a decent buck.

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