Members TrickyBoy Posted February 23, 2015 Members Share Posted February 23, 2015 When we started 6 years ago, we were all about the party band. The majority of the bands were playing mostly 80's and 90's rock; we played mostly new pop tunes. All upbeat... Never a slow tune. Crowd was the 18-35 age group. And we did really well. Then we took 6 months off to have a baby... Well, how things are different today. We've been playing 3-4 casino gigs a month. We're down to playing only 1 club, and that's not even a regular thing. The crowd we're playing to now is 35-50+. Most of what we're learning is from the 50's-70's. Here's our new stuff for this month: Jailhouse RockI can't help falling in love with youShake Rattle and RollJohnny B GoodSleepwalk (my guilty pleasure)TaquilaFolsom Prison BluesWhole Lotta Shakin Goin OnCrazy Little Thing Called LoveMagic Carpet Ride We're doing at least 1 slow song a set... Sometimes 2. And we're having a blast! For me, the change has been rejuvenating. In addition to having a blast, our pay has gone up considerably too! Good times all around. Here's a brief clip from the weekend that the DJ took of us - our first time trying this one. Went over well though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted February 23, 2015 Members Share Posted February 23, 2015 Nice to see you guys are still chuggin' along! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted February 24, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 24, 2015 So far, since we returned, it's been a complete blast. I think (at least for me) going through some change keeps it fresh. It's nice that we've evolved, but kept the same core group of players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted February 24, 2015 Members Share Posted February 24, 2015 Sounds like a good time! And more pay is always a good thing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted February 24, 2015 Members Share Posted February 24, 2015 Congrats! With increased pay, you should be able to get a regular keyboard player much more easily now. Because we're all whores. Doesn't sound.like you need one though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted February 24, 2015 Members Share Posted February 24, 2015 As long as you are enjoying, then the music style itself doesn't matter so much. Give it a few more years and you could be doing jazz standards all night. Might want to practice playing over changes at some point. As far as the dough, if it doesn't go up as you get older, something is wrong. I guess though, at a certain point, it starts going down again. I think I may have reached that point........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted February 25, 2015 Members Share Posted February 25, 2015 Yes times are changing and have changed! Its great to know you guys are back and doing great! We are going on 4 years in May and MAN have things changed. We started out as a side project to our main band There & Back Again (www.tbabocks.com) to pick up a few bucks playing once or twice a month since the other band was only doing 2 gigs per month MAX... and those were drying up. Ostrich Hat was me on a small e-kit, our guitar player singing and playing acoustic guitar and our soundman playing bass and singing. We were 3 guys in the corner with instruments and we played small bars & restaurants. Well... When There & Back Again decided to call it quits on our 10th anniversary in 2012 (the writing was on the wall for awhile), OH became our priority and those small bars became the biggest bars & clubs in the area and the restaurants almost totally faded away. Since then we have dropped the acoustic angle, added a 4th member to play bass and our pay has more than doubled. We are now booked as much as we want to be well into the summer with 4 weddings lined up 2 private parties 2 casino rooms and a bunch of better clubs. This band has gone further in 4 years than the last band did in 10 and part of the reason is a definitive vision. All upbeat fun party music. Or like we call it... Music for girls. LOL We are about to change again though as our vocalist is still set to leave us end of May. (a few months ago he was planning on being gone by now but that didnt happen) We have only found 3 guys who maybe a good replacement (about 20 people contacted me so far) but there have been 6 or 7 women who have contacted me and can fill it. Who knows maybe a female vocalist is in our future? Going to have to start auditions soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 Give it a few more years and you could be doing jazz standards all night. Might want to practice playing over changes at some point. You might be right. Lady Gaga is absolutely killing it with her duets with Tony Bennett, I don't see any way she could possibly go back to that Bad Romance crap, and she just might take her Bad Romance audience with her. Lounge music and jazz standards doesn't have the "uncool" stigma with younger people today that it used to in my day. Better break out that ES 335, Tricky Boy! Pick out a bow tie or 2 lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opus Antics Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 You might be right. Lady Gaga is absolutely killing it with her duets with Tony Bennett, I don't see any way she could possibly go back to that Bad Romance crap, and she just might take her Bad Romance audience with her. Lounge music and jazz standards doesn't have the "uncool" stigma with younger people today that it used to in my day. Better break out that ES 335, Tricky Boy! Pick out a bow tie or 2 lol! Killing it? Ehhhh...maybe in jazz circles. But in mainstream it's not even on the radar. She's become largely irrelevant. Back when she was doing that "Bad Romance crap" we had songs we could cover that got everyone on their feet singing along. I wish she'd come out with more Bad Romance crap so we'd have something new to play that gets people riled up. Our female lead vocalist can kill on Lady Gaga but she hasn't done anything relevant (for the bar and club scene) in a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 Sorry for your loss, but I'm a little surprised that no one else has stepped up to fill the void caused by theawol Lady Gaga. Maybe she will take a cue from Uptown Funk and do something danceable in a retro way. I disagree that her new direction will not register on the mainstream radar, because even Michael Buble did that and she will add the theatrical element even when singing swing and torch songs. Although I don't seriously predict there will be any club bands getting requests for Lush Life. Event bands , who knows.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STM86 Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 Miley Cyrus seems to be following gaga out of the electropop arena. Things can only go so far before they swing back. I think the vinyl resurgence is a sign that retro sounds will be taking over- it's already begun really. Might be good news for the cover band market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 the nice thing "back in the day" when Gaga was doing the bad romance crap is that a band with a male vocalist can get away with doing rock up versions of her hits. We used to cover Bad Romance, Poker Face and Just Dance. All KILLED.... now they wouldn't and I think we said bye bye to them around 4 years ago. (I think Ostrich Hat did poker face acoustically for a gig or two) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 [video=youtube;qo7B_TdmFHc] Couldn't resist putting this up, sorry. A few years ago I got curious about Lady Gaga from the cover talk here, listened to some of her hits and couldn't see the appeal. Just as well being that if a 50+ year old musician likes a top 40 song it probably wouldn't be top 40. From '12-' 14 I played in a club band with a female singer and I suppose Gaga-ism had run it's course because no one requested her songs of the band or the DJ either one. I did like the Bruno Mars, Adele and Katy Perry (Dark Horse) we played and even liked some of the booty tracks with the TR-808 drums, so hopefully I'm not close-minded to all new music. So is what happened not so much that acts quit offering up appealing songs in the Gaga vein, so much as it is that club goer's tastes changed and now there is a quest to accommodate them with a new sound that is doable by live bands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted February 27, 2015 Members Share Posted February 27, 2015 Who else saw Gaga kill it at the Oscars doing Julie Andrews stuff from the Sound of Music? I thought she did pretty darn well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted February 28, 2015 Members Share Posted February 28, 2015 OK then, maybe just another past-their-prime pop star putting themselves out to pasture with The Great American Songbook ala Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart. I forced myself to listen to more of Bad Romance and it's still crap but at least with a melodic, hooky chorus. A youtube compilation of her greatest live moments showed me that LG can be pretty amazing in whatever genre she chooses. No more LG research today other than to check out the Julie Andrews stuff, which ordinarily is as white bread as you could get. Good luck to Tricky Dickies and their new casino career! The music seems like it would be a lot of fun. Don't turn into gambling addicts y'all, I know a few and it really sucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 Who else saw Gaga kill it at the Oscars doing Julie Andrews stuff from the Sound of Music? I thought she did pretty darn well. Yeah, she did great. I suspect she's going to be around for quite a while as one of those artists who dabbles a bit in everything. A Broadway show here, a movie role there. A pop or a rock album once in awhile. Talented girl, for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 OK then, maybe just another past-their-prime pop star putting themselves out to pasture with The Great American Songbook ala Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart. I forced myself to listen to more of Bad Romance and it's still crap but at least with a melodic, hooky chorus. A youtube compilation of her greatest live moments showed me that LG can be pretty amazing in whatever genre she chooses. No more LG research today other than to check out the Julie Andrews stuff, which ordinarily is as white bread as you could get. Yeah, I think the "doing standards" thing is a bit of putting one out to pasture. Or just trying to stay one the radar by doing something "different". Personally, I love standards but I'm not that interested in rock stars doing them. I'm glad people keep those songs alive and somewhat relevant to new generations, but I don't think there's going to be any big resurgence of them, like you said. It's good that young people still know them and there's always going to be a time and place for those songs, but I don't see young kids lining up around the block to see a band playing standards anytime soon. As far as Gaga covers go and what cover bands can do, it really just comes down to the song. I've thought the days of the artist have been gone for quite awhile. If Bad Romance worked a couple of years ago or Uptown Funk works today for a band, it's because people want to hear and dance to those songs, not because there's an audience full of people wanting to see a band play Lady Gaga or Bruno Mars songs. Even with classic bands like Journey, people want to hear Don't Stop Believin' or Any Way You Want It. They don't want to hear Stone In Love or Feelin' That Way even though classic rock radio plays those songs a lot too. And they'd want to hear DSB whether it was originally by Journey or Starship or Rick Springfield. They aren't really requesting the bands, but the song. So it's not about whether someone fills the Gaga void as much as just there being newer songs that work in a live situation and connect with audiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 I just now watched the TD's clip and realized it was a (yep) jazz standard associated with Etta James (At Last) and sounding very good, nice smoky vocals. Reminded me a little of Heart doing "Tell It Like It Is". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opus Antics Posted March 2, 2015 Members Share Posted March 2, 2015 OK then, maybe just another past-their-prime pop star putting themselves out to pasture with The Great American Songbook ala Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart. I forced myself to listen to more of Bad Romance and it's still crap but at least with a melodic, hooky chorus. A youtube compilation of her greatest live moments showed me that LG can be pretty amazing in whatever genre she chooses. No more LG research today other than to check out the Julie Andrews stuff, which ordinarily is as white bread as you could get. Good luck to Tricky Dickies and their new casino career! The music seems like it would be a lot of fun. Don't turn into gambling addicts y'all, I know a few and it really sucks! Heh, I'm not disagreeing on your opinion. I was never much of a fan as a music listener. But as a cover band musician she was gold back in the day. I do like the retro feel that is coming around. Your Lips Are Moving has that feel. Olly Murs came out with something retro a year or so ago that I loved but it never really hit. Uptown Funk has it. Timberlake has some of it here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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