Members blackpig Posted September 18, 2005 Members Share Posted September 18, 2005 How do people here about having to learn rubbish songs because a customer wants them? I've got a gig at a wedding next week and the happy couple want me to sing a couple of second rate cheesy ballads made popular by Christy Moore. Part of me says the customer is always right and should get what they pay for; another part (slightly larger) says I'm a musician, not a whore. The piper I play with took the gig and thought it was ok to do this stuff - but then he's not the one doing the singing. I can't believe that these people want this drivel sung in the church - during the actual ceremony! Maybe I'm a snob...but I bet there'll be live nude mud wrestling during the reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted September 18, 2005 Members Share Posted September 18, 2005 Well, learning stuff you don't like for a wedding is easy, because you'll probably never have to sing it again. That said, since you'll never have to sing it again, I wouldn't hesitate to use a cheat sheet on a music stand for that part of the performance if you need to. Weddings are special gigs...the bride and groom often like some cheesy song, but it's their day, y'know. (shrug) Chin up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted September 18, 2005 Members Share Posted September 18, 2005 Oh, BTW...you can announce your band name as "The Copulating Snails". :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted September 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2005 Copulating Snails and the Garlic Butter Boys. I intend to use a faker's sheet on a music stand - there is a danger, however, that someone is going to ask me to sing this {censored}e again at a gig somewhere - "sure ye did it at Gobdaw's wedding". Do it once and you'll be haunted forever. Some songs I steadfastly refuse to sing: The Wild Rover Boolavogue The Fields of Athenry If You're Irish Come Into the Parlour Any "rebel" song Danny Boy If they want this sort of crap at their wedding they should hire a third rate pub ballad group. This is a solemn and holy ceremony taking place in a church, for God's sake. These slappers seem blind to the fact that on the day they make their vows they are going to mar the proceedings with music that can only be described as plumbing the lowest depths of snivelling mediocrity. I found a solution to the snail problem. Delicious they are too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Donovan Posted September 19, 2005 Members Share Posted September 19, 2005 I think this is a common problem. I met a piano player who absolutely refuses to play "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. Even though this is the most requested song for piano players. Regarding Irish Music, I read that the Clancy Brothers refused to play Danny Boy. My exposure to Irish music has mainly been through the internet. I love the Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers, who are both older bands. The younger Irish bands I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jotown Posted September 19, 2005 Members Share Posted September 19, 2005 With all due respect I think that your question is kind of silly. You are doing a wedding not TRL live. You are providing a service not performing at a concert. If you are going to take their money you learn the songs, and play them well. This is why so many musicians are broke or never working. I do 250 one nighters per year and I have for a very long time. It's not a concert unless your name is on the ticket. Everything else; bars, weddings, corporate gigs are an artist providing a service to a paying customer. Use that money to leverage your career and then you can play whatever you want. Until then; check your ego and your attitude and get paid, and be very thankful that you are one of the few musicians making money that night. Sorry; end of rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Donovan Posted September 19, 2005 Members Share Posted September 19, 2005 I agree with Jotown. The performance you give on stage is an act, it's not who you are as a person. You can do the act while still disagreeing with the choice of music. And if you feel upset while performing, just ask yourself "How does he tune the banana?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted September 19, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2005 I suppose ye're right - the customer pays so he gets what he wants. I looks as though this is going to be purely academic anyway as I'm coming down with a bug that makes my throat feel like sandpaper with chili sauce on it. With regard to rebel songs, there arn't too many bands playing that sort of stuff now. It's regarded as anachronistic and puerile, and dosn't fit with the image of the modern Ireland we all like to think is cool and groovy. Rebel songs are also seen as a way of promoting blind hate for the sake of it - not very cool given the current political climate here. There's enough violence and strife about without some mad drunk paddy singing about it. I myself have also noticed that venues and bands peddling rebel songs tend to attract a nastier type of customer. You're more likely to get a glass in the face at one of these gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FingerBone Bill Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 In this instance - yes you are a whore! It's not like the bride and groom are buying a ticket to your gig. You are taking their money to perform a service (and much like a whore, you don't get too much say in what the customer wants). You can either refuse the job or lay back and think of England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 Once I was asked to play the bride's and the groom's favorite songs in church as they came down the aisle. His favorite: "Release Me" by Englebert Humperdinck. The first line is "Please release me let me go, for I don't love you anymore." Her favorite: "My Way" by Frank Sinatra. The first line is "And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain." No matter how I tried to explain to them that these were probably not the most appropriate lyrics for me to sing for a wedding, they insisted that these were their favorite songs and they wanted to hear them at their wedding. So I sang them. I've often wondered how long that marriage lasted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Branwyn Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 "Can you play "Free Bird"?" I lived in the American South. That's all I have to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 If I were paying a band several hundred dollars, and they kept refusing to play songs I requested, I wouldn't be too happy. So if you are playing at my wedding, you'd better play "Thunder Island", "Convoy" and "Black Betty (Wam a Lam)"!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Godot Posted September 20, 2005 Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 Originally posted by MDLMUSIC nymore."Her favorite: "My Way" by Frank Sinatra. The first line is "And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain." At least she didn't request the Sex Pistols version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted September 20, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 20, 2005 At our wedding Mrs. Blackpig & I had a selection of tunes from Bach, Mozart & Handel - all music appropriate for a church setting. My agent played the organ, his wife sang a bit and Mrs. Blackpig's niece played the cello. The songs were all old Irish hymns from the early Christian tradition. At the reception afterwards a session involving around 30 musos went on for three days. Jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, slides, slow airs and a few Dylan songs for good measure. There's a time and a place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted September 21, 2005 Members Share Posted September 21, 2005 Originally posted by blackpig Part of me says the customer is always right and should get what they pay for; another part (slightly larger) says I'm a musician, not a whore. If you're playing for free, you're not a whore (though you may be a slut). If you're being paid, you're every bit the whore, and you need to do what your audience wants. I have to do this all the time. Wanna hear me do some Celine Dion? Cause I will, you know, if you're not nice. - Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Donovan Posted September 21, 2005 Members Share Posted September 21, 2005 The songs were all old Irish hymns from the early Christian tradition. Now this is the kind of music I would be very interested in listening to. Where can I find some of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted September 21, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 21, 2005 Mr. Donovan - www.thecassisys.com is a good place to start looking for old Irish stuff. The site seems to be down at the moment, however. Here's another link: http://www.dnaco.net/~mobrien/irishptr/biblio.html We fished some stuff out of a book called "Medieval Irish Lyrics" by James Carney, published by Dolmen Press of Dublin. I'm not sure if it's still in print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted September 21, 2005 Members Share Posted September 21, 2005 Originally posted by blackpig Copulating Snails and the Garlic Butter Boys. I intend to use a faker's sheet on a music stand - there is a danger, however, that someone is going to ask me to sing this {censored}e again at a gig somewhere - "sure ye did it at Gobdaw's wedding". Do it once and you'll be haunted forever. Some songs I steadfastly refuse to sing: The Wild Rover Boolavogue The Fields of Athenry If You're Irish Come Into the Parlour Any "rebel" song Danny Boy If they want this sort of crap at their wedding they should hire a third rate pub ballad group. This is a solemn and holy ceremony taking place in a church, for God's sake. These slappers seem blind to the fact that on the day they make their vows they are going to mar the proceedings with music that can only be described as plumbing the lowest depths of snivelling mediocrity. I found a solution to the snail problem. Delicious they are too. They have Irish people in Ireland, too? I thought they all lived here in Cleveland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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