Members Old Fart Rocker Posted March 31, 2015 Members Share Posted March 31, 2015 Well.....after 35 years I'm finally band-less. Last week I pulled the plug on the Country band I've been trying to get going for over a year; and I quit the pop/dance band I've been playing with for the past 5 years. I made the mistake of getting too many people from the dance band involved with my country band. We had a successful end of 2014 and had 17 gigs on the books for this year. Last week, a week before our first gig of the season, I had the drummer and female vox (who are the husband and wife team that also run the dance band) tell me she was going to leave the band because of too many commitments. The drummer's job is taking him to So. Cal every other week leaving him no time to rehearse. 3 weeks ago I had my multi-inst. guy quit because of a new job. It has been a struggle to get the line up nailed down. I've been through 3 drummers, 3 bass players and 2 male vocalists. The band sounded great and we had all of the right pieces. But, I got so frustrated after hearing I was going to need to replace at least 2 people on the eve of run of gigs. I thought about it and realized I just don't have the time or the patience to deal with this. It was also becoming painfully clear that the dance band was going to be the priority for these people and had been asked to cancel 2 gigs in favor of booking the dance band for more money. The more I thought about all of this, the more I realized it's time for me to move on. So, I dissolved the country band and cancelled all of the gigs. Then I informed the dance band that I'm leaving and need to be free of my commitments by June 1. After 5 years, that band had runs its course. It's a good band, but never lived up to its potential. We were supposed to be an event/wedding band. We maybe did 2-4 gigs per year that were either corp events or weddings. Everything else was bars, night clubs, restaurants and wineries. Plus, the drummer and wife (who left the country band) were constantly underbidding to get a gig and we rarely got paid what we were worth. The band is full of prima donnas who do nothing but show up and play their parts, get paid, and leave. The drummer and I did all of the heavy lifting, setting up and tearing down. Way more work for little pay to play a bunch of music I can't stand. I turned 55 back in February and came to the conclusion that I may want to gig for another 2-3 years before scaling back. If I'm only going to do this for a few more years, I want to go out playing music that I enjoy, whether it be rock or country. Sooooo....now I'm an unrestricted free agent, looking for a new project. Kind of weird not having a band. The only other time I took of from music was 26 years ago when I got married. It's also a bit of a relief. Anyway, time for a new chapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dalejanus Posted April 1, 2015 Members Share Posted April 1, 2015 too bad you're not in NE ohio. I'd a called ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MarkGifford-1 Posted April 1, 2015 Moderators Share Posted April 1, 2015 I gave up live playing at 56, too. Just got tired, and the sea change in gigging realities - excessive volume restrictions, lack of markets for what I like to play, along with the fact that I've had a great 40+ year run of some amazing gigs and don't see anything coming that will be better, made me lose my mojo. Haven't gigged or really even played at all in 18 months - don't miss it, yet. I've also curtailed almost all recording projects, altho I've helped a friend with some mixing. It's sort of a strange feeling - I still love music, I listen, read about it, etc. but I don't feel like making it anymore. MG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Old Fart Rocker Posted April 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2015 I hear ya, Mark. I'm not quite ready to give it up completely, but it has crossed my mind. Mainly for the same reasons you described. I still have a little fire fire left in me and want head down the home stretch playing music I enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kramerguy Posted April 2, 2015 Members Share Posted April 2, 2015 My gosh that sucks that you are chewing through musicians so fast OFR, but at the same time, that sounds pretty typical for the live environment. Musicians are a fickle bunch on the best days. It doesn't ever have to end, as I came to realize when I went to a guitar show and saw three jazz guys who never played together before take a stage and just open jam it for hours.. I was mezmerized, these guys were at levels most of us only dream of. But my point is.. if you are playing in dance bands / country, covers, whatever, you are pretty much treating it as a hobby, and there's a TON of ways to continue that hobby without the drama and frustrations of a full regular band. If you've networked enough in your area, you could always go out and see friends' bands, sit in a couple songs. I do this when I can and it's the best of both worlds IMO. Also, you can set up a home studio and start recording, bringing in others to record, network even more. Not a pro studio, but something capable of spinning out some relatively high quality recordings. Most DAW gear these days is affordable enough and learnable. If you have the space, you can start hosting open jams yourself. There's a few in my area, and they are fun as hell... much more fun than "rehearsal" and sometimes more fun than gigging- no pressures, rushing to set up, breakdown, deal with bar owners, etc.. Let's be honest- what we make in gig $$ typically only covers the costs to be in a gigging band anymore, unless you are career or gigging heavily. I'm certainly not these days, and not really caring if I do or don't gig more going forward. I just passed 45 last year and starting to get tired of hauling gear and trying to convince crowds that we're "young at heart". But that's me. We each have our own paths to follow and I hope you find yours, and hope that at least one of my ideas helps in some way. Party on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goldtop5764 Posted April 26, 2015 Members Share Posted April 26, 2015 I am 59 and have been playing live since the 80's andd I have no plans to give it up.. it keeps me young ... I dont like chasing gigs but it the reason I picked up a guitar in 1974 . No regrets ... I have now started to play songs in open tunings so I count my blessings I dont have a disease or ailments that keep me from doing this wonderful craft ... If you are burning out .. Put down the guitar for a while and wait for the passion to come back ..... I dont plan to lose the passion .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted April 26, 2015 Members Share Posted April 26, 2015 45 here. Things are going good. The band is into its 6th or 7th year now. I don't even know. We are right where we want to be musically. Geographically it's a bit of a challenge. Our lead singer lives 3 hours away, and our keyboard player lives 1.5 hours away. I think it's a Canadian thing to use time to describe distance lol. That leaves the bass player, the drummer and myself in town. We we gig enough that we don't regularily practice. (I've played Hony Tonk Woman for 30 years now, I have it down cold) We have played the odd small gig as a 3 piece, we call ourselves The Lone Rangers (stolen from the movie Airheads lol) we were asked to headline a small fundraiser for a music festival in the next town. The last time we had an actual practice was November 2013. The fundraiser was was a grunge themed affair, no money, just a bar tab and a guest list. Sound & drums provided. We needed 4 grunge songs & then some extras. I know lots of grunge but we've never played any as a band. I set up my drum kit in the basement where I program lights, along with 2 monitors on stands. They are behind the drummer and facing the two of us, who face the drummer. Did the homework and nailed the songs. Weve ve been going to a jam at the same town (45 minutes away) and have decided that instead we can save the 90 minute round trip, and make some noise in my jam room instead. I don't need the kit for any gigs until July so I'll leave it all set up and we can get together now and then to work on some tunes and have some fun. Our full band would never be able to do gigs like these. #1 they don't pay, so it's more for fun than anything (there were 120 people, we played a good 70 minute set) #2, just the logistics. The travel, places to stay etc, again makes these little one-offs unfeaseable as a full band. So we will have some fun as a power trio. Adding songs will build our 3 piece repertoire that will add to the main band. We have our lead singer who does 80% of the songs. I do 5% and we have a female singer that does 5% as well to give our lead singer a break here and there. People really liked what we did and we were able to give out some cards, and add a few people to FB who are interested in seeing the full band, so that's good. As as a full band we gig around 12 - 14 times a year. So not too busy that it's a grind. Mostly private parties, though we are thinking of booking a couple bar gigs mainly as loss leaders to add to "our crowd" and let people see what we do, to drum up interest in more weddings, Xmas parties etc. We all have day jobs, lives, kids etc. So the frequency of our gigs is basically as busy as we want to be. We have to turn down the odd gig if someone has plans and it's just not going to work. We can use a sub for drums, and can go without keys as a 4 piece depending, so sometimes we can make it work and sometimes we can't. Its a good place to be. Drama free, everyone contributes in their own way. We are already booking into 2016, so we will keep on keeping on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 26, 2015 Members Share Posted April 26, 2015 Sorry to hear you never got the country band off the ground---I know you were really looking forward to doing that. But best of luck with whatever you choose to do with your future. Keeping bands together is always a chess match as we're all human beings with different sets of personal priorities. And for any band that isn't working so much as to offer people what amounts to a full-time job, you're always going to have to deal with everyone's personal situations. My band has been pretty lucky to have had a stable core of musicians for what has been 10 years now. But our oldest member just turned 60 this weekend and as such, I think has all of us thinking about how long we ride this horse into the sunset. Personally, I have the desire to keep doing the "big show band" thing for the forseeable future, but I don't think I'd have any desire to start up another band from scratch at my age (I turn 54 this summer) so if this band folds up any time soon, I guess I'd be maybe shopping for a gig with a going concern somewhere. As far as my band goes, we're in a bit of an odd spot right now as, for whatever reasons, the gigs aren't as plentiful this year. We've only played 2 so far this year and have only 8 or 9 more on the books right now. Definitely off our usual pace. But maybe that's a blessing in disguise, as our front-singer situation remains in flux. A year ago Tiffany, who has been singing with us since 2010, announced she was leaving the band, and we auditioned a couple of dozen singers. But unable to find anyone we really liked---and also because she had mixed feelings about leaving---she stayed with the band for another year. This year she announced again that she was leaving--this time along with tentative plans to move to another city by the end of the summer---so the search is on again. In the meantime Sarah, our 23 year old singer, landed the lead role in a month-long run of "Legally Blonde-The Musical" with the civic theater group in her town, and while we're proud and excited for her, we're also a bit unsure of whether we should be looking for two new singers rather than one. Sarah's a great girl and very talented, but --- not surprisingly --- the band has always been more of a "just for the paycheck" gig for her than it is for the rest of us. And we certainly can't expect her to put her musical career on hold so that she can honor commitments to her 10-gig a year wedding band. So that may be coming to head in the next week or two. We shall see. On a more positive note, we have some auditions scheduled of a few singers who look much more promising than last years crop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goldtop5764 Posted April 27, 2015 Members Share Posted April 27, 2015 Sorry to hear you never got the country band off the ground---I know you were really looking forward to doing that. But best of luck with whatever you choose to do with your future. Keeping bands together is always a chess match as we're all human beings with different sets of personal priorities. And for any band that isn't working so much as to offer people what amounts to a full-time job, you're always going to have to deal with everyone's personal situations. My band has been pretty lucky to have had a stable core of musicians for what has been 10 years now. But our oldest member just turned 60 this weekend and as such, I think has all of us thinking about how long we ride this horse into the sunset. Personally, I have the desire to keep doing the "big show band" thing for the forseeable future, but I don't think I'd have any desire to start up another band from scratch at my age (I turn 54 this summer) so if this band folds up any time soon, I guess I'd be maybe shopping for a gig with a going concern somewhere. As far as my band goes, we're in a bit of an odd spot right now as, for whatever reasons, the gigs aren't as plentiful this year. We've only played 2 so far this year and have only 8 or 9 more on the books right now. Definitely off our usual pace. But maybe that's a blessing in disguise, as our front-singer situation remains in flux. A year ago Tiffany, who has been singing with us since 2010, announced she was leaving the band, and we auditioned a couple of dozen singers. But unable to find anyone we really liked---and also because she had mixed feelings about leaving---she stayed with the band for another year. This year she announced again that she was leaving--this time along with tentative plans to move to another city by the end of the summer---so the search is on again. In the meantime Sarah, our 23 year old singer, landed the lead role in a month-long run of "Legally Blonde-The Musical" with the civic theater group in her town, and while we're proud and excited for her, we're also a bit unsure of whether we should be looking for two new singers rather than one. Sarah's a great girl and very talented, but --- not surprisingly --- the band has always been more of a "just for the paycheck" gig for her than it is for the rest of us. And we certainly can't expect her to put her musical career on hold so that she can honor commitments to her 10-gig a year wedding band. So that may be coming to head in the next week or two. We shall see. On a more positive note, we have some auditions scheduled of a few singers who look much more promising than last years crop. Seeing what I have seen on American Idol and The Voice, there are a whole lot of great singers out therr looking for a steady gig , so this years crop should be good,, I find that you can weed out the bad drama by giving them a certain time to be at the audition , if they are a few moments late due to traffic that is fine , if they are more than a few moments late ,that is a sure indication of the crap you will have to put up with ,,,,,, get the best according to drama level . the voice is actually going to grow on you ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted April 27, 2015 Members Share Posted April 27, 2015 Seeing what I have seen on American Idol and The Voice, there are a whole lot of great singers out therr looking for a steady gig , so this years crop should be good,, I find that you can weed out the bad drama by giving them a certain time to be at the audition , if they are a few moments late due to traffic that is fine , if they are more than a few moments late ,that is a sure indication of the crap you will have to put up with ,,,,,, get the best according to drama level . the voice is actually going to grow on you ...... Watching those shows always bums me out a bit because I always end up wondering "why can't I find one of those?? They seem to be everywhere?!?" But you're right about the weeding out process. I am usually 90% correct about how well someone will fit in just based on the phone and email/text conversations I have with them before hand. What I see as "red flags" about a person almost always turn out to be true. So I try to pay attention to those. But, like those TV shows, at the end of the day it always comes down to how well they can sing or not, which requires an audition. And how well that all fits in with the rest of the band. Like I said, I'm excited about two prospects. One girl came to a gig and sat in with the band for the entire show. She sang lead on one song during our cocktail set and ad libbed some harmonies on another--both of which were very nice. But during the regular dance sets, it was hard to hear anything she was doing. She looked good, but I couldn't get enough of a feel for what she can do. And our sets tend to be such a frenetic fast-paced trainride, that I think she was just holding on for dear life as it was. So we have to bring her in for a proper audition. But just her attitude alone---that's she's willing to travel so far for two auditions---speaks volumes to me already. The other girl lives much more locally (a HUGE plus) and I was able to see her perform with her current band. Great performer, decent lead singer. But I don't have a clue if she can even harmonize. Plus her style is a bit different from what we currently do, so she'd likely pull us in somewhat of a different direction. (Not necessarily a bad thing.) But gotta see how the vocals fit. Both are quite young, however, so it looks like whatever way we go we're going to end up with two 25-ish girls up front. Which I hope doesn't only serve to make the old guys in the back look even older. But that's the least of things to worry about, of course. Ah well, I'll know much more in couple of weeks what my summer is going to end up looking like..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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