Thinking about blowing it up...

[TrickyBoy]

So in case you missed it, The Tricky Dickies will be taking an extended break starting at the end of April (Meagan's pregnant).   So I'm definitely planning on recording an original album this summer, which is something I've wanted to do for a few years.

But I'm starting to debate on whether I want to try to revive The Tricky Dickies after the baby comes.  I mean, it's fun, but I feel like we've run our course.  There are so many "party bands" in the area, that unless we make some big changes (up the light show, add a member, etc), I feel like we're becoming just another band.

So....  I'm toying with the idea of doing something completely different.  I've been listening to a lot of Rockabilly recently, and I was thinking that it might be fun to put together a band that plays music in that style.  The idea I had was to do a bunch of old tunes in that style as well as rearrange current tunes as Rockabilly/Swing tunes.  (I've already fooled around with at least a dozen that would work great)

It has some definite benefits for me:

1. It would be super fun to play
2. We could stay as a 4-piece (I really don't want to have more members)
3. It would be really unique
4. I think we could do it with the same musicians we have now

IDK.  I think something like this playing 2x a month would be a blast, still make good money, and be a change of pace for people going out to clubs.

[Vito Corleone]

A few initial thoughts:

 

1). If you're burning out on the Dickies, it's probably not worth pushing it forward

 

2). Don't forget how long it took you to get where you are though. Do you really want to start all over?

 

3). Are the other guys up for it?

 

4). Just make sure you aren't doing it because of some short term boredom.

 

5). Then again, you could probably always revive the Dickies pretty quickly if you needed to.

[SeeU 22]

First of all congratulations to you and Meagan. Exciting times.

I do agree with most of what Dave has said. I really like what the Trickies got going to completely moth ball it. Take your break, maybe do a side project over the  break and see where that leads.

Also, what are your child care options after the break. Do you have someone that will be able to look after junior after he/she arrives should you guys chose to continue gigging. All four of us in our band have young children, but we are fortunate to have very supportive spouses to that hold the home front down while we are gigging.

Neil

[jeff42]

 

---

guido61 wrote:

 

A few initial thoughts:

 

 

 

1). If you're burning out on the Dickies, it's probably not worth pushing it forward

 

 

 

2). Don't forget how long it took you to get where you are though. Do you really want to start all over?

 

 

 

3). Are the other guys up for it?

 

 

 

4). Just make sure you aren't doing it because of some short term boredom.

 

 

 

5). Then again, you could probably always revive the Dickies pretty quickly if you needed to.

---

 

I agree with this. It is going to take some thought if you haven't already answered these questions to yourself. I enjoyed watching your band (and daves) evolve from what it was into what it became. It was what motivated me to "blow up" my last band There & Back Again and do something smaller which since then has become BIGGER than the "big brother band" because of some of the choices we made. 

I like that you want to do something different and a bit off-the-wall. give it a shot! Who know where it will take you. and YES if you do it right and there are no hurt feelings you can get the band back together- may just for special gigs... That's where I am at with my old band. we are planning a couple shows in 2014 but thats it. I think it will be fun.

 

and congrats!

[tim_7string]

Congrats on the upcoming new addition to your family!

I like the Rockabilly idea. If it's something you really love and are passionate about it, I'd go for it if I were you. Sure, it's hard to let something go when it's been successful, but if it's starting to become a grind, then it's time to let it die.

We're going through a similar situation (minus the baby). I had a fairly successful band going for 2.5 years. We were averaging about 4 nights a month and the money was helpful. However, I was just getting tired of playing a lot of songs I just didn't give a rat's ass about. We were becoming (in your words) a "me too" band. No reason to hire us over any other band that played the same kind of songs.

In fact, it got to the point that I decided enough was enough and it was time to explore the idea of a hard rock/metal band instead of the classic rock/country group. My original intention was to have it as a side project, but now it became the primary band. I added a guy that filled in with us before on bass guitar, switched the original bassist to lead guitar (which he has more passion and talent for), and changed up our songlist, nixing the country and adding newer songs.

I'm having a ball! I love the music we are playing, I love playing for audiences that get into the songs and everyone in the band is having a lot more fun as well, since we all love heavier music. We have some scheduling conflicts, so we're not playing as often as the previous band, but I actually enjoy what I'm doing a whole lot more now. So, good luck with the new project.

[wesg]

Don't forget to look at the Brian Seltzer / Stray Cats repertoire!