Members Kevin T Posted January 1, 2014 Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 I just joined a new band doing mostly pre 1990 countrytunes . Focusing on corp private weddings .What do you think.?PsI hate NEW Country ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 Also we will be doing bar/clubs but only as needed to get privates. We think New country has turned off enuf folksmillenniums & over 50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 1, 2014 Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 Kevin T wrote: . We think New country has turned off enuf folks millenniums & over 50 What makes you think that? Not to sound flippant, but before you start a new band focused around any sort of genre or era, make sure that you KNOW there's a market for it, and not just THINK that there will be a lot of people who want to hear this stuff simply because the guys in the band feel this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted January 1, 2014 Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 Kinda have to agree with Guido here. A lot of country players take the stance of the new country being crap, hate the Nashville machine, won't play that garbage, etc. However, the part that can't be ignored is that a lot of that music is just fun and people like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 Mony mony & wipeout are fun / popular too . I choose to do pop rock with more substance .... I guess I'm nuts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sweatpat Posted January 1, 2014 Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 I'm confused, why ask for input if you are just gonna play what you like? Nothing wrong with playing what you like, but it's silly to let your feelings get hurt when someone suggests that other tunes might go over better when YOU ASKED for opinions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted January 1, 2014 Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 Howie22 wrote: Kinda have to agree with Guido here. A lot of country players take the stance of the new country being crap, hate the Nashville machine, won't play that garbage, etc. However, the part that can't be ignored is that a lot of that music is just fun and people like it. what i think it boils down to is that its always in vogue to hate the so called new stuff. In reality what i think the OP is going to end up doing is starting a country band and pick songs that are proven winners in the country genre. Odds are they will have some new stuff on the list as well as classic country. If i were going to start an event band , i would take on more of a variety band approach. Wide appeal is what gets you work. Last night we played a typical NYE show for our market this time of year. It was mostly classic rock driven with quite a few requests. Good turn out and a successful show. I dont see being a one trick pony as a great model for a band that wants to become popular unless you are going to have a narrow focus on a small demgraphic. We had a mixed crowd of 30s, 40s , 50s anmd seniors and not the typically winter texas crowd we would have had three years ago. Those poeple were down the street drinking cheap beers and wine with a screw on cap at a tarped in polapa bar with portable heaters.. we were selling lots of mixed drinks and a 42.99 seafood and prime buffet, I think you pretty well have to go with popular everyone knows country mixed with rock and roll to really be handle a crowd like we had last night. It takes a big set list and that takes time. Build a good band and expand on that to cover your butt with the crowd you end up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 This is the feed back i need than Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted January 1, 2014 Members Share Posted January 1, 2014 Kevin T wrote: I just joined a new band doing mostly pre 1990 country tunes . Focusing on corp private weddings . What do you think.? Ps I hate NEW Country ! Well I have some insignt into this because I've been subbing with an old school country band here around Nashville and I can tell you my experience as well as that relayed to me from the leader. These cats are older and came up during the 70's, and 80's. Their ages are 50-65ish..Anyway, they too can't related to what is refered to as new country and don't pay any. Now, while they play a lot of cool old Willie, Waylon, Hank, Merle, Dwight, etc etc they do get a lot of requests for newer stuff. All the Tim, Blake, Radio stuff because like Dave said, people want to hear fun music they know even if they still love and revere the old stuff. We get requests all night long and a lot of it is for newer stuff, so much so, these guys are having me learn a bunch of new stuff to sing to bring up the list to more current status... So, No, I don't think a totally old school country band will fly for corporate/Private events for more than a very niche, limited number of bookings per year. If you were going to do that and dressed the part, gave the audience the complete old school experience you could probably build this project up to a point of getting a handful of high end bookings per year. I think if done VERY well with the whole experience was there, you could charge a lot of cash too!!...That said, I don't think you'd work enough for this to be your only project....So, you have to investigate your specific market more by getting the band together, marketing, booking some gigs and see what the response is but it may very well be worth exploring as something that can be done here and there that you'll have fun with. I wouldn't rely on it as my only project however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted January 2, 2014 Members Share Posted January 2, 2014 sventvkg wrote: Kevin T wrote: I just joined a new band doing mostly pre 1990 country tunes . Focusing on corp private weddings . What do you think.? Ps I hate NEW Country ! Well I have some insignt into this because I've been subbing with an old school country band here around Nashville and I can tell you my experience as well as that relayed to me from the leader. These cats are older and came up during the 70's, and 80's. Their ages are 50-65ish..Anyway, they too can't related to what is refered to as new country and don't pay any. Now, while they play a lot of cool old Willie, Waylon, Hank, Merle, Dwight, etc etc they do get a lot of requests for newer stuff. All the Tim, Blake, Radio stuff because like Dave said, people want to hear fun music they know even if they still love and revere the old stuff. We get requests all night long and a lot of it is for newer stuff, so much so, these guys are having me learn a bunch of new stuff to sing to bring up the list to more current status... So, No, I don't think a totally old school country band will fly for corporate/Private events for more than a very niche, limited number of bookings per year. If you were going to do that and dressed the part, gave the audience the complete old school experience you could probably build this project up to a point of getting a handful of high end bookings per year. I think if done VERY well with the whole experience was there, you could charge a lot of cash too!!...That said, I don't think you'd work enough for this to be your only project....So, you have to investigate your specific market more by getting the band together, marketing, booking some gigs and see what the response is but it may very well be worth exploring as something that can be done here and there that you'll have fun with. I wouldn't rely on it as my only project however.That kind of fits into what I am trying to say. rock and country kind of go together. to do a event band thats going to get booked you are prolly going to end up doing both since .. you need some old country ,, some newer country and maybe some modern hits... You can help wash it down with some classic/ roots and blues based rock.. rock since all but the cryin in your beer early country all grew out of cross over country and outlaw country and now flows into red dirt country and yea even nashville modern have the roots in 60s rock. The same crowd is going to be into both since they all are somewhat connected. I would guess the kind of crowd the OP wants to work is a lot like the ones we work. To try to nich that market to one genre would be a tough sell because the stuff is more of an evolution of music rather than just one type. Being flexable is where I think you need to be. Look at the williams family. You have the hanks ,,, and the family tradition... its pretty far out there with Hank three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 2, 2014 I really apprieciate the expert advice here . This is a side project . Im just seeking feedback so i dont find myself in a Blake Shelton cover band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dan88z Posted January 2, 2014 Members Share Posted January 2, 2014 Howie22 wrote: Kinda have to agree with Guido here. A lot of country players take the stance of the new country being crap, hate the Nashville machine, won't play that garbage, etc. However, the part that can't be ignored is that a lot of that music is just fun and people like it. Sorta like the bands that don't want to do top 40. They play their classic rock and end up being in the $300 a night bar business and never get to the level where they can play high dollar privates.While I see nothing wrong with working up a project that plays what you like to play, you need to make sure the market you are targeting wants that kind of band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted January 2, 2014 Members Share Posted January 2, 2014 I realize things vary from region to region but the only country bands doing worth a crap where I live are bands that play new country with some classic rock mixed in. I do well playing some alt country/classic country/Americana stuff as a solo but there's no band market for it really. And I live in north Idaho, which is about as country as it gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 2, 2014 OkWhat are the current poplular marketing tool s ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 2, 2014 Members Share Posted January 2, 2014 Kevin T wrote: Ok What are the current poplular marketing tool s ? #1---a good video. Especially when first starting out, most of your gigs are going to come from people who haven't seen you play. In my experience, people hiring for good paying private events aren't looking for bands in bars. They are usually of the age where they aren't going to bars anymore, and even if they do once in awhile, I suspect they probably think they want a "better" band than what they find in the local bars. Perception is reality and it's all in the presentation. #2---a good website. The video has to be found somewhere, and the rest of the site has to be professional and attractive and work to sell your band.#3--we've had very good luck with online "agencies" like Gigmasters. People looking for bands often don't know where to start and begin by searching online. Gigmasters is a great way for a "Your Area/Your Type of Band" search to result in your band coming up very near the top. Plus Gigmasters offers a safe and easy way for people to book bands and feel secure about it.#4--talent agencies. Try to get in with your best local agencies. Even if you can't get in with them you can certainly learn about what it would take to do so. They want bands to look, perform and present themselves in a certain way for a reason: because that's what will make them the most money. And what makes them the most money? Bands that are of the type that people want to hire.I don't think your classic country idea is necessarily a bad one. But I also don't know anything about your band or the market you're playing in. But I DO suspect you'd be making it harder on yourself than easier by choosing this format. But that's OK too. I'd just recommend that if you are going to go that route, that you GO FOR IT. Present yourselves as a "tribute" to that era. Dress the part. Make your stage look like the set of Hee Haw or something similar. To go after the bigger gigs you have to really give people a reason to want to hire your band. And that will almost certainly have to be something more than simply "we play Merle Haggard instead of Blake Shelton". And like others have said, you'll probably still have to play some of that stuff anyway. But maybe you can re-arrange the songs so they sound more like classic country than new stuff. That way you're giving the younger people songs they like and want to dance to, but still sticking true to your classic roots. I'd also strongly suggest having a fiddle or steel guitar player in the band. If you're going to be classic country, you need to do it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dezmoduo Posted January 8, 2014 Members Share Posted January 8, 2014 As a side project I bet you'll find enough bar gigs to satisfy your itch. There are a fair number of country bands in NJ that have been around for ages, playing the old/modern sound as opposed to "new". After 4 years of cris-crossing mid and northern Jersey, I have found the scene much more spread out than it used to be in the mid/late 90's. There's also a less focused dance scene, and more bar/club/restaurant type of gigs.The distance between venues makes it a little tougher to draw your "crowd" from their home turf. I know one group who has a very good promo video, and someone who books the hell out of anything with a front door and chairs.In the beginning, our music was 90's based (using old songlists)and we found out the the younger patrons at the bar requested the newer stuff. In time we turned over our material to accommodate them, otherwise that gig would be lost. You can usually work in some of the great honkytonk favorites, Chris LaDeux, Clint Black, Clinton Gregory, back to the outlaw artists, and get a good nostalgic response, but long haul, your going to need some T.K., Aldean, and the like. Add a woman with an acoustic and a whole world of material opens up.I'm booking my country band on the NYC side now, competitive scene, but more densely packed. Its generally more dance oriented, with instruction, so a "new" song list is needed, not exclusively, but overall.As far as old vs new, having done both, its still a matter of execution, vocals, and presentation. I still get to pick, sing and harmonize over a variety of song styles and tempos. That's one of the things I enjoyed from the old days right through today. I love country music, most all of it, especially the stuff I'm privileged to perform. Have fun with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 8, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2014 DezmoCare to share some nj country rooms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Piano Whore Posted January 8, 2014 Members Share Posted January 8, 2014 Great post, Dezmo! I'm in a steadily-working band that does a mix of new, 90's, and outlaw country (fleshed out with a little Bruno Mars, Pink and 70's garage-band rock) and while I don't care for most of what's on country radio, there are always at least a few good songs out there, IMO. I agree it helps to have a girl singer, because alot of the better, more fun-to-play songs are put out by female artists such as Band Perry and Miranda Lambert. I would much rather play the old stuff, but there are not many opportunities (outside of nursing homes) to do that. I get my "old country" fix by the occasional duo gig with a guitar player.I salute your enthusiasm! Sounds like you have a great country band, feel free to pm me a link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 9, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2014 Wow thanks a bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dezmoduo Posted January 10, 2014 Members Share Posted January 10, 2014 Sure thing Kevin. If you land anything in shooting distance send a PM and I'll try to make the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 13, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 13, 2014 Im rockin cajon sqzbox on Vr09 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Piano Whore Posted January 13, 2014 Members Share Posted January 13, 2014 Cool! Roland has always had good ethnic sounds. I used to have an SC33 and it had very useable banjo and cajun accordian, bagpipe etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 14, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2014 DezCheck us out @ NashEast.comWe have 2 gigs in/around NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kevin T Posted January 14, 2014 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2014 Thank you sir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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