Members Kramerguy Posted July 8, 2010 Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 cousin said she really felt it in LA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted July 8, 2010 Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 Been playing about 40 years, started very late with bands (about 25 yrs old, mid-80's). 1st band never got out of the garage, we rehearsed a half-dozen or so Boston, Rush, and Kansas songs for about a year and they still sounded like {censored}. The next 16 bands were somewhat better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim_7string Posted July 8, 2010 Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 I've had a LOT of bands over the past 24 years. My first was when I was 16 in December, 1986. I was one of three lead singers in a high school rock band. We were awful, but it was a good learning experience. My first real band was in early 1989. We played a variety of songs, but mostly rock-oriented stuff. I was the keyboardist for that group. I lasted five months, since our drummer quit the band while we were on the road in Montana. The bassist stayed for the rest of the week but left after that. I decided I should just go back to my day job and save up money. Between that band and now, I had a lot of groups. A few were just one-offs or fill-ins, but I count them too. At one point, I joined more bands than I formed, but it's about even now. Longest I've ever been with one band was 21 months. Pretty impressive! As for why I have had so many? Boredom and ambition. No band ever really satisfied my wants and desires. When I was 20, I wanted to have a band that was a cross between The B-52s and Metallica, something along the lines of Faith No More, but perhaps not quite as schizo. Instead, I found people who were more traditional- (and narrow-) minded: "there should be a frontman that only sings...why don't you just play lead guitar or better yet, stick to rhythm?" "people know you as a keyboard player...if you move to guitar, you'll be just another guitarist" (after playing my songs for certain people: ) "eh...it's not something I would ever buy..." Right now, I have a trio where I sing most of the songs and am the only guitar player. A lot of freedom and a lot of responsibility. Unfortunately, I don't have the right people backing me, so I will probably leave it on New Year's Eve and just concentrate on my own band, full of people that will back me (as in, they want to be sidemen, not stars, and love to sing harmony). Who knows? Maybe I'll finally find the right band this year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted July 8, 2010 Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 I'm been doing the band thing for roughly 35 years - can recall roughly 20 bands by name - 5 of which had a gigging lifespan of 3 or more years (the longest is still going steady after 7 years). Others in the pile were relatively short lived. Add another dozen or so groups that I've subbed with on and off over the years. All of the 5 bands that had longevity ended amicably - usually when 1 or more key member moved on for personal reasons (i.e., graduated college, family demands, demands from the day gig, etc.). Most of the shortlived projects simply fizzled for any number of reasons (i.e., couldn't find that last player needed to complete the line-up, just not enough talent to be commercially viable, etc.) I consider myself lucky that only one or two projects I've been involved with have imploded because of personal conflicts between band members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted July 8, 2010 Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 Been getting paid for 33 years. Been in three bands, the current band has been together 26 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted July 8, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 Band #1- 1975-1979: my first band in high school. Played guitar. Did a lot of HS dances. Band #2-1979-1980: a more funk-oriented band when I started college. Played guitar. Broke up due to personality conflicts. Band #3-1980: put together a new band with me playing keys that only did 1 or 2 gigs. Band #4-1980-1982: reformed band #2 with a different name and more emphasis on original music. Eventually got fired for being a lousy guitarist. Band #5-1982-1992 hit the road as a keyboard player with my big hair band doing covers and originals. After 10 years the band had run its course and then some. Band #6-1992-1993: asked to join a band with serious label connections and an already recorded demo to put some finishing touches on their sound and do showcases with them. Band flamed out pretty quickly when the connections didn't immediately lead to a recording contract. "Retired" from playing music after this. Band #7-1996-1997: did a duo with an old friend from my first 4 bands on the casino circuit for a year. "retired" again after this sucked the life out of me. Band #8-2001-2009: Friend from the duo convinces me to play again. gigged off and on with his sometimes off/sometime on R&B band. Band #9- 2002-present: the band I'm in now that has morphed from a part-time bar band into a fairly serious corporate/wedding "party" band. Band #10- 2005: a tribute band I helped put together that only did a couple of gigs before I realized we weren't all on the same page and I left it. Band #11- 2005: an 80's themed band I worked on putting together but we never did more than practice 4 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted July 8, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 the current band has been together 26 years. That's gotta be some kind of record! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kramerguy Posted July 8, 2010 Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 Band #10- 2005: a tribute band I helped put together that only did a couple of gigs before I realized we weren't all on the same page and I left it. omg lol - I've been in enough bands that weren't on the same page, but how the hell does a tribute band end up in that scenario? man.. you get the win I think haha (edit) was it maybe one of those things like you wanted to be the young and cool Elvis and someone else wanted to be the old fat Elvis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted July 8, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 omg lol - I've been in enough bands that weren't on the same page, but how the hell does a tribute band end up in that scenario? man.. you get the win I think haha LOL! I know! One would think it was a no-brainer, right? Problem was that a couple of the guys brought on board never really bought into the whole concept of a tribute band: didn't like the idea of only playing one band's songs and they didn't really understand the commercial potential of it. So they pushed to be a more traditional cover band, and when we started considering that route I realized this group of guys was NOT all on the same page and either getting them on the page I wanted to be on or really pursuing the tribute band idea was going to be more trouble for me than I thought would be worth, so I bailed. I learned that with a tribute band, it's probably best to do all the promotional work up front so that there are some good gigs in the pipeline before you get too involved with rehearsals and such. Problem was that this whole concept was really the singer's idea, and he didn't have the experience or skill to do the promotional end of it and while I had those skills, my heart was never really in the project to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boxorox Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Started playing with serious gigging bands in 1975. 35 weird fun years. I've been in three serious bands that sort of morphed from one into the next. Current version is abpout 15 years old, though it was founded in '85. I've been in several, maybe 10, serious "B" bands over that time as well. Bands where I'm a regular sub, where I can play guitar instead of mando, where I can play different kinds of music to stay motivated. As long as they didn't interfere with my primary band's business. One broke up after four years because of business/leadership issues. One broke up because after 15 years three members had diverging musical interests they wanted to explore. There were some sexual politics involved in that one too. Otherwise I'm pretty easy going and open minded, so I can hang in for the long haul. While there have been personel changes through the years, this band has persevered, adapted and evolved rather than breaking apart. I guess our achievments and ambitions may be hmble compared to some, but I get to play music I enjoy with people I like on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Been playing since 1969. First band in 1971, in high school, and got our first paying gigs then. Too many bands to count- three or four before I got out of high school. www.patcoastband.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Been playing since 1969. First band in 1971, in high school, and got our first paying gigs then. Too many bands to count- three or four before I got out of high school. www.patcoastband.com Nice job on the website Pat. It's about time the pat Coast Band got a proper web presence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim_7string Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Welcome back, Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnelly428 Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 1998: Grade school band, played two songs at a dance... horribly.. i have video to prove it! 2000: Joined a "Rage against the machine" tribute. Was in for a few months then they stopped telling me when practice was :-p May 2006 - September 2007: Joined my first "real" band. Gigged for about a year before it dissolved November 2007-Present: Been on and off for a couple years from June '08 to Mar '09 due to surgeries etc. Main members stuck together. We added a new drummer in Mar '09 and a 2nd guitarist/Keyboard in January '10. Been gigging a lot since Mar '10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 That's gotta be some kind of record! Guitarist and I ended up happily married to sisters. The drummer was a one night replacement for our regular drummer that hurt his leg. That was in 1984. He never left. Pics are from 1984 and 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dogtownmax Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 about 15 years or so, in 7 bands that gigged, and one or two projects that either never quite gelled or were just recording efforts. of those three were longer term that stayed together for a few years. the normal reasons bands break up or people leave apply - moving, differences in taste, differences in personality. nothing tragic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jmarcus2 Posted July 10, 2010 Members Share Posted July 10, 2010 Joined first band when I was 15. I'm 40 now. Lots of bands in between then and now, IMO: at least...15, I'd guess.* Reasons for that are myriad: People quit. People moved. People moved on. People got tired of replacing people who'd quit/moved/moved on. People in band got in fights. People got tired of things. People in band got tired of fighting. People weren't serious enough. People were too serious. People in band ended up sleeping with each other. People in band stopped sleeping with each other. etc. etc. etc. *Edit to add: ALL of the above numbered bands played OUT; I've never been in a single band that didn't gig out at least once. I cringe when I hear talk from people about 'spent 3 months rehearsing in the basement and nothing ever happened'... Everything I've played in has gigged at least semi-regularly, and for the most part, 'good' gigs at 'good' venues. Like Kmart said and add, oh, 10...but I have to admit there was one band that rehearsed forever, did a demo, but never gigged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jmarcus2 Posted July 10, 2010 Members Share Posted July 10, 2010 Been playing since 1969. First band in 1971, in high school, and got our first paying gigs then. Too many bands to count- three or four before I got out of high school. www.patcoastband.com HEY!! welcome back bro!:wave: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gtrjones Posted July 13, 2010 Members Share Posted July 13, 2010 Been playing guitar for 20+ years, but only playing out the last 8. Have been in 5 bands that actually gigged more than once, and sat-in or helped-out with several others. Every band ending is different, just like every band is different. Not currently playing, but slowly building the courage to start something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted July 13, 2010 Members Share Posted July 13, 2010 HEY!! welcome back bro! :wave: Thanks! Good to be here again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A_Gitarman Posted July 14, 2010 Members Share Posted July 14, 2010 Well, I've been playing guitar nearly 30 years now & can count the number of gigging bands that I've played guitar in on one hand. However, I studied trumpet throughout high school and college and performed regularly (paying gigs, not school stuff) with more groups that I care to think about... Back to guitar: I started playing in elementary school, played in a few 'bands' (that never left the garage) with my buddies in jr. high school, joined a few bands in high school that did much of the same (one of which actually got a 'gig' ), then I went off to College. After dropping out and moving to Austin, I joined up with a couple of different groups that got sporadic gigs, but most of the guys I met up with were more concerned with getting high than making music After moving back home to FL, meeting my wife-to-be, finishing up my college degree, and settling into a career, I answered an ad on the company's classified website and have been playing with those guys ever since (link in sig). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tubefox Posted July 14, 2010 Members Share Posted July 14, 2010 Four years, I've been in two official bands. One was a terrible folk band I joined after I'd been playing a few months, which I joined only for the sake of being a band. Unfortunately, everyone else was too high to get anything done, and the "PUNK RAWK" member insisted that sitting around for two hours and vaguely strumming an instrument was how "most bands" practiced. One was actually a fairly decent metal band, which I started with a former teacher of mine after I'd been playing for maybe two years. We practiced fairly weekly for a few months, and could play our songs fairly tightly. We never gigged. Before we could write enough material, my former teacher (Who was a good deal older than me) had a kid. Well, his wife did. Then the drummer got busy with college. We also never found a vocalist or a official bassist, all the bass on the few recordings was played by me or the other guitarist. Then I have the usual litany of almost-bands that made it two or three practices and fizzled out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badhabit Posted July 15, 2010 Members Share Posted July 15, 2010 Dozens, literally. As a pro side man, you end up bouncing from one gig to the next, a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yer Blues Posted July 15, 2010 Members Share Posted July 15, 2010 I have been playing for a little more than 15 years.... I have played with 6 bands have gigged regularly and countless garage/jam bands that have done one off or similar type things. I played in 4 gigging bands before I was 23-24, took a 4 year break, and have played in 2 since. I am 30 now. Everything I have played with regularly has been a cover band type thing. I jammed with a buddy on drums and a bassist, guitarist, and singer that he knows from a hardcore metal band... it was the most fun I have had playing music in a year or so. I'd like to try and persue the original thing.. seems like those bands play a lot less, so I doubt it would interfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chip Stewart Posted July 17, 2010 Members Share Posted July 17, 2010 Played drums in a Folk Rock band (2 acoustic guitars and drums) for three years (18 to 21 years old). Took A LOT of time off. Played guitar, bass, and vocals in a seven piece Folk Rock/Rock/Country band for two years (40 to 42 years old). We had four vocalists, and what I did was dependent on who was singing (the primary bassist didn't play bass when he was singing). Currently playing guitar and vocals as a solo act (Folk Rock/Country) and as part of a duo with a keyboardist (42 to present). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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