I was fired from the band I was in. It went down like this. During the interview process we discussed how much we want to play out and we all decided that 1-3 gigs a month was plenty.

For whatever reason the female singer/leader starting booking us out sometimes 3 gigs in 8 days. This caused me some problems so I let them know we need to cool it for the summer since the summer is my busy time at work. This did not sit well. She booked me on my birthday which I ended up agreeing and telling them that I will celebrate the day before instead. What did she do? She booked us the day before my birthday a few weeks after that conversation. After my last practice, I let them know that we did not agree to work this much and they told me that they now want to play out 6 times a month. I told them that was not what we agreed to and this was not good.

The next day I was told that I was let go because of my playing ability. The guitarist then quit after he found out what they did.

That seems to fairly typical. A band decides to fire someone and then they say it was "because he couldn't play". And that was after they spent a year or two playing with him. It's happened in some name groups that I know of.

Good for your friend for standing up for you.

That bit pisses me off the most. In losing a good bassist their band now sounds less than half as good, all because they had to go behind your back with their plans. Sucks to be them. For them to act like your PLAYING ability was holding them back when in fact it was merely your sense of logic and commitment... ugh.

These people sound like jerks, so it's probably their loss. If they're the fevered egos I'm picturing, they're going nowhere fast, and you are better off now than you were before. Godspeed.

If they were not willing to be understanding of your day gig, then they've just been totally inconsiderate. And the reasoning they gave you is such obvious BS, it's ridiculous!

I have to ask though, was the option of you having a sub cover some of the other gigs even explored? If you couldn't play all the gigs they wanted to play, couldn't they have a sub fill in those extra dates?

BTW, I recently left a project with a bandleader who was less than considerate about my own personal situation. And you know what? I feel a lot better now after having moved on. I hope you wind up feeling the same way about this project you've just left.

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much stock in the reason they gave.
Good question. Now they have to replace two members (or find two fill-ins) just to play all those shows they just booked. Even if they were only planning on bringing in another bassist, they could have done so under the guise of him being a fill-in, and maybe Mr. Guitar wouldn't have bailed.

Not smart on their part.

That's defenitly a bad way to run business, hire a guy tell him to work 3 days then say he has to work 6 and if he can't do it tell him he sucks. Nice.

Result: Lost two members and probably will have to cancel some gigs. That band leader deserves a prize, he's an idiot.

We have a master calendar. If it is your birthday you tell me and I don't book a gig (or any other blackout date you give me). Works well for us since I can book without checking with everyone and I know I am not booking a date that doesn't work for someone.

I was in a band that started looking for a new guitarist behind his back. I told them I would not do it behind his back. They insisted to audition others and I quit. Then I called the guitarist and told him that I quit and why. He quit and we formed the band I am in now. We are very busy and he is one of the most reliable and talented guitarists I know. The other band folded.

People are strange. I try to get away and stay away from people that suck.

I hate that. Just be honest. You shouldn't burn bridges. They may wish they were nicer to you one day.

You'll find another gig.

It sounds like all this 'leader'-turned-diva could do was fill her own quest for attention at the cost of everything else.

Isn't it something how they can come up with some totally bogus reason to 'fire' you when everyone knows the real reason but don't have the balls to say it?

It's good to hear the guitarist had enough integrity to not stand for that behavior- that's a silver lining on the whole thing. Maybe you guys can get something off the ground now.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, as my friend would say. I would have called them out on the playing ability thing.

I tried to call out the "manager" of a band I was in a few years ago (our issue was work load, non-contributing members, ego's, etc.) but he didn't have the balls to say what we all knew. I quit the next day, the keyboard player (who was an original "founder" of the band) quit the day after that and then the remaining "founders" decided to "dissolve" the group.

I learned a lot from that experience and band - mostly how NOT to handle situations in future bands. The keyboard guy and I still play on a regular basis.

Obviously you know your situation better than I. You can always go to their first gig minus the guitarist and yourself, sit in the front and giggle. Keep a smile on your face(s), raise a drink to the band, and laugh the night away.

If things got mean you could have always commented about the size of her a**. It doesn't matter how true it is, it just sets them off. "My playing must have been off because your big butt was blocking my view of the drummer, and the audience, come to think of it, I think that's why I couldn't hear of of my monitor too."
...but then again, I'm a bastard.

The big drawback to being a professional musician is that you often have to work with other musicians - many of whom, though certainly not all, are sniveling little insecure, neurotic, whiny pissants. You have been set free of some of those; now you'll probably do better at avoiding the type in the future. Rock on!

Indeed.

That sucks that they treated you that way.

But like has been mentioned several times already, you'll find some better people to play with that appreciates what you do.

and the answer is......



See if you can get the drummer to come over and help you form a new band with the guitarist.

And you know, that sometimes happens even when musicians aren't involved.....

It does sound like they cut off their nose to spite their face. Even if they eased you out the door after the "new sub" learned the book, you'd have still been able to get them out of a jam in a pinch. Not wise business or personal strategy. So what other juicy arguments happened along the way?

Win.

I'm now on the reverse end of this.

In my last band, our drummer was pretty good, and for the first year or so things were great. I thought we were very tight, had good chemistry, and were one of the strong points of the band. Then he had some personal issues, which were affecting gigs and band image (and being a faith-based band, had to be addressed). Then his playing got sloppy- "Oh, I'm just trying out something new here" was the constant line, and it reaaly threw off the chemistry and some live shows. And one time, playing a festival where they provided an electronic kit, the foot pedal broke and he just stopped playing and made a big fuss about it. So we let him go. While the main band leader did most of the "letting go" in a very well-worded letter that we were copied on, and given a chance to edit (though I thought it was a script for conversation, rather than a Dear John letter) I was involved in the decision. I ran into him a few months later and was pleasant, but kind of got brushed off (perhaps deservedly so).

Well, about a month ago, who should be in my singer's church, but our old drummer (the singer and I were both in that old band). They chatted afterwards, and a few other times. He is in another band, kind of forming. He mentioned that they are getting ready to record a demo, and he wondered if I'd be interested in playing with him. He just sent me an email to give him a call, catch up and see if I'm interested in playing on some tracks. Could be interesting; hope it's all water under the bridge now.


And no, I won't use up his studio time saying "Oh, I was just trying something new there..."

What's worse?

Being fired because you ACTUALLY suck.

Experts agree,they're jerks.

Nothing to do with your "playing ability."

Sounds like a great time to hookup with the guitar player and form a new band.

i got ousted from a band once, and i went to their first gig afterward. they invited me up on stage to play a few songs. it was fun and cathartic for both sides, i think.

i don't think your band was out of line for dumping you. you no longer agreed on how often you should be gigging, though

1. it seems the guitar player also had an issue with playing so much, and
2. claiming it was for any other reason is pure horse ass.

good luck finding another band. i have no idea how easy or hard that is in west pittston, PA.

robb.

I don't blame them for grabbing gigs while they can but they just decided to steamroll ahead and be damned what everybody else had planned. That's not considerate.
I think that trumped up excuse they gave for canning you was pure chickensh!t.

I've heard of people leaving bands because there weren't enough gigs. This may be the first time I've heard of someone leaving a band because there were too many.

I've had a gig on almost every one of my birthdays and on every major holiday for most of my life.

Sometimes people say, "you're working on your birthday?"
What am I supposed to do, stay home and drink?

Anyway, good luck with your next band, Jeff.

Birthdays and holidays aren't all that sacred for me either. I've been working in television ever since I got out of college, and most of the places where I've worked were operating on a 24/7 schedule. I usually wind up working any number of holidays every year. Everyone's different though and priorities vary for people.

The old jazz standards band had a rehersal on my birthday. The the Vox killed a gig at a local coffee shop/wine bar because it was on her birthday. I asked what she had planned and she and her boyfriend were going out to dinner. I asked why not go out to dinner on Friday and she said "My birthday is Saturday."

1) - At a certain age, one should be willing to just give up b-days.
2) - I still don't get the sanctity of the birthday.

If I were in a band that was gigging six times a month, I would consider leaving. I think two to three with an occational four during the "festival" season is quite enough. After that, it becomes too much like a job and I don't want to be a bassist for a living. Just for fun.

I like the separation of my day job and my fun time.

When my 1st wife went into labor with our 1st child, I took her to the hospital, spent the next hour on the phone at the nurse's desk trying to find a drummer for that night, left to play the gig, and got back to find she was in the operating room having a C-section.

Sometimes I wonder why we're not married anymore.

Interesting replies as I expected. This really came down to the simple fact that my life does not revolve around music and that I want a balanced life with the things that I do. Playing 6 times a month would basically blow every single weekend and I have relationships to maintain with my girlfriend and daughters, not to mention my aging parents that I am lucky to still have.

The agravating issue was the reason given and the BS from the drummer and the singer. I am happy the guitarist who sang half the songs quit. Now the band is not playing at all and had to cancel their dates for the next 2 months. They thought they had a bass player lined up but now they need both and are essentially starting from scratch.

What is disturbing yet funny to me is that the drummer who coordinated this was the weakest link musically. There were several songs that we did not do because he lacked the talent to perform them. One being Kryptonite. I sang and played the bass for that one. We dropped it because of him. He(drummer) has been referred by a successful, professional musician and "the worst drummer in the world" when he saw us play.

I guess I just don't like my ability to be questioned. It is one thing to try out for a band and not get the job because someone else is better but not to be let go for that reason when there were never any issues prior to that.

I think we all no that your ability was not even remotely connected with what happened. It's a shame when people bs as much as you had to deal with. Good luck with everything.

you had our old drummer???

LOL...

Sounds like you're better off out of that mess.

This is a level of creative thinking that not many of us can whip out when needed. It's an excellent thought, and I wish someone had considered it to make everyone happy. Clearly, the people that changed the deal weren't interested in trying to make things work.


It happened in Stonefly. In May one year, we said we wanted to gig twice that summer. The keys player said he didn't think he'd be able to gig at all that summer because of family obligations. We came to an agreement that the band was no longer a fit. While he had a moment of ego upset, he realized that parting was the right move. We (of course) never told him anything other than the truth and pledged our eternal friendship....er....the band members that would speak to him socially before still did, and he comes to a gig from time to time. Easy? No. Right for us all in the long run? Yes.

Tom