Do you know KB players in your town?

[The Real MC]

I guess I know 4-5 personally and could name a few more. But by contrast, I probably know dozens of guitar players and drummers.

 

[Bobby Simons]

I know a good many of them here on Long Island. The talent pool here is vast, varied and inspiring.

[Moonglow]

In reading the previous posts I think it is very cool how this forum has brought so many of us together. I have come to know forum members including Tonysounds, RedKey, Allan Evett, Eric, and Wally. We get together for semi-regular hangs, and I am fortunate to have them as true friends. Allan and Wally are local to my area, and I also know most, if not all of the other (i.e., non-forum) regularly-playing 5-6 keyboard guys around here. I feel we all have mutual respect for each other, and we always shoot the shit when our paths cross.

[KeyMoe]

As Dave mentioned, when I"m not gigging I try to catch the local keys players. (Love to catch Escape when I can.) In addition, there are 4 of us keys players here in dallas that swap gigs as needed. Not too many keys players in the area but there are quite a few I don"t know. Although in the country music scene I know a good number of the players. Although this forum has been an awesome source for keyboard information. My thanks to all.

 

On another note I am part of a new project in Dallas that has two keys players, percussion, female acoustic, bass, guitar and drums. It"s brand new but a lot of fun so far. I am doing primarily organ and the other keys player handles the acoustic piano stuff. We split up the other parts accordingly. Really nice not having to worry about covering so many parts myself. Doing a wide variety of material, mainly showcasing vocals and of course keys.

[RandyFF]

If I don't know a player in town, I try and find out everything I can about who they are and what they do (musically). Can't help it, just the way my brain works.

So, how do do you find out everything about other keyboard players and other musicians?

 

Here in the SF Bay Area, there's a once a month jam on Thursday, Moultrie Jam typically in East Bay, where you encounter a lot of different kinds of musicians, but come to think of it I'm the only key player that has shown up with a keyboard other than Jordan of Jordan and the Ritual. Sometimes there's a piano at the venue of the month, and then a number of keyboard players come out of hiding.

[MAJUSCULE]

If I don't know a player in town, I try and find out everything I can about who they are and what they do (musically). Can't help it, just the way my brain works.

So, how do do you find out everything about other keyboard players and other musicians?

 

Generally, a combination of a little social media snooping, mentally tracking who plays with who and how far up the call list they are, and hopefully actually hearing them a bit.

[Theo Verelst]

It's been quite the while, but how many do you need ?

[b3maniac]

I am 1 of 3 keyboard players (who gig with bands) in my area. Others have come and gone over the years, but the 3 of us are still going.

 

[drawback]

This thread reminds me of when I was living in Vancouver and I met the spouse of another keyboard guy in the same revolving door of bands.

 

She said to him (and I still don"t know if this was meant sarcastically or not) 'Gee, I didn"t know there were any other keyboard players in town.'

 

He replied, 'Well, yeah, between the two of us we"ve managed to kill pretty much all of them.'

 

 

[Al Quinn]

I know a lot of keyboard players on Long Island, which is where I live and mostly gig. There are so many excellent keyboard players in the area. I guess it"s not surprising considering the population of Long Island and close proximity to Manhattan. It"s humbling and inspiring living here.

 

I make a point of doing some networking to meet new keyboardists. Jam sessions, parties, and getting out to gigs other than my own is how I"ve met most of them, and I"ve also met several through this forum. Back in the 80"s and 90"s I played a lot of club dates and often found myself playing in catering halls that were hosting more than one party at a time; it was very easy to hear and be heard by other keyboard players during that time.

 

[Outkaster]

Al I have heard that about LI. A kid that was a year behind me in HS books bands on Jones Beach I think it is. Seems like a good scene there...

[David R]

I seem to be the rarity here â I know a lot of my fellow pianists and keyboard players in town. Maybe that's the benefit of having gone to music school here? There's also a collective groove improv series called Kalmunity that I am a part of, and because of that I have met most (if not all) of the keyboard players that move through that scene. There's also a great hip-hop/R&B jam called Le Cypher, which has a pretty high crossover with Kalmunity on the instrumental side.

 

A pianist friend of mine was in a tight situation a couple of weeks ago, he had to sub out of a rehearsal with very little notice â he went through 27 people before he found a sub! He sent me the list of connections, I knew most of them but not all of them. It's a great resource to have when I need to sub out.

[Bobadohshe]

Tight little community here, so it's always a surprise when I come across a name I don't know on keys. I am always fishing for names of potential new subs. There are a few of us who are sort of "hot-swappable" depending on the gig, so even if we don't know each other directly, we usually play with people who know each of us and can cross-pollinate when needed.

 

As for forumites, here in town we have Bobedohshe, U. Honey, MotiDave, and IMRT. Maybe one or two more who I know in person but not by name here. Of the above, I know the first three in person, in descending order of closeness/intersection. I only know IMRT by virtue of mutual sidemen. I probably know another 5 or 6 in town, maybe a couple more.

 

I have said it before, but one of the amazing things to me about the scene here is how tight it is--meaning, my friends all tend to be people I know through music (plus school parents, or in the case of U. Honey, both). I didn't have that back east, where "music" was just sort of another job and if you didn't play softball together or go to school together, you didn't see each other until the next gig.

 

Yep. I'd like to think I know most of the guys in town, though not all well. There is a nice amount of gigs to keyboardists so nobody is necessarily swooping up all the gigs, so the vibe in the scene is a pretty awesome one.