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Do you go out?


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This is NOT OT because I'm starting to think that this has some value in some of our recent conversations about careers in music.

 

I don't really go out anymore other than my gigs - that's my idea of going out, but I've realized that there are newer bands I don't know who are doing well.

 

Seems like if I want to keep on the scene, I have to check out these bands. I think there's an even larger lesson.

 

Thoughts?

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Music in your area is a scene. Friendships and opportunities arise from being in a scene.

If I go out for live music it"s almost always to see a friend"s act.

And if I go out with musical friends it"s almost always an open mic event which is always fun to hear people share what they"ve been working on. I"ll also stop and say something was great if I really enjoyed it.

Otherwise, like most folks these days (especially if you"ve got young kids) you"re competing with Netflix on a 60+ inch TV (Disney+ and Apple"s service due soon). No one"s ever going out again.

;)

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I spend the money for good seats at concerts. This year we've seen Little Feat, ELO, and Queen. If that's going out, then I go out. Otherwise, if I never set foot in another bar it'll be too soon.

9 Moog things, 3 Roland things, 2 Hammond things and a computer with stuff on it

 

 

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I rarely go out but I was off last night and we went out and saw a friend and pedal steel mentor playing in a new band I haven"t seen yet. He is a utility player in a Country band playing steel and fiddle. He moved to fiddle for a block of tunes and he was calling me up to play steel. The wife apparently doesn"t like it when I abandon her at a show.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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My wife and I enjoy going out, having a bite and some drinks, and occasionally catching some live music. Trouble is, there's not much going on around here we care to listen to (we're both jazz buffs, and there isn't much of that around here at all) so we usually end up with her feeding the slots at the local casino, or as I like to call it, helping them pay the utility bill.....
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Hardest part of this business and the hardest part of Ranger School is sleep deprivation.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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I have children in age range from elementary school to high school. I strive for a balance of date nights out with my wife, family nights out, supporting the local music scene at jam sessions and open stages (where I usually participate), and gigs along with quiet nights at home with Netflix and HBO. I wouldn't say the concert and live entertainment and restaurant options in Charlotte are going to rival New York City anytime soon, but there's plenty for us to do when we want to, good shows that come to town during the year. Summer is a great time to get my whole family out for good free and local live music here.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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Before I retired and I still lived in L.A. I was still going to hear live music quite a bit. Now that I retired and moved to about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive to go into L.A. for anything I don't got out to hear music but a couple times a year. Where I live main Country and Classic Rock so I don't go out unless a friend is playing. There is a local performance hall, but most the acts aren't my cup of tea, about every two or three years they have someone who interests me. Everything else festivals and etc are just more Country and tribute bands no thanks. Wish they had a local symphony, but no even the local college is all about Rock.

 

So most my going out is movies and going into L.A. one in awhile for some Jazz.

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When I go out, it's to see friends play and support what they do. The Denver/Boulder area has a huge electronic music scene, and I get out once a month or more to hear what my friends and colleagues on the scene are doing. I like the personal connection to what's on stage.

 

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

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Between gigs, rehearsals, and a day job, leaving the house is more and more of a struggle.

 

There are a few social/scene hangout kind of events in my town â the weekly synth/electronic night, open mics, that sort of thing. But so many of them are geared toward Musician Hours and the service industry folks, and they run from 10pm to 2am and that sort of thing. I just can"t do it â and that has nothing to do with getting older; it"s always been tough for me to be awake during those hours! Getting older has just made it harder to play gigs then...

 

I do go out to see friends and other local artists play when I can, but I"m starting to find that what I need to budget more time for is a social space. It would be nice to see my musician friends (and non-musician friends) and catch up more often outside of gigs and rehearsals, for the same reason I majored in English instead of music: you need things in your life to sing about other than singing.

 

I guess that"s why all those classic sitcoms had everyone meeting at the same bar or coffee shop all the time. I always assumed that, as non-musicians, they just didn"t have anything else to do!

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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Yes, I regularly see shows by local musicians that I like, as well as touring acts.

 

Saw Bill play with Selling Fairfax By The Pound last Saturday - that's a local Genesis tribute band.

 

Thanks for coming! Good to see you! :)

 

Korg Kronos 61 (2); Kurzweil PC4, Roland Fantom-06, Casio PX-350M; 2015 Macbook Pro and 2012 Mac Mini (Logic Pro X and Mainstage), GigPerformer 4.

 

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I slipped into a club down the street from where I DJ to catch their band last night. The band was young - anchored by a couple of older guys on bass and drums. They were doing covers of things like Pumped Up Kicks - kind of today's version of bar band music I guess. Most interesting song was What's Up set to reggae - and it actually worked. Singer was terrific.

 

I try to get out a few times a month to check out other DJ's, up and coming bands... anything that sounds interesting. Caught a Samoan band a couple of weeks ago, and was blown away at how good they were. A cover of Fiji's Sweet Darlin' had the whole club swaying and singing along.

 

There were a lot of Samoans in the house :D

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I love live music but sometimes just don't have the time or energy to commit to a late night someplace not close to home. I miss when there used to be some more laid back jazz trios and dinner music close to home. Seems like a lot of that has gone away, even in my younger days, after playing all the time, the last thing I wanted to do on a night off was go back to the same places to see another band, but I always liked something lower key. I used to love to walk to a place a few blocks away that had Jazz several nights a week but they shut down and the new place has no music. I also liked eating dinner places that had music but nine of the places around my house do that anymore, and I don't want to drive 45 min out in the suburbs to have dinner at the places that do it now. Maybe part of it is urban sprawl and that I live in the city. When I first started playing music, all the best live music was at Lacledes Landing - even if you haven't been to St. Louis, basically it's next to the Arch on the riverfront. Most of the gigs I play now are 30-60 minutes west and there's hardly anything left ther. They put in a casino and rebuilt the arch grounds to where you can't even GET to lacledes Landing without driving past the casino on the road named after the casino. Other casinos in town have live music, but not that one.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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When I was in my late twenties and thirties, I would often leave the house after 11:00 to catch a set or two. (As I most often went out alone, I felt a bit out of place sitting by myself through the bands" long breaks, so I would show up late in order to skip the first break.) After I got married in my late thirties, I went out to hear music less, because my wife goes to sleep fairly early. I know lots of folks my age that want to go hear music, but the bands usually start later than we would like. Whenever my band had the opportunity to set our own hours, the music started no later than 8:00 pm. With a nod to Little Feet, I referred to those gigs as 'Old Folks Boogie'. There are likely few gigs tailored to audiences of advanced years, but it seems to me that there is an audience of a certain age that could be attracted to come out to hear a band that starts playing earlier. Music at 7:30, milk and cookies by 11:00, get out of bed for your first night time pee by 1:00 am.... :idk:
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I've been pretty much on self imposed house-arrest for the last year, only leaving the house when absolutely necessary.

They bring me my food and alcohol for the most part and I'm happy.

J a z z  P i a n o 8 8

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Yamaha C7D

Montage8 | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven

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In my neck of the woods there are college bars with no live music, and the geezer circuit for my band and a few others. Our crowd follows us around, has money to spend on food, drinks, and band tips, and are ready to go home early.

 

Most gigs are 8:00 - 11:00. 2 long sets and it's over and home by midnight. Pretty great.

Moe

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I can"t stand most bands around here, I play in the 2 bands in the area I like so I don"t need to go watch another cover band doing a shittier version of a band I could listen to on my IEMs if I even wanted that.

Now in Vegas, Austin, Manhattan or Miami, I"d be out every night because there"s lots of great players and friends I love to hang with.

Even this summer here there"s great acts coming through but hardly the original members, so I don"t waste my time, but Steve Morse covering Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple?

Thats an easy sell, can"t wait to see if the keyboards are close to the mighty Lord (RIP)

 

Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic
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Yeah my wife and I get out to see live music pretty regularly. We were at a festival yesterday near our home and saw some great music by local musicians. When our kids were young we didn"t get out much, but now that they"re adults we"re able to go out as much as we like. I"m kinda burnt on going to bars â with the exception of NYC bars which feature great talent â and have a strong preference for live outdoor music.
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I had a night off Saturday and went to see another band. They were the sons of some of my friends. Very talented group in their early 20's. They play originals but blend covers from Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers and Hendrix to name a few. The soundman was one of my former guitar students. I do try to see other bands when I have the chance.
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Same plan every weekend (that I'm not gigging):

- Thursday check the FB and websites of all the regional live-music venues

- If one of my friends' bands is playing I'll go see them Fri, Sat, or both.

- If there's a new group on the scene, I'll google them and see if they look/sound interesting, then go check them out.

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Hardware: Nord Stage3, Korg Kronos 2, Novation Summit

Software: Cantabile 3, Halion Sonic 3 and assorted VST plug-ins.

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My going out consists of these three consistent steps:

 

Step 1: realize I have the night off and can go out

Step 2: find out who is playing where and at what time

Step 3: wait until right up against whatever time they are supposed to start, and then decide it is easier to go next time and just stay home and get some sleep instead.

 

"Next time" begins with Step 1 above and repeats the process exactly.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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It's a tough topic. I've been a gigging musician most of my life and my wife certainly married into a 15-20 night per month touring musician's lifestyle. As time has gone on, we've shifted things a bit and I don't play nearly as much as I once did. I still have around 3-4 gigs per month and we love to go to the bigger concerts and festivals, which is usually another 1-2 days per month. Our friend group knows I'm a busy gigging player and we do hit concerts when we can, so my wife and I have developed a bit of a reputation as "don't even bother to call them because either Eric has a gig or they have other music-related plans" which is not always great.

 

I have a couple of very close friends that I lose track of and learn of fun things I've missed and they have simply filed me away in the "not even bothering to contact him as he probably has a gig" section of the rolodex.

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It can pay off...we've gotten a number of gigs by knowing other bands (we fill in for them) and when we've needed to replace musicians we don't have to resort to Craigslist auditions (ugh).

 

I personally don't because I work and have growing kids...time slips away as it is.

 

I also am starting to see many if not most bands running tracks--even the little bar bands--and I have no interest whatsoever spending time and money supporting that (which includes big acts too).

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