Bob L Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 A lot of good advice above. My band is trying to transition from what was a classic rock band to add 80's, funk , and some more contemporary music (recent- Daft Punk - Get Lucky, 90s - Third Eye Blind - Semi Charmed Life). Our positioning is we are a "party" band and get people dancing. We have a gig next summer where we will have a large crowd that will want to dance so the "transformation" has to happen over the next 6 months. I also think bands that have more of a theme ( just 80s, tribute bands) may have an easier time marketing as the message is more focused. Since our band is not starting from scratch, we are trying to be versatile and not get pigeon holed with the many classic rock acts out there. It isn't easy... Korg CX-3 (vintage), Casio Privia PX-5S, Lester K, Behringer Powerplay P2, Shure 215s http://www.hackjammers.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opdigits Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Hey Tee, I've thought up two names you could call your versatile "everything for everyone" band: First, if you are going for elegance: The Treasure Chest Or, if you want it to be more raw: The Junk Drawer Nobody told me there'd be days like these... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Another thing several guys I know do around here is to have several projects with mostly the same group of guys playing different themes or tributes with different names, in addition to their "play everything" cover band. Our booking agent does that...he has about 5 different projects he does. Each one doesn't have to play very often but they add up and he keeps busy, and each one has something unique - one is fronted by a local radio DJ, one is called "Petty Cash Junction" and is all Tom Petty and Johnny Cash. I could go into detail on the others, but you get the idea. He's not the only one doing this. I knew a cover band that also played out under another name as a Journey Tribute, and another one that does both an 80s hair band Tribute, and a separate Bon Jovi Tribute. Many have 5-pc cover bands that have a scaled down acoustic or 3pc happy hour version of the band that will also do wineries and such. Some those guys play 2 gigs a day. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adan Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Another thing several guys I know do around here is to have several projects with mostly the same group of guys playing different themes or tributes with different names, in addition to their "play everything" cover band. Our booking agent does that...he has about 5 different projects he does. Each one doesn't have to play very often but they add up and he keeps busy, and each one has something unique - one is fronted by a local radio DJ, one is called "Petty Cash Junction" and is all Tom Petty and Johnny Cash. I could go into detail on the others, but you get the idea. He's not the only one doing this. I knew a cover band that also played out under another name as a Journey Tribute, and another one that does both an 80s hair band Tribute, and a separate Bon Jovi Tribute. Many have 5-pc cover bands that have a scaled down acoustic or 3pc happy hour version of the band that will also do wineries and such. Some those guys play 2 gigs a day. Yes, this is fairly common. I wrote about it regarding a local singer I know, above, and he is just one example of it in the Bay Area. Rather than trying to represent yourself as a band that does everything, diversify the advertising, using the same web site so that if someone wants a different product, it's just a click away. Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro Home: Vintage Vibe 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeyPlaya Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Before repertoire, manager, clubs ... most important thing to having a successful band to me: being able to spend long weird hours with the same bunch of folks in tight quarters without wanting to kill each other. I'd rather work with a dependable happy "so so" guitar player than a guitar genius that's an asshat and drinks too much. Just saying... I've played with "so so" and "asshat". I had more fun with "so so" but in the long run, he didn't measure up to the band's goals and had to go. "Asshat" got fired because he put such a damper on the "fun factor" (although some band members got a lot of enjoyment making fun of him behind his back). Tough balancing act, but we really needed, and sometimes got, the player that fell in-between the two - not a perfectionist but pretty damn good most of the time, excellent on a few songs, but down-to-earth enough that we still had fun. Our goals were, in order : 1. Have fun. When we had fun on stage, the patrons were infected with it and a good time was had by all. 2. Play good songs that get a good response. No matter how much we liked a song, if the crowd didn't respond to it, we dropped it. We even played a few songs we hated because the audience practically demanded it (the funny thing about this is that when the dance floor filled up and the crowd had fun, we didn't hate the song near as much) 3. Play well. Nobody could beat us up worse than we did when we suffered a train-wreck on stage. We would analyze to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future. But the kicker was that, due to the crowd already being "infected with fun" they rarely noticed anything was wrong. 4. Get paid. We didn't want to play for peanuts, but by putting this last instead of first, it actually worked out well because we were concentrating on the things that increased our value, which in turn increased our pay. www.TexasMusiciansForum.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-missRichardTee Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 ++++1000 You don't have ideas, ideas have you We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opdigits Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Our goals were, in order : 1. Have fun. When we had fun on stage, the patrons were infected with it and a good time was had by all. 2. Play good songs that get a good response. No matter how much we liked a song, if the crowd didn't respond to it, we dropped it. We even played a few songs we hated because the audience practically demanded it (the funny thing about this is that when the dance floor filled up and the crowd had fun, we didn't hate the song near as much) 3. Play well. Nobody could beat us up worse than we did when we suffered a train-wreck on stage. We would analyze to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future. But the kicker was that, due to the crowd already being "infected with fun" they rarely noticed anything was wrong. 3. Get paid. We didn't want to play for peanuts, but by putting this last instead of first, it actually worked out well because we were concentrating on the things that increased our value, which in turn increased our pay. And another +17.5 Nobody told me there'd be days like these... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-missRichardTee Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Ok. I give up. What's the 17.5 deal ;-) You don't have ideas, ideas have you We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adan Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 This is just my stupid internet forum pet peeve, and I try to shut up about it, but sometimes I can't. +1 means "me too" (but in a presumably more hip-for-the-internet way). Logically, +2 would mean "me and this other guy here sitting next to me, too." +1,000, logically, would mean "me and 999 other people too, and if you're interested I'll send you a list." Etc. If you really really agree with something, you can always just say "I really really agree with that." Feel free to tell me what a dork I'm being . . . Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro Home: Vintage Vibe 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 If you really really agree with something, you can always just say "I really really agree with that." or IRRAWT for short 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Dork! Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-missRichardTee Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Dork! OK I am a dork this has been undeniably established! So opdigits was poking fun at my "+1000"? You don't have ideas, ideas have you We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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