Questions to ask a new band

[HammondDave]

A Tower of Power tribute band asked me to join them a few years ago. I saw them live and was impressed. They told me that they rehearsed twice a week, so I decided to go to one of their rehearsals.

 

I prepared at home for the six songs that were slated for rehearsal that day and knew them so well I could play them backwards. Rehearsal started at 7PM and I got there at 6:00 for a relaxing non-stress set-up.

 

Two members of the band showed up at 7:05, another at 7:30, another at 8:30, then two of the horn players showed up at 9:00, but did not even study the charts. Two guys never showed up! There were no charts for the bass player so he sat by the CD player trying to learn the song on-site. Long story short, we managed to play one song over a four hour rehearsal.

 

At the end of the rehearsal they offered me the gig. I thanked the guys for the opportunity but told them that I would not be playing with them. Their rehearsals were just too chaotic for me.

 

I don't waste my time anymore.

[MathOfInsects]

You lasted two hours longer than I would have.

[Brettymike]

A Tower of Power tribute band asked me to join them a few years ago. I saw them live and was impressed. They told me that they rehearsed twice a week, so I decided to go to one of their rehearsals.

 

I prepared at home for the six songs that were slated for rehearsal that day and knew them so well I could play them backwards. Rehearsal started at 7PM and I got there at 6:00 for a relaxing non-stress set-up.

 

Two members of the band showed up at 7:05, another at 7:30, another at 8:30, then two of the horn players showed up at 9:00, but did not even study the charts. Two guys never showed up! There were no charts for the bass player so he sat by the CD player trying to learn the song on-site. Long story short, we managed to play one song over a four hour rehearsal.

 

At the end of the rehearsal they offered me the gig. I thanked the guys for the opportunity but told them that I would not be playing with them. Their rehearsals were just too chaotic for me.

 

I don't waste my time anymore.

 

 

 

+1 - Excellent call , I can't stand that unreliable (read > couldn't care less about the new keyboardist!!) Bullshit for long AT ALL , and would be doing this in the opposite direction within about 20minutes to de-stress >

Brett

[Joe Muscara]

So your rehearsals were not so much learning details of each song, as much as enjoyment of just playing together?

In a rehearsal situation, ( it's been many years since I have rehearsed ) I did not like having to learn too many songs for the rehearsal. Generally one group I worked with rehearsed two songs over one rehearsal... Not 5 songs even. The more songs. the harder it was to retain the details of each song. Plus this, if we didn/t quickly capture this new song on a gig, it would be diminished.. our memory of its parts.

I guess we are talking about 2 different things?

Do you mean for my old band? Yeah, we had built it up to that point over time. We did a mix of originals and covers, though the covers were done in our style. It wasn't that people had to learn a ton of songs to play the jam, as we all already knew them to varying degrees.

 

Your post and the ToP one by Dave reminded me of another audition/rehearsal peeve. I've had too many times where the bandleader says they're going to work on a certain batch of songs, so I bust my butt to learn those. Then at the audition or rehearsal they start calling out other songs they may have mentioned but didn't say were going to be on that day's list. Yeah, I would have loved to work on those songs too but there are only so many hours in a day and like you say, it's a pain to try to learn too many songs for one rehearsal.

[HammondDave]

Here is how I look at it...

 

With the state of the music business being what it is, forcing professional musicians into getting day jobs, playing in multiple bands, and still trying to have a normal life, you cannot afford to be wasting time with undisciplined people.

 

My last band consisted of musicians who respected each other as people and professionals. This means that when we learned new songs, we all did our homework. Partially because we would be expected to play those songs in front of hundreds of people on the spot without rehearsing them. That was always exciting, and pretty cool (to tell you the truth).

 

If you slacked off and did not do your homework, then you let everyone down. No one had to balls, or lack of respect, to do that.

[Brettymike]

^^^ +1 , another good post on the subject.

And look , a keyboardists time gets wasted more BY FAR.

Brett

[I-missRichardTee]

Here is how I look at it...

 

With the state of the music business being what it is, forcing professional musicians into getting day jobs, playing in multiple bands, and still trying to have a normal life, you cannot afford to be wasting time with undisciplined people.

 

My last band consisted of musicians who respected each other as people and professionals. This means that when we learned new songs, we all dd our homework. Partially because we would be expected to play those songs in front of hundreds of people on the spot without rehearsing them. That was always exciting, and pretty cool (to tell you the truth).

 

If you slacked off and did not do your homework, then you let everyone down. No one had to balls, or lack of respect, to do that.

 

Well said very well said. You just reminded me of the last audition I did, or tried to do! It was an ABBA tribute band. As much as I tried, I could not get myself to swallow this soulless music, esp on keyboard. I am busted as charged - as it was not a matter of balls, or respect, i just couldn't put my heart into learning all the inane keyboard parts the music required .. I simply hated that music. All the while i admit that any band of that stature has displayed tons of organization and rehearsal and so on. I only considered that band for the sake of a buck.

That ABBA music, which is still in the realm of "music" ( unlike some of the more recent crap ) was the most unpleasant music for me to have to repeatedly listen to.

 

You guys are going to really think I am nutz, but I just flashed back on another experience from the eighties. I was invited to audition ( they called it a "closed audition" on elec bass for Spyra Gyra. I was very close with one of the players who did the studio versions of their earlier albums.. and was friendly with the session bass player as well.. so that is two strong references. Well this was AFTER their more famous hits, and involved albums that I had to check out. I know this is crazy, but I just disliked the music so much after two weeks of trying to like it, I bailed on the audition.. didn't even show.

[HammondDave]

Here is how I look at it...

 

With the state of the music business being what it is, forcing professional musicians into getting day jobs, playing in multiple bands, and still trying to have a normal life, you cannot afford to be wasting time with undisciplined people.

 

My last band consisted of musicians who respected each other as people and professionals. This means that when we learned new songs, we all dd our homework. Partially because we would be expected to play those songs in front of hundreds of people on the spot without rehearsing them. That was always exciting, and pretty cool (to tell you the truth).

 

If you slacked off and did not do your homework, then you let everyone down. No one had to balls, or lack of respect, to do that.

 

Well said very well said. You just reminded me of the last audition I did, or tried to do! It was an ABBA tribute band. As much as I tried, I could not get myself to swallow this soulless music, esp on keyboard. I am busted as charged - as it was not a matter of balls, or respect, i just couldn't put my heart into learning all the inane keyboard parts the music required .. I simply hated that music. All the while i admit that any band of that stature has displayed tons of organization and rehearsal and so on. I only considered that band for the sake of a buck.

That ABBA music, which is still in the realm of "music" ( unlike some of the more recent crap ) was the most unpleasant music for me to have to repeatedly listen to.

 

You guys are going to really think I am nutz, but I just flashed back on another experience from the eighties. I was invited to audition ( they called it a "closed audition" on elec bass for Spyra Gyra. I was very close with one of the players who did the studio versions of their earlier albums.. and was friendly with the session bass player as well.. so that is two strong references. Well this was AFTER their more famous hits, and involved albums that I had to check out. I know this is crazy, but I just disliked the music so much after two weeks of trying to like it, I bailed on the auction.. didn't even show.

 

Wow... I saw them live in the early 90's and they were great! But you would definitely want to play keys for that music.

[I-missRichardTee]

I sound like i am on my high horse, but that was 30 years ago. Some of the music i play now makes Spyro sound like Cream or Hendrix! I am eating plenty of crow, believe me. This scene is not easy to take, guys.

[GDP]

I don't consider myself a "professional" though I once was and am pretty well trained. But I joined a "Lynyrd Skynyrd" tribute band, learned every Billie Powell keyboard part to a tee, and rehearsed faithfully with the boys.

 

My mistake was believing their hype as to quality gigs. AI told them a larger keyboard rig requires stage space and a PA guy...I insisted...and they said no problem.

 

Thing is, the gigs never measured up, plus they could not pull off more than 2 hours so they always had a local band "open" for them. This meant a rush to set up and little if any sound check.....sucked BIG TIME.

 

After a year of this I told them I was out (6 weeks notice) and they don't even talk to me anymore...all butthurt I guess, but a year wasted anyway.

 

Bottom line....Check out EVERYTHING before committing, don't believe their hype about what's gonna happen.....See what IS happening and believe that.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[J. Dan]

Here is how I look at it...

 

With the state of the music business being what it is, forcing professional musicians into getting day jobs, playing in multiple bands, and still trying to have a normal life, you cannot afford to be wasting time with undisciplined people.

 

My last band consisted of musicians who respected each other as people and professionals. This means that when we learned new songs, we all dd our homework. Partially because we would be expected to play those songs in front of hundreds of people on the spot without rehearsing them. That was always exciting, and pretty cool (to tell you the truth).

 

If you slacked off and did not do your homework, then you let everyone down. No one had to balls, or lack of respect, to do that.

 

I'm with you 100%. I'm satisfied if somebody at least has the decency to shoot out an email prior and say "sorry guys, I'm just not prepared for practice" and leave it up to everyone of they want to postpone or go through it anyway. I mean, shit happens. Now if it's a regular thing, then we're going to have a talk.

[Dana.]

This thread is two pages and I've yet to see "How much does the gig pay?" Shameful.

[MotiDave]

Here is how I look at it...

 

With the state of the music business being what it is, forcing professional musicians into getting day jobs, playing in multiple bands, and still trying to have a normal life, you cannot afford to be wasting time with undisciplined people.

 

My last band consisted of musicians who respected each other as people and professionals. This means that when we learned new songs, we all dd our homework. Partially because we would be expected to play those songs in front of hundreds of people on the spot without rehearsing them. That was always exciting, and pretty cool (to tell you the truth).

 

If you slacked off and did not do your homework, then you let everyone down. No one had to balls, or lack of respect, to do that.

 

Well said very well said. You just reminded me of the last audition I did, or tried to do! It was an ABBA tribute band. As much as I tried, I could not get myself to swallow this soulless music, esp on keyboard. I am busted as charged - as it was not a matter of balls, or respect, i just couldn't put my heart into learning all the inane keyboard parts the music required .. I simply hated that music. All the while i admit that any band of that stature has displayed tons of organization and rehearsal and so on. I only considered that band for the sake of a buck.

That ABBA music, which is still in the realm of "music" ( unlike some of the more recent crap ) was the most unpleasant music for me to have to repeatedly listen to.

 

You guys are going to really think I am nutz, but I just flashed back on another experience from the eighties. I was invited to audition ( they called it a "closed audition" on elec bass for Spyra Gyra. I was very close with one of the players who did the studio versions of their earlier albums.. and was friendly with the session bass player as well.. so that is two strong references. Well this was AFTER their more famous hits, and involved albums that I had to check out. I know this is crazy, but I just disliked the music so much after two weeks of trying to like it, I bailed on the audition.. didn't even show.

three different guys from 2 different bands here called me about a "yacht rock" band last year. they get tons of shows that pay great (we all know that is relative), they would love to have me join. apparently there is a drought of able responsible keyboardists in my neck of the woods.

 

I had a suspicion that I well understood this fancy term "yacht rock", but I said not sure if I can do it, go ahead and send me the song list. yeah ... i was right. thats not for me. thats not 1000 miles near me.

 

"hey, thanks so much for thinking of me, i'm honored - but i just don't the bandwidth right now for another project. Good luck, guys!".

 

my 100% personal tips of the day:

1. Don't do a project if you don't dig the music.

2. if i ever say i don't have bandwidth for a project, its not me ... its you.

[I-missRichardTee]

Ok, like a cat, I am wondering what is yacht rock, anyway?

[HammondDave]

This thread is two pages and I've yet to see "How much does the gig pay?" Shameful.

 

LOL... Why ask? The answer is just too depressing!

[MotiDave]

Ok, like a cat, I am wondering what is yacht rock, anyway?

70's "light rock"

 

clonk

[El Lobo]

I had a suspicion that I well understood this fancy term "yacht rock", but I said not sure if I can do it, go ahead and send me the song list. yeah ... i was right. thats not for me. thats not 1000 miles near me.

Please tell us what are some of the songs on the list of Yacht Rock. Just so we'll know ...

[HammondDave]

Let me Guess...

 

Seal and Crofts

Christopher Cross

The Carpenters

Captain and Tanielle

Carole King

Dan Fogelberg

Eagles

Jimmy Buffett

 

OY...

[Lindaru]

Let me Guess...

 

Seal and Crofts

Christopher Cross

The Carpenters

Captain and Tanielle

Carole King

Dan Fogelberg

Eagles

Jimmy Buffett

 

OY...

 

So that is what they call it . . . that was the exact type of band which I turned down that wanted the seventies "uniform" of glitzy glam stuff. Ugh.

 

[Phred]

I have a pretty busy real life, and I use my music life as a bit of an escape. I love performing, and think that music will be part of my life forever. Because of my busy non-music life, I can only really be in one band.

 

Earlier this year, my current band was between singers, and I auditioned for a tribute band. I thought a tribute band would fit with the time that I have as there is less of a demand to learn new tunes.. I found a bunch of live clips of them performing, and they were great. I asked almost every question in this thread (what does it pay?, when and how often do you rehearse?, who books gigs?, etc...) All seemed great. I got versions of the tunes from the band leader and asked for a prioritized list. He asked my to learn 6 of them, and I ended up learning 15 or so.

 

 

The band is a 11 piece band, and the two bg singers and two of the horn players didn't show up for rehearsal. The rehearsal place is fairly cramped even for the 7 of us that are there.

 

The audition itself went well musically, however I found out about a bunch of red flags, by listening very carefully to the end of rehearsal chatter.

 

I found out the bg singers and at least one of the two missing brass where no longer in the band. The current line up would have only one horn, and maybe two on more profitable gigs.

 

I found out that this band is a 'second band' for many of the players. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but is different than what I want. I only have time for one band, and prefer to be in a band with people that feel the same. If people are in two bands, I prefer the one that I am in to be the first band, and not the second.

 

Even though the website showed some upcoming gigs, and a bunch of past gigs, there had recently been lots of cancelations. At least two of the 4 recently departed members didn't like that. The other two members were let go to keep costs down, which is fine...

 

I also found out that this band was actually hoping to spin off an original band, and one of the guys had written a bunch of tunes for it. I left unclear of the future of this version of the band, and how the plan to keep both living was going to unfold.

 

At one point they said, "you don't have to be in both bands, you can just join this one...". Obviously I didn't take that offer, as I figured they would eventually find a keys player who wanted to be in both, and I would be out.

 

The next day I told them that that I was out, and they were very surprised. They had no idea that I wasn't interested based on that post audition discussion. It worked out ok though, as I am still enjoying working in my current band.

 

[stoken6]

This thread is two pages and I've yet to see "How much does the gig pay?" Shameful.

 

I've asked that one already. You need no longer hang your head in shame :-)

 

Cheers, Mike.

[CowboyNQ]

This thread is two pages and I've yet to see "How much does the gig pay?" Shameful.

 

Was my first question

[MotiDave]

Let me Guess...

 

Seal and Crofts

Christopher Cross

The Carpenters

Captain and Tanielle

Carole King

Dan Fogelberg

Eagles

Jimmy Buffett

 

OY...

well played, perhaps except the Eagles who I consider timeles.

 

I'll add along ... some more ...

 

Bread

Air Supply

Christopher Cross

Gino Vannelli

Gary Wright

Bee Gees (pre-SNF)

Ambrosia

Jim Croce

Eric Carmen

Dobie Gray

...

 

yes, I googled ... search on 70s soft rock). if you promise not to tell anyone, I actually would hum along to some of those songs if nobody was around. But i'd find no inspiration playing a set, or 4 sets, of them. just not my thing, fortunately for the softrockin' lady-charming swingers out there, there's other musicians to fill that need.

 

[I-missRichardTee]

Gino Vannelli's music is excellent music. What is far better? C Cross is musical cat too!

I find what I would call a phenomenon, this exclusion of 70's music a great curiosity. Is this always the case with musicians banning music from 40 years prior to the present date?

 

[KeyMoe]

My country band rarely hold a formal rehearsal. Two of them I think in the last 5 years. New songs are called a couple weeks in advance, we learn our parts on our own and run them during sound check where harmonies are worked out if needed. This works great for us, who all are pretty busy but dedicated to what we do. Just learned 2 today for Wedsneday sound check.

 

 

[Lindaru]

Gino Vannelli's music is excellent music. What is far better? C Cross is musical cat too!

I find what I would call a phenomenon, this exclusion of 70's music a great curiosity. Is this always the case with musicians banning music from 40 years prior to the present date?

 

Off the top of my head, I would not exclude Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper or a few others of that decade, not necessarily keys players in that but ones I loved to rock out to after a hard day.

[U.Honey]

Ok, like a cat, I am wondering what is yacht rock, anyway?

 

Here's my Yacht Rock band, Am Gold San Diego :

 

Note that it's a promo video and thus has a little commercial bias. We all want to get gigs, don't we ;-)

[U.Honey]

Let me Guess...

 

Seal and Crofts

Christopher Cross

The Carpenters

Captain and Tanielle

Carole King

Dan Fogelberg

Eagles

Jimmy Buffett

 

OY...

 

Here's the setlist of my Yacht Rock group. That's pretty keyboard heavy stuff and I personally really dig playing this kind of music.

 

http://amgoldsandiego.com/songs/

 

 

[El Lobo]

We do Ace's "How Long" at the weekly jam I attend. It gets the crowd up and dancing, and now they request it. It's a fun song to play and we do solos over the Am D7 change.

 

But I would never play "Ventura Highway." One of the worst and most annoying songs ever recorded, IMHO.

[HammondDave]

Gino Vannelli's music is excellent music. What is far better? C Cross is musical cat too!

I find what I would call a phenomenon, this exclusion of 70's music a great curiosity. Is this always the case with musicians banning music from 40 years prior to the present date?

 

Interesting that Playtone ignored this style of music in this week's episode of "The Seventies: The Music". They also ignore Prog.