Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Yes. It's me Clifford. I am still having trouble trying to find a much more suitable website (and some physical places in Baton Rouge) to find some guys who just want to hang out, and who enjoy a lot of the same music I enjoy playing, but who are not officially playing music as their job, as is found on sites like Craigslist, Bandmix, and Reverbnation. In other words, I need to talk to some of the amateurs on this site, and simply learn about what else is out there that I might be overlooking.


I am a lot more advanced in music knowledge than most musicians my age, and unlike other people in Baton Rouge, I'm not doing this to get chicks, or to do a bunch of crazy things like go to bars to get drunk, or get caught up in drugs. This is just a leisure activity I'd like to do with a few special friends.

Clifford can you find any open mic nights in your area, if you are serious then hit a couple of those, you might even hit some karaoke places, I know lots of my friend musicians who do that for fun, so you might find some there, another idea would be to just put an ad on the board in a music store, I dont how well this works these days, but when I was in my late teens and early 20s (damn thats a long time ago). I used to meet people that way.

Good Luck, I hope you find what your looking for.

jw123 wrote:Clifford can you find any open mic nights in your area, if you are serious then hit a couple of those, you might even hit some karaoke places, I know lots of my friend musicians who do that for fun, so you might find some there, another idea would be to just put an ad on the board in a music store, I dont how well this works these days, but when I was in my late teens and early 20s (damn thats a long time ago). I used to meet people that way.

Good Luck, I hope you find what your looking for.

I need to LEARN and speak with some guys who can help me find these specific Open MIcs by name. I might be willing to try one provided it's advertized well, and thus I can see whether the pop and soft rock styles I enjoy are popular there and whether it attracts individuals who do NOT go there to get drunk.

The ones I know of in my city are either poorly advertized and held at resturaunts, bars, and clubs, and attract a bunch of guys who are trying to pick up chicks or trying to become famous and who like being all macho by playing classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and of course, blues.

I have been doing the ad thing for quite awhile, and since Feb 11 2012, my ad hasn't reached ANYONE. And in the past, when it DID reach soemone, it would either reach someone who was less talented than me and thus had to learn all of the songs I can currently play, or someone who had a too much experience and was ALREADY playing out in the Baton Rouge area, and already had a few other music buddies.

just google open mic nights in the baton rouge area, then look for the coffee shop type places instead of the bar type places

jw123 wrote:just google open mic nights in the baton rouge area, then look for the coffee shop type places instead of the bar type places

Um...how do I talk to other people like myself about THOSE places to find one that's right for me, and closer to the area of Baton Rouge where I live?

And also I want to avoid the "hole in the wall" sort of places. Something more like what colleges and high schools do for talent shows.

Clifford you have to figure some things out on your own. Good Luck

jw123 wrote:Clifford you have to figure some things out on your own. Good Luck

That's the problem! I CANNOT figure this out on my own. I need to learn about some GOOD places. Every place I've gone so far (online or in person) I keep running into the opposite of what I'm looking for. For example, I keep going to places that are poorly advertized, and thus cannot follow on Facebook, or I'm stuck going to places that are purely just play and run sort of places.

Or I'm stuck checking out places that I can't make a regular thing out of due to factors like the day and time it takes place, and it's specific location within my city.

I would be much more willing to check out an Open Mic that I can follow on Facebook, and thus see who's playing what, and thus get a better idea of whether or not the artists I'm into are popularly played there. I'm trying to reach those guys who like and enjoy most of the songs I can play, and have a good handle on the music theory terms, and can play by ear.

I appreciate the help so far, but don't give up.

Other things you've got to consider is the fact that I'm legally blind, and thus cannot drive. I thus currently have limited transportation, and need to consider my parent's schedule when asking them to take me somewhere. Also THEY also are going to want to know more about the place I'm asking them to take me to BEFORE they take me to it.

It's also important that it be a daytime venue because that's the time when I am fresh and can think straight. Also it's important that it be a venue that has good lighting, so I can see everybody well, including the individuals performing. Think of the atmosphere of the student center of a college and possibly the occasional outdoors event.

Here's an example of a search for Open Mics. Someone help me pick out the ones that are appropriate for my kind of music, as well as the other important criteria:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=ps ... 24&bih=595

Notice how pretty much all of the Open Mics are held at bars, and clubs.

Noe that on Google (or any major search engine) you have to be careful. Certain links might have dated information or incorrect information, thus the Open Mic that comes up might be a discontinued service.

Glen, Dog,

Where did you go?

Slacker G wrote:Glen, Dog,

Where did you go?

If you don't have anything good to contribute to a topic, please stay out. I would appreciate it if guys who don't understand me would just leave this topic alone and go about their daily lives as if they didn't see this topic. The last thing I want to deal with again is a bunch of trolls who start bad mouthing me and acusing me of various things.

CLiff, first you are on an open forum and anyone can say anthing they want, I would think you would already know that from other threads you put on here.

Now for some advice, you have a very strict limited way to even begin playing music, I would suggest maybe you research some churchs and see what sort of music they have going on, it might be a start that would fit some of your criteria.

Im sure in some circles being legally blind gets some sort of sympathy, but what Ive found as far as music goes that i have to pretty much do everything myself and make things happen. Learn to overcome your handicap in other words.

As I said I wish you and anyone pursuing music luck but it takes alot of work on your side of the screen to make things happen. Most people i met thru the internet didnt deliver, what I found over time was find a place that had music I wanted to play, and get to know the people who were actively playing, and network with them.

Thats really about as good of advice as I can give you.

Hang in there and grow some thick skin, cause people will slam you over and over, its just the nature of the beast.

"Im sure in some circles being legally blind gets some sort of sympathy, but what Ive found as far as music goes that i have to pretty much do everything myself and make things happen. Learn to overcome your handicap in other words"

I have overcome my disability/handicap, and I am not using it to gain sympathy. I am pointing it out there because the guy who is interested needs to provide RELIABLE transportation and live in a place where's it doesn't take him 30 minutes or more just to get to his house.

Also I'm looking for some guy friends who would also like to do other activities besides play music. I'm trying to reach those who are STILL learning and are currently not in a rush to get out and perform.

Cliff you are taking what Im saying wrong, if I got hooked up with someone and then said hey man your gonna have to have reliable transportation and come get me, for most folks thats not gonna happen.

In fact one of my mentors a brilliant guitarist played in my band for a couple of years, we were gigging making money, the whole nine yards, but he started wanting us to go way out of our way to pick him up, make sure he had a guitar strap, strings, whatever, in the end he got fired it just wasnt worth that to me.

(this post has been accidentally deleted due to an error when editing another post)