Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

most bands I have been in we were friends first and bandmembers second, we voted on decisions based as a full majority casting their vote to enact the "rule".. ex. do we need a band fund? do we need an upgrade on PA gear? do we need tio expel somebody out of the band? do we creat fines for tardiness to rehearsal and so on and so forth, but the last two bands have been ruled by the "manager" no need to discuss or even argue with "management" cause they have it in their mind that they are right? well, that logic has totally ruined a good lineup of musicians who could get a crowd up and dancing.. I am being begged to come back, but I feel I need some say-so into decisions too.. and that ain't happening.. let the regime carry on...

the bands that i currently play with:

P-JAZZ 25 yrs running.....democratic

Mere Mortals Bluegrass Band 10 yrs running...democratic

121's (Truck Stop band) 4 yrs running.....democratic

there's never been an argument and never have any voices been raised.

every successful band i've played with....democratic.

every band that wasn't....never lasted. or i never lasted w them.

and the worst...the biggest tell to run from? every band that i played w that had someone's name as the band name...

...The Joe Blow Band.....those were always the WORST. in my exp that's always proven to be living proof that someone thought the band was about THEM. and it proved to be true for every band i played in, or was hired to fill in with along those lines. a guaranfuckinteed recipe for disaster right there. (in MY exp).

but this Cube 40 amp with a 40 dollar rebate, and damn if I am going to watch it lie there gathering dust.. watch out America! lock up your daughters! Dayne NobodyIV will be in the house! LOL

Jookeyman wrote:Hate to hear that, Dayne.

I've worked in both situations but only as a sideman in the Totalitarian.
I couldn't handle that on a full-time basis.
Especially w/ your talent, playing bass in a bar band?? No way, dude.
Tell 'em you'll come back if they give you an acoustic set so you can play the gut-string!! Hah!!

Jook, I swear on a stack of Bibles, the "management" has offered me gas money just to come down again this coming Sunday..for 1 PM rehearsal..

jook, if you were closer I would refer you to them? I have the 36 song list right on my lap looking at it.. lots of John Anderson, Conway Twitty, Lee Greenwood, Tim McGraw, Gary Allan, Luke Bryan, Shenandoah, T.G. Sheppard, Exile, (Steve Warriner - "Life's Highway") <-- good tune!

My last band was Democratic to a fault.

We had no leader, and thus, no direction or vision. Which was fine for just jamming or playing covers. But, they had original songs too, and that was what I wanted to focus on. I tried as best I could to carefully (being the new guy) steer them towards polishing up their originals. But, I always remained somewhat of an outsider being a much later addition to a band that had been together for many years.

I tried really hard to convince the guy who had wrote or co-wrote most of the songs to step up as a leader. Especially, considering they were technically mostly his songs (at least the original idea/lyrics portion). But, he just wasn't up for it.

To me, democratic is best, but there should still be a leader. Not a heavy-handed totalitarian. But, a guide to give the group a unified vision. One who can listen to everyone in the group and incorporate their desires for what the band should be and turn that into a road map that gets all the members where they want to go musically.

So, somewhere in-between is best, IMO. Although, I know that's really hard to achieve with a group of individuals. Especially, creative-types like musicians.

A cover band is a bit different. There is no vision beyond playing together or paying gigs. It's easier to have a more democratic process. However, as an authoratarian dictator in original bands all my life, (and a business entrepreneur) I have another perspective. Some people are hosses and some people are bosses. It's human nature that I accepted decades ago.

It's hard for a boss to work with another boss in the same band, much like most bands only have one lead guitarist. A good leader is a servant to the rest of the band. He/She knows the abilities of the other players and allows each person to do their job and shine brightest within the confines of a broader unified vision. They allow each member to have ownership in the final product. They consider opinions from the other members and try to find a happy medium, so it doesn't seem like a dictatorship, but in reality it is actually a benevolent monarchy.

The best bands I have worked with are democratic. You do have to have a good leader that can remain unbiased. This leader is one that everyone in the band looks up to and respects. One thing I will not do is play in a Joe Blow and the whatevers. That is ALWAYS a band where Joe Blow is promoting his name and to hell with everybody else. It cracks me up when one member says "It's my band" my reply is, without us other guys YOU ain't a band!

J-HALEY wrote:The best bands I have worked with are democratic. You do have to have a good leader that can remain unbiased. This leader is one that everyone in the band looks up to and respects. One thing I will not do is play in a Joe Blow and the whatevers. That is ALWAYS a band where Joe Blow is promoting his name and to hell with everybody else. It cracks me up when one member says "It's my band" my reply is, without us other guys YOU ain't a band!

OK, now the flip side of that perspective....

I seriously believe I could have been signed to a major label in the 70s/ 80s/90s if I had not done what you just said for most of my life.

My experience is that every band would work to get to a certain level of success and then it became competing visions and agendas that broke the band up, and I would have to start all over again with new players. Once there were too many new players it had to be a new band with new songs, new recordings, new promo.....oy.

When I finally did sign, the record label didn't want the band, and they rarely do. They want the songwriter(s) because publishing is what makes the world go 'round. I had just spent 20k of my own money producing an album, getting press materials, marketing/promotion on a fantastic band....and had nothing to show for it when the band broke up. That scenario had happened at least a dozen times in my life and the only way to avoid it (again) was to go as a solo artist. Now I hire musicians when I need them, and am no longer a prisoner to their limited ability. If one guy can't pull off a solo that adds to the song, then I simply hire another guy who can. If the song calls for an oboe solo, the guitar player doesn't get a bruised ego.

The disadvantages are higher costs for musicians when I use them, but the advantages far outweigh that in the ability to do what needs to be done without being slowed down by people who have different goals.

It was the one thing that made the difference between being a local yokel and a working recording artist. So Joe Blow doesn't care what the band thinks because it's his job to make sure we're all working.

[quoteEspecially w/ your talent, playing bass in a bar band?? No way, dude][/quote]

I volunteered to play bass, and there was no hinting by any of them to do so.. I knew they lost their bassist just a few days prior, and me knowing bassists are harder to come by than guitarists volunteered, with Grant playing lead guitar I see no issues with qualit y there.. I initially tried out on guitar and after the audition realizing the "needs" right them and there I had my eye on that $200.00 a night and would have played skin flute for that kind of money..just kiddin about the skin flute thing..LOL

Dayne Nobody IV wrote: I had my eye on that $200.00 a night and would have played skin flute for that kind of money..just kiddin about the skin flute thing..LOL

Cant beat that kinda cash

yod wrote: Some people are hosses and some people are bosses. It's human nature that I accepted decades ago.

I agree
I see mysef as a sideman not a frontman and when people have roles I think it works best
Many people dont have the ego that lends to playing second fiddle
I hate being in the limelight so it works good

" Together More or Less in Line " is how our 9 year old cover band governs iteslf
One guy takes care of the cash ;one guy books ;one guy makes the set lists
squabbles happen we've all quit the band and indeed I missed 3 months this summer
7pc band lots of moving parts and egos

Guys like Yod - people who hire musicians - are awesome btw