General Music Chat

Crip Im gonna play devils advocate.

Did you just up and quit these guys with gigs on the books? Or did you give them adequate notice and agree to finish out some gigs til they find a replacement?

Not slamming you but when you put bands together a couple of years ago and someone quit on you, you were mad as hell, so put it on the other shoe for a minute.

When you got with these guys you wanted to relieve yourself with the responsibility of running a band, You just wanted to play guitar and wanted to be paid. So you got with these guys and over the last few monthes you were gigging and I assume making some extra money.

So if you just quit, then you did put them in some sort of bind til they find a replacement, did you not?

And then from thier standpoint they look in CL and low and behold there is an add you put up to get into another outfit, that doesnt sound that different than what you were doing, from reading the add that Glen posted.

Mean while they have maybe had to cancel some gigs because you quit, I mean I can kinda understand others being pissed if thats the way it went down. Whenever Ive quit something Ive played out whatever was on the calendar at the time and have offered to keep playing til a replacement is found.

Hey Bro Im in your corner, but if everytime you quit a band it gets this much drama going maybe you need to look in the mirror, you may just be bringing it on your self.

Ive learned in my own deals that what ever I dish out I get back, for every action there is a reaction, just my 2 cents on this.

Maybe I read all this wrong, but for others in bands you might try to be careful how you quit bands, cause in my area the musicians that are actually playing regularly are a small group, and unless you are some monster musician it might not be easy getting other gigs, if you handle quitting wrong.

Enjoy that bike this summer I would love to be riding with you.

Keep Rockin

Ummm,
http://longisland.craigslist.org/muc/2435082014.html

Yep, if you walked out on The Fuse with gigs outstanding and posted this ad right away I can certainly see where those players might feel seriously burned. No excuse for violence but if you want to generate relationships with other musicians in your area, always always leave on good terms. No matter how much other players might annoy you. When you burn bridges behind you, word gets around pretty fast. Soon there will be no bridges left.

OK....I'm back..the posts above were written right before I went to bed so I didn't read the whole thing and couldn't give a detailed answer!

When my band "PanikAtack" broke up suddenly (Drummer from Dokken and bassist had other projects going on) I decided to discontinue MY OWN PROJECT! You're right, John, I didn't want that responsibility anymore and was asked to join the Fuse...I checked out their set list (Blink 182, Maroon5, Harvey Danger, etc..) waaay out of my style...but... these guys had me sold on the fact that we'd be gigging at least twice a month, healthy following and wouldn't walk away with less than a C-Note! I said what the hell. I locked myself in my office for a month and learned about 40 tunes so I'd be ready for my debut on New Years Eve. The gig went pretty well and I got my hundred bucks...Next gig...same place... 1/2 the amount of peeps showed....still got my 100.00. Then had to learn more tunes.. lotsa rehearsals..lotsa sacrifices as far as making it to every rehearsal in the blizzards, etc... We're suppose to sacrifice if we want the work. Next gig...Far from home.. My kid got rushed to hospital night before....honored the gig... NO ONE WAS THERE except for a few of the singers relatives...walked out with nothing....

Next 3 gigs... NO ONE BUT A FEW STRAGGLERS! Walked out with nada....Next gig during a Monsoon...Only my family and relatives came down... made a few bucks but it was still very embarrassing as seemed empty in such a large club... Last gig... was soo freakin' dead that we didn't even play...wasted a wonderful Sat. night I could've spent with friends and family as it was Mem. day weekend and was invited to my family's house for an awesome party!

That was the straw that broke the camels back! I resigned 3 days later...NOTHING ON THE CALENDAR...NO GIGS TO HONOR! They were pissed but what the hell was I gonna do?? Go through the rest of my life playing to empty houses?? rehearsing every weekend for nothing?? Lugging all that crap and not get paid as opposed to what was promised??

Before anyone here throws any stones, put yourselves in my position...John I recall you bragging about how much you got paid for gigs and how packed they were. I put my heart and soul into this for years. I've learned sooo many songs of all genres just to get out there and play only for each project to turn into a clusterfuk out here! It sucks... I've really had it... It's getting to the point where I hate playing now. The reason for the CL ad was to give it ONE MORE SHOT after a good month or 2 reprieve. I like to see what's out there...who's looking...What band NEEDS a guitarist that plays the type of music I LOVE as opposed to playing this pop crap for pennies! I AM taking time off.. I fear I'll never play out again because I'm not going to find what I'm looking for. I'm not going to play with 7 other bands.... I'm looking for an already established act that has some sort of following that plays the stuff I love.... That's a real large wish so I figure I'll put up the ad now and then just to put feelers out. If my ex band mates see it...oh well....such is life....I've been there, done that!

I AM taking the Summer off to tend to personal family health issues and, very important, to try and find me a better job as the one I have is seriously in jeopardy! Job and family come first and foremost...I don't care about "burning bridges" as far as the music scene in my area. I don't have visions of grandeur.... they're all crappy clubs and I'll end up in the same situation no matter what I do so I'd rather take care of my personal issues first and then when all is said and done, get back into the crappy clubs but with a different mind-set... Don't expect it to be packed and pay the bills...just have fun.....That's what was missing with my last few projects...FUN....it wasn't fun anymore... it was a hindrance and a lot of work for nothing!

There.... I hope that answered any questions on why this decision was made!

Crip I wasnt throwing stones, I hope you know that I respect your abilities and wish I would put in the work to have half your chops, Im just a hack player in my own opinion.

I understand where your coming from, if you didnt have guarantees to play then its no big deal.

I thought you guys were getting a set amount per night, didnt know the draw had gotten so low. My band Aint Yo Mama has gone thru spells like this, but when we played and no one showed up we got paid, regardless, now when that happens it might mean we werent going back there. We tryed for 2 years to break into the Jackson Tn market and it was so wierd, we would have a show where it was packed to the gills and turning people away, then a month later go back and have 40 people show up all night. In the end I wish we could have spread that draw out over our gigs and we would have been way ahead of the game.

My band is basically on hiatus also. We do have a couple of things lined up, but as long as weve been together, all we need is one practice and we are ready to go, and in a way it keeps it fresh for me. Our bassist is in another band right now so that may hamper us taking gigs, that happened recently, we were offered a good pay easy gig, meaning we didnt have to haul pa, but he was already committed with his other band so I just had to blow it off, no biggie to me, with somewhere between 1400-1500 gigs together over the years missing one is no biggie to any of us.

I think bandmix is a great place to vent and share ideas on what works and what doesnt work.

To me being a pro player isnt just equipment and chops, actually thats the least of it in my opinion. Being a pro is also how you handle your business side of things and I know from FB that you promoted everything.

So I hope you didnt take what I said as a slam.

I hope that you can find something that really makes you happy musically, I know how that is, Ive been playing certain songs for 30 years, but people request them and they are who pays us in the end. Im fortunate with my guys that we are loose enough to just jam at times in the middle of songs, so I and the bassist and drummer can get thier yas yas out. Musically those parts of the gigs are the best for me, of course having a crowd goes a long ways.

Anyway good luck, with your abilitys maybe its time to get some original stuff put together, if not with a band then do it all your self. Most of my originals are just me and getting stuff off my chest.

Whatever you do Keep On Rockin

Great questions posed by JW123. Great to hear the responses from Crip. Glad to hear you didn't stick anybody with the gigs on the calender. Great to hear JW123's humble response too. You guys are both great in my book!

Hey Crip, I appreciate your explanation. No judgement here. If you were made promises of work and pay playing music you didn't care for, and the band wasn't honoring those promises you had no choice. No shows on the calendar means a clean break. Good on you. Go out and find your muse man. Get together with like minded musicians and play music you love on your terms.

When I restarted playing live shows in 2001 I chose to do it a bit differently this time. Sony is not looking to sign a bunch of 50 something rock stars playing our original music so... Family first, paid gigs, play cover music I enjoy with band mates I trust. There have been some compromises along the way but at this point the music is the easy part and the people are the hard part. There will always be shuffling of musicians as our wants and needs change over time. Our standing rule is to check your egos and drama at the door.

We are effectively done with the bar scene and do a lot of outdoor gigs for car shows, Harley club rallys, landmark birthdays, and street fairs. Most of our shows come from 10 years of referrals or repeat clients so not much serious marketing or promotion involved at this point. As long as we are having fun and make enough dough to cover gas, strings, and skins we will keep playing. It's not headlining at Madison Square Garden but I think it is enough.

Hell...I'm not mad...Love you guys (Ahem...no not in that way) I love a good debate and I have no problems explaining my actions....after all, I'm the one who put this out there! Yeah...I really need that "hunger" back... These past 5 years have taken a lot of my love of playing out of me! I need/want it back!

Here is my latest conundrum: Just got asked by an established band to join them...It's sort of a tribute act: Ozzy/Sabbath/Dio type thingy. Very interesting..2 lead guitarists! Haven't done that since the 80's with one of the guitarists formerly of the Good Rats and he is now touring all over in a Stevie Ray Vaughn Tribute show! But...as you can see.. I NEED SOME TIME OFF...but I'm letting a pretty good chance of a wailing band slip right through my fingers. Imagine? 2 wailing lead guitarists on stage! That would definitely be a draw in itself. I will call them and tell them to give me a month and if they still haven't found anybody, I'll give it a shot... I can play Zak, Randy and Dio flawlessly! Right up my alley...but I've really got to take a break!

Crip I didn't mean to start such a fregagle.

JW. you posted some great , I HATE THIS TERMINOLOGY, "original material a year ago". Are some of these, those songs?

Crip you also.

Quit trying to be someone else, just so you can play the bars and make the drunks happy.

MUCH harder road but go out and share your TRUE talents.

You are both great but you miss the point that someone like Chaeya drives home.

To be honest with you, this is AWESOME as I'm now actually practicing more than ever and learning on ton of new modes and a lot of technical sh¡t that I can implement in my leads later on.. No stress or time lines so I can actually practice with a much clearer head and open mind. It's amazing the stuff Im doing now that I don't have to adhere to the everyday "band routine"!

Kerry Damn You!

Your scarin me man, I need to get back in the woodshed for a decade or so to catch up to you now!

I have found for writing originals that getting away totally from my band and the normal song routine we do, does wonders for me.

As soon as you get an over the top video of your "new lead" skills please post a link somewhere so I can take some lessons!

Keep Rockin

I realize my technique is as good as it's ever going to get, so now I'm looking for strength and endurance. Do they make Viagra for your hand?

I realize my technique is as good as it's ever going to get, so now I'm looking for strength and endurance. Do they make Viagra for your hand?

Dont fall for that Jimmy, when I tryed it my fingers got to stiff to play!

Yeah and I bet your gf followed you everywhere you went!