J-HALEY wrote:
Congratulations on your happiness that's awesome news! I am happy for you! So tell us about your band situation are you guys playing out? 
Hey J!
Things are going really great with the bands- My cover band has plateaued , we're getting the best bar gigs and money now, we no longer play for any doors. We could probably climb up a notch into the club scene, but none of us really want that, we're pretty much happy right where we are, and are considered among the top bar / cover bands in the area. We have a stunning press kit, table tents, a marketing department at my fingertips and we use a QR code people can scan with their smart phones to download our free app that basically shows our next gig, pics, schedule, and contact info for booking. It's pretty sweet (done thru conduit.com if you wanted to know)
I still ocasionally play with the female singer/songwriter- we did a few huge festivals, including Musikfest recently- that was friggin awesome. She's back in school right now and focused on getting a degree, so the music is more on the sidelines- it's actually refreshing since we were both burning out for a while, and the break allowed us to take a fresh look at the music and we are talking about whole new approaches to really make it more refined.
I'm playing regularly with another cover-band as a fill-in, my involvement with the band is minimal and that works fine for me lol.. let someone else worry about marketing, booking, all that stuff.. I'm just there to play, have fun, and make some extra money.
I still do other fill-ins, but I've recently been taking a step back from it, as I'm finding more and more bands that shouldn't be playing out.. are. I used to take the approach of it's a job, take the $$ and do it, but lately some of the bands I've played with are just so damn unrehearsed and undisciplined ... and the communication tends to suck as well. The last two jobs I was asked to do- One I told them no after one rehearsal with them and the other I told them no after communication problems amongst themselves became evident.
I'm still doing some studio work, but not as much. Mostly the studios are feeling the same recession the bands are feeling. There's a lot of competition for the studio slots which has driven down the pay. I've given up more work than taken this year simply because the distances make the $$ just not worth it. I still find this part of music to be my favorite, I really like a lot of the producers I've worked with any most of the artists have been top notch. I've gotten tons better at writing guitar lines with solo artists and have a good feel for reading them and finding what they want. I wish I could do it full time lol.
I also found myself in one situation where the artist just wasn't good enough to make an album, but had the $$, so what does the studio or producer care? I did the job, but was so unhappy with the final product that I actually asked not to be given any playing or writing credits on it har har.
While it seems like I'm up to a lot, it's really not that much, for all the work I'm doing, I no longer find myself putting in tons of hours like I used to, I guess most of the ground work is done and things are running on auto-pilot, for lack of a better way to put it. My wife still puts up with me out doing music stuff all the time, so that's good
What you been up to?
It's been what, about 2-3 years?
My wife tells me that this job changed my life (work for a natural foods company), and I think she's right.
