General Music Chat

A friend of mine ended up jamming with a local group.
They played on Friday night past. I don't know what happened, but evidently he ran off their guitarist and wants to replace him.

So I end up getting asked to play bass for a gig on Thanksgiving eve.

It's a bunch of music I don't know. I'd have to prep extensively.
I get told that I'd be getting a set list via email. (never comes)

I express concern and tell him that I would be interested in hearing them play.

I keep being told that the take is 1800$. I ask, "what does that mean to me". I get silence. LOL But the take is 1800$.

4 bodies in this, including myself..

So I'm getting a little nonsense because they jammed on Fri.
(same night my regular thing du jour tried out the female bassist)

So I asked a friend of mine what he thought of them.

silence.

I had to text him again to get "well I had fun playing with them on Fri night". (more thinly veiled sarcasm) (I'm sorry that I was more interested in my current project. lol)

So I let my contact know that I am going to pass.
(You don't know how much it is to me? Then the operative term is "no".)

Besides, he claimed that another guy we know would "be happy to fill in".
So I mentioned the other guy and that he should get him.

He mentions to me that he feels that the other bassist is not dependable and doesn't want to solicit him.

So now he seems "put out".

Why do people act so shifty? Who the heck would ever want to work in a situation where they won't even tell you what your "take" is?

You know, I thought that sometimes I can be difficult in general to work with, but this is unbelievable.

And if I know this gent the way I think I do, this won't be the lat time I have to hear it. No, every time I see him I'll have to listen to the story about "the one that got away".

I think about it as "the one that never was".

IF YOU WANT ANYONE TO HELP YOU DO ANYTHING, ALWAYS BE CLEAR AND CONCISE or BE GONE.

Cap'n, IMO those kind of people want you to assume you are getting an equal cut until time comes to divy up the moola. At that point they say I was paying the players $100.00 a piece isn't that standard pay LOL! Thats when the time comes to, well you know!

Well it sounds like your guitarist friend was just 'for hire' too, and probably couldn't get a set answer from the others. If you don't get an answer when you ask 'how much?', tell 'em "my usual cut for this type of gig is $500, how's that sound?' Then get it in writing!
When you're 'for hire', the hiring band can decide they want $XXX for the PA system, lights, etc. leaving less to split.

Hey Captn

I've do fill-in's a lot, and your story is like 2 out of every 3 I get contacted for lol.

I started doing what you did- when I don't get a set list and communications become difficult, I bail. If any details aren't clear, especially about the pay- I bail. I've learned the hard way that every time red flags pop up, it always ends up being more effort and frustration than it's worth. You did the right thing there.

Red flags are red for a reason. Life is too short to waste time with Bozos.

Who
What
When
Where
Why
How much $$$