General Music Chat

I keep getting CL ad responses from people who don't meet the basic requirements. I specifically say 'capable of singing lead for at least 1/2 of the songs, sharing harmonies'. Then I get replies, think 'maybe', only to find after that they are not equipped to sing leads at all. I guess its easy to figure that 'if they can't read all the words in the ad, they are not compatible', but WTF?!

mike with all the open mics you do can't you find a singer.What does CL mean in response to your ads.

Hey Mike, CL is a crap shoot at best. You may as well go down to a Greyhound bus terminal and look for a 'soul-mate' ... (Not gonna happen).

In a very odd way I feel, encouraged by the fact you cant land a professional singer through CL. It tells me that they are coming up rare, and thus in demand. (Likewise for compatable guitarists, etc.). This is great news, cause as your own skills get better and better, you become distinctly more valuable...and less buried by the herd. This angle gives all musicians hope.

You see where I'm going with this right? I've been listening to your attempts at singing,,, and each time you get a little closer...

Keep on keepin on ... and fk the CL losers list.

Craigslist is a fine resource for musicians; it's like any other medium, you have to be able to ignore the chaff and focus on the wheat. You do this by conducting a proper screening phone interview. People who don't follow directions are off the list. People who don't follow through with anything are off the list. People who's stories don't check out are off the list. As I once mentioned, we found our drummer on CL, so they're out there. Be selective about the advice you receive here too.

Craigslist is a fine resource for musicians; it's like any other medium, you have to be able to ignore the chaff and focus on the wheat. You do this by conducting a proper screening phone interview. People who don't follow directions are off the list. People who don't follow through with anything are off the list. People who's stories don't check out are off the list. As I once mentioned, we found our drummer on CL, so they're out there. Be selective about the advice you receive here too.

CL is very good for Professional bands, who offer solid compensation. In that respect CK is like a true "Want Ads" section. But if you aren't offering solid exchange, that probably means you can't make exceptional demands, either...(Which in turn just sends the message to others that you'might' not be too picky. That said, enter the posers, who try to weasel into a band, unprepared, hoping for OJT at entry level.)

... it seems to me that Mike is speaking of the generalfall of literacy and the misinterpretation of his words instead of the value, efficiency and qualities or shortcomings of Craigslist ? Perhaps I am wrong but .....?

... it seems to me that Mike is speaking of the generalfall of literacy and the misinterpretation of his words instead of the value, efficiency and qualities or shortcomings of Craigslist ? Perhaps I am wrong but .....?

LOL Yep ...just single handedly demonstrated that we really cant read

Vampier nailed it - no one 'pages down' these days to bother reading everything. Or 'pages up' either. Just had another response from a guy who says 'sounds good but where are you located, I'm in ....'. It's in the fricking ad headline - and this guys was 90 minutes away on the west side of New Hampshire.

I have a feeling that the guy who contacted me last week (said he is leaving the 3-piece acoustic act he's in right now) probably can't sing lead either, he's giving a mixed signal now (says he might be auditionign for a band one of the 2 possible nights I gave him this week), and as of yet has not provided a list of songs he can sing for audition purposes (my current list is at 175 songs and still growing).
Thing is, I know my singing is my weak suit, but I love to do harmonies. If I could find someone with a good lead voice who was marginal on their instrument, it would be acceptable. So far the people I have heard at OMs are either dedicated single performers, are already playing with someone or (most of the time) are weaker singers than me.

Shame . . .

I've been poking around CL here and all I've found is bands too far away...like 2 1/2 hours...one in George's neighborhood, 2 hours, but it sounds like they want someone with better technical ability than me. I've never tried the songs they listed, probably could do a decent job if I practiced them, but I don't want decent...I want to be able to nail it. So I didn't contact them. No sense implying I Can make a 2 hour drive on a regular basis for rehearsals, on very limited income, and barely be able to play what I already know they want me to play...that's about like trying to audition for Van Halen...

Literacy...yeah that's an issue. All you have to do is poke around online for a while and it's easy to see most high school graduates these days can barely use the English language at all, much less use it well or correctly. "I'm a batter player then the guy next dor"...yeah right...

Then again it turns out that way even when you talk to them on the phone a half dozen times. The one potential contact I've made here (contacted me by email through bandmix) talked to me several times on the phone. Then I went over so we could jam a bit and see how it went. About 30 miles. I told this guy a half dozen times I don't party when I play. Play now party later. Got there and he had a beer in his hand all night, after telling me "yeah I drink one or two now and then"...I decided it was time to shut down when his playing got sloppy, told him the next day I wasn't too interested in pursuing it as a serious band. Maybe get together and jam but that's about it.

It's depressing...If I tell you I don't get wasted when I play and don't like to play with people who do, why do you proceed to get drunk the first time we meet???? After telling me you don't do that either...

I just emailed someone else, 3 hours away, told him I would have to pass, too far to commute. I only responded at all because I felt it was best to give the guy some sort of reply one way or the other. And of course he emailed me long ago while I was unable to get online for 2 months, so I had to explain that too...but at least he knows I didn't just blow it off...

Keep trying, it takes time to find the right people. I thought I might be getting together with the guys I played guitar with here before I moved away, but now it seems they both aren't too interested in doing a gigging band thing any more. Jobs with long hours (one is working 7 - 12's), single parent...you name it, so I'm back looking for a band again...and it looks like nothing much right now so I might be looking for a while. The nearest open mic is 3 hours away as far as I can tell

The problem is more on the lines of availability and stupidity.

I remember in the 80's, if you wanted to find a band, you had to scour the bulletin boards at the music stores and check the backstreet newspapers for ads. In putting out an ad, even a good local band only got a handful of responses. Phone calls were only the beginning of the process, akin to email these days. People "flagged" as idiots or posers in the calls would be told to send in a demo, where people who could put together a valid sentence were invited to audition. But the truth is that the flakes were a far less ratio than what we have today.. and that's because of availability.

It's simply amazing how many people think they can be in a band. And there's no work involved with them stroking their own ego. Just hit reply. Talk a big game. Pretend you have contacts in the local 'biz', pretend you are fluent in several instruments. Hell, some people even lie about gigging, having never gigged in their lives. I can only speculate, but believe many of those people do it to get off.. to tell their friends "yeah, this band wanted me, but I decided to blow it off.. I'm just too cool brah".


And the crux of it all- the illiterates.. those who aren't capable or care enough to type a functional sentence. I don't care if they can play guitar like satriani if they cannot communicate effectively. That's what leads to practices and gigs falling apart.

Wow, it's not just me who gets fristrated/pissed about this!

Paleopete - I think you need to move - everything seems to be 2-3 hours away from yoU!

Oh well, on the good side, my Taylor is fiinally shipping today, had to monkey with the GC idiots for the last week +, but they are not backing out of the great deal I made.

Mike - Yeah I know. That was the main reason I didn't want to move back here. Not much going on in the music biz around here.

Thing is, my sister's house has been broken into twice, 36 inch flat screen TV stolen, coffee can full of change, and $400 in quarters out of her slot machine. (Yeah you can buy used slot machines and depending on the state, use them at home) Thief also trashed out the door, now it's off level and refuses to work. Had to buy window locks, fix the front door and slot machine door, a 3rd dead bolt...on one door...

Several neighbors have been robbed too, one at gunpoint, (thief grabbed the homeowner's shotgun when he walked into the room, happened to be standing there right beside it) then my mother's house next door was robbed. Coffee can full of change and .410 shotgun stolen, and I recently found out my sister is missing "a mass quantity" (her words) of wire from her barn. 500 foot roll of #4 wire to begin with...

She called me one day and said she wanted me here, she's tired of being robbed. So now I'm night watchman...and my 16 gauge sits beside my bed...

So I'm stuck here for now, and have just started trying to get in touch with some of the local musicians, it might take some time but I'll probably find a band in time.

But just having a vehicle in the driveway seems to have stopped the break ins. That's what I planned on, I really don't want to pick up the shotgun...that's the last thing I want...don't even like to think about it. I've never had to use it and hope I never have to.

I'm not crazy about living here again, even though I have some good friends here, the music scene is not exactly great, jobs are nonexistent...but I do have the start of a decent garden, plenty birds to point my camera at, no more cars with boom boxes you can hear for 4 blocks at 3 AM, no more stray dogs chasing the neighbor's cats at 3 AM (when they should be inside a fence and the police wouldn't enforce that)...it does have its good points.

I've got old friends who moved back to that area, had no idea it was that bad (or is it a neighborhood thing?) I say pack up the whole family and move!

On this side ...

Never heard back from the first guy who showed interest. First he said he had some interest from a band and might be auditioning for them last night or tonight. I asked him twice for some songs that he can sing so I could practice them before he auditioned with me - no reply with songs.
I'm going to wait until tomorrow then contact the trio he is leaving!
Doing another Open Mic tonight. Planned 3 songs: Drift Away (Dobie Gray), Signs (5 Man Electrical Band/Tesla) and my newest song, Boston Beckoning.

Jeesh Pete, I thought everyone in Texas had a cache of weapons and were safer than a virgin in Fort Knox.