stewblack

Strings come on third edition I believe. It's a little bit vanilla but we'll see. @Dood is yours a physical mag or online only?

The internet has opened the doors to so much content it's difficult keeping track of it all. I've found a couple of 'local' BBC shows available on the BBC Sounds application which appeal to me and I suspect might work well for other folk of a similar age and musical disposition. My tastes were formed in the early seventies and waved goodbye to (most) popular music in the mid 80s. These shows probably reflect this. It would be great to hear what you've found. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001y25s?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p02v9nnp?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Bandeoke in Bristol again last night. The guitarist is getting married today and Wednesday was his stag. It was easily detectable that the band doesn't usually go out on the night before Bandeoke. We crawled over the finish line

Yes indeed. The guitarist videos our Bandeoke every week - you can bet he doesn't care how badly I played when he chooses which sing to broadcast!

Something I've learnt when playing unfamiliar material, if I get lost it's better to play nothing than hack around randomly trying to fill the silence. No bass beats wrong bass every time. Wait for the merry go round to come back to a horse you recognise and jump back on. Oh and worrying about mistakes benefits no one. I might think I'm being conscientious and professional berating myself for every slip, but in truth I'm just making myself tense and stressing about stuff which has gone. Focus on the next note not the last one

My god I almost admire him. Played you like an old fiddle 🤣

🤣🤣🤣

I enjoy conversation more

My immediate question too... I wonder how much

An unimaginable level of musical hell. Hats off for not just filling the tuba with beer and finding a quiet corner

Update: I have gigged this a few times now and it's great. As with many drive pedals I find it a little weak on its own so I use a Boss LS-2 to fine tune the clean/dirt balance.

Oh yes I've done those dep gigs as well, all very organised. These guys were a bit more, shall we say, relaxed.

I was depping in four piece last night. The set was fairly standard, apart from a couple of originals which were straightforward enough. The guitarist started 'Ironic' with what sounded like some unusual flourishes and as I joined in (on a song I've never played before btw) it was clear we had a difference of opinion vis-à-vis the key, chord sequence, general song structure - you get the picture. When we had staggered thorough to a shambling conclusion the singer expressed her surprise at the racket going on behind her for the preceding few minutes. As I pointed out that it might be helpful in future to let a dep know if you play a song in a different key or play fast and loose with it's structure, she protested that they did play it in the original key. The guitarist, throughout this exchange, appeared to have become fascinated with a small part of the ceiling off to his right. His awkward, embarrassed look told me he'd never bothered to learn the song and was simply busking his best interpretation. Not a scintillating anecdote I admit. However it got me thinking, those of you who do a lot of stand-in work must have some tales. Why not share them here?

Not the Saturday night I anticipated. One of my regular bands has become sniffy about slumming it in low paid pub gigs so I'm rethinking my strategy. Playing is my only source of income so I can't afford to be so choosy. Last night they had pulled out because the singer was sniffy in a more literal way, another bad case of vocalists throat put her off the team sheet so I cast about for a bassless band to fill in at very short notice. The pub we ended up in could have been called the Sandpaper, The Stormy Sea, or the First Draft - in a word it was rough. All day drinkers in a forgotten backwater of a grim city, not many of them and all of them with a distinctly under evolved nature. But we played, we got paid, I earned money I wouldn't have otherwise seen, and although I couldn't actually decipher what was being said, the little knot of tokers standing around my car as I loaded up at the end of the night seemed to be very positive. It's all well and good playing once a month for 200 quid each but playing twice a week for 60 earns me a lot more. Case closed.

A gentleman never tells...

Ah well there we differ. I'll take any work I can get as I approach my 70s. I feel the clock ticking...

You are realistic and very wise. I would drop bands without a second thought when I was younger. Now I hang on to as many as I can

A golden weekend for me - by which I mean a 4 gig weekend. Thursday - Bandeoke residency in Bristol, Friday - originals band first time in a very nice boozer only 10 minutes down the road from me, last night - soul band in a favourite pub in Shrivenham, and later today another Bandeoke residency in Warminster. Just been woken by a very excited 4 year old hunting Easter eggs. The joys of grandparenthood!