Bluewine

Recordings have multiple guitar and vocal tracks that are a challenge for those of us in bar and dance hall bands. Would you a agree that playing covers is a different issue than leaning covers? Blue

I'm only in it for the money. Blue

I don't really pay a lot of attention to what my band members ( 7 years ) say about anything. They're half my age and came into music completely different than me. They don't want to learn from me and I don't want to learn from them. Blue

Started gigging when I was 12. Still gigging at 66. More like once a week than 2-3 times a week. Not a whole lot in life makes sense to me until I'm on stage and well into the first set. It's where I feel at home, confident and in control. I don't get that anywhere else in life. Blue

Some of us don't have that option. If I played music I like I'd be broke and unable to pay my bills. Blue

No real drama to share. Most of our bad gigs are gigs we shouldn't have taken in the first place. Weddings, we're not a wedding band. Private Practice, the host are big fans of the band, they're guests are not. Blue

I'm right behind the OP, we use to gig 2-3 times a week, now once a month is the standard. Less places to play and the band has been together for 14 years and members are moving on and not as interested in gigging. Blue

I like that picking. Blue

Knowing a song and simplifying it is fine. I'm talking about and I think the OP is too, arriving to a rehearsal and no one has bothered to learn their parts. Blue

I think we're talking about 2 different issues. I'm talking about those not willing to put the effort and work into learning a song. That's lazy in my book. Blue

All it takes is one good one. Blue

I'm not sure that's the point. My point is calling out those that are too lazy to learn a cover properly. I'm sure Gail can play Bowie's catalog inside out and anyway she wants. Blue

Exactly, it's not about playing it exactly like the original recording. It's about taking the time to understand the song and learning it properly. What a band wants to do with it after that is fine. Blue

It's one thing if they don't have the chops or ability to cover a song, but when they have the ability but aren't willing to do it, that's frustrating. Blue

Contrary to common belief learning and covering songs is not easy. It takes committment, drive, ability and time to do it properly. This is just my theory , I think people with strong backgrounds in originals resist learning covers because they feel it's beneath them. I'm sorry but in actuality it's because they probably don't have what it takes to learn a cover properly. What's so frustrating is there are tons of good bass and guitar YouTube tutorials showing you exactly how to play a song from start to end. I have first hand experience with folks that absolutely refuse to learn covers properly. And they all have a million poor excuses. The real reason is, they don't want to put in the work required. Sorry for the rant, but this is a " hot button" topic for me. Blue

You guys are frightening me with so many posts that mention dreadful weather. It can t be dreadful all the time. Blue

I have two, great stands. The tripod release is tight but no big deal. Blue

We've been out there for 13 years, not one decent video. I stay quiet about it. It doesn't seem like it's anything the other band members have an interest in. By the way not many good photos either. Blue

Don't lose this pic, it's brilliant. Not many of us could produce a pic this cool. I have tons of pics and none come close to what the photographer captured here Blue

Agreed! Blue

You guys have heard me say a million times, only audition when you have clearly defined what you expect from and are looking for in a band experience. I'd pay attention to the guy that knows what he's looking for. I'll throw this out there,if your band has a heavy gigging schedule I'd be careful about bringing a drummer in with little to no gigging experience. Drummers with traditional full time jobs, a wife and young family can be problematic with bands that gig 2-3 times a week. Bring in the best person for the band not the best drummer. Blue

So, when I go to have the strings replaced on my Hofner, I'll ask them to use D'Addarios and I'm good? Blue

My German made Hofner Limited Edition Club Bass. Blue

Cool, all large festivals are different. We've played Summerfest for the past 7 years.Opening for the likes of Gary Clark Jr. And Peter Frampton all on the strength of knowing a Summerfest board member. It's an hour set with above average pay.No auditions or video or CD submittel. To be honest and I've shared this here before. I don't think our band is good enough for Summerfest. I've never been happy with our performances. We're a great dance hall / bar band, but our act does not transend to the large festival stages. There's probably a lot of good local bands that will never play Summerfest because they don't know the right people. There are contests you can win to play Summerfest, however it's for no pay and not a main stage. I'm always suspicious of contest judging And at least for Summerfest I still contend that opening acts don't get the same level of sound as the headliner. Blue

99% of our gigs are local, half hour or less in most cases. We only travel once or twice a year and we make sure we charge appropriately. We do a gig every year in Minnesota, that's 3 hours one way. We, charge $1,500.00 and now that I think about it, that's not really enough. Blue