Bluewine

Nita is very good. She also has a deal with Ibanez and does clinics all over the USA. Blue

For all you young people, if you have the look, the skills and the right attitude get out there tbe opportunities are waiting for you. Blue

She seemed like she was perfect for the gig. She had the skill, the look, the energy and attitude. By the way the Alice Cooper band is awesome. Blue

I thought this video deserved its own thread . If you have 10 minutes watch it. I would love to hear what you think. Is her approach realistic for young people persueing a pro performance career. Did she just get lucky or incredibly talented for what she does or really understood the business at a granular level she was destined to make it. Do you know anyone with her knowledge skill focus direction or skill? I don't Blue

I have a few quirks when it comes to auditions. I prefer to have the band give me 4-5 songs to audition. I don't like it when they give you a set list an ask me to pick the songs. It's happened where I pick the songs and it turns out I picked songs they rarely play or don't plat all anymore Blue.

Agreed Blue

Attitude I've seen some guys come into an audition with the wrong attitude. Not good. Blue

Yes, at auditions you not only have to play but you should be observing everything. What level do they play at How organized was the audition How prepared were they How were you treated Blue

I'd say at the pro level good networking gets you the audition. Blue

Here's another thing. I'm not sure if you all agree, however I say cancel an audition if your not prepared. Blue

Agreed knowing how a band operates before committing to an audition is crucial. For those of us in this for money, we want to know how much, when where and how were paid. Blue

Yes the Mods vs The Rockers. I've seen many documentaries on the whole Mod thing. And no the Mod thing never happened over here. If it did it was minor. Look and image is tough on us older guys .Most of us "age out" at some point. Some sooner than later. Interesting thing, I think some guys like Mick Jagger can still pul off " look". Blue

How about the " knowing what you want in a band part" Some of us merely want to get together with a couple of guys to jam, some want financially life sustaining opportunities. I think I'd know if I was looking. I'm looking for; Good People Smart People Good Music Good Money Good Bookings and lots of them In that order Blue

I love your response, when a band is clear on specifics it helps us make a more informed decision. Look can be more important than skill for some opportunities. It's is what it is. I get it. I saw an ad recently and everything looked good for me until I read the last sentence, " We're all in our early 20s" I'm 66. Blue

For me it would be knowing I couldn't do it if I had the chance. I was watching an interview with shredder Nita Strauss of the Alice Cooper Band. She was in the right place at the right time and she told them she could out perform anyone else in the running. And she was right. She had the whole package, the skill, the look, the theatrics and the experience. Even then she had to submit tape after tape and had to audition several times. If there's a " take away from Nita it's her confidence. I remember Cooper saying. " We only have time for "A List" performers. Personally, I'm fascinated with the process; Most of us won't have the opportunity to audition for Alice however we can apply informed audition methodology in our own local world. I'll throw this out there. Prior to an audition how many of us have asked the band representative, " What are you really looking for to fill this position" Blue

I'll start. I've made the mistake of showing interest in an opportunity before I had thought out what I was looking for. To be honest there are very few opportunities that are a match for me. I'd love a shot at a pro level touring opportunity, however my age and the fact I have no touring experience no touring band would consider me. My point, be careful if your trying to audition for an opportunity you don't have the experience for. Blue

Auditioning can be very frustrating. There are so many variables., age, location, experience to name a few. It would would be cool if we can all share our approach to auditioning . I would personally love to hear about approaches to pro level touring bands Blue

At the local bar band level replacing even. a single member in an established gigging band can be very challenging. In our case replacing a guitarist that was a founding member and with the band for 14 years. We ran into a few guys that weren't big on gigging and guys that we auditioned that showed up unprepared. It's tough and frustrating. Blue

That's a great way to start out. I'm biased because that's how I started out. Playing with other 11 and 12 years olds. We learned as we went along. Blue

OUCH! Blue

I remember a gig where someones shoe flew past my head. Blue

Played a 7:00-10:30 Thanksgiving Eve Bash at Kuhtz's in Oconomowoc. Our first public gig with a new guitarist. The place wad so packed if I had went there to see a band I would have turned around and left. It was a good gig for us , great audience engagement and lots of attention given to the band. A guy that had too many cocktails was on the dance floor and fell backwards onto a stage monitor. I'm sure we've all seen that one. Blue

Compared to other sites there's a lot more diversity on this site. I'm a Yankee and everyone here is more than nice to me. I also think because there's more guys on this site that are in gigging bands makes the threads more engaging. This is a great site. Blue

I had known of the band. I knew they had a female lead guitarist, they were local , they played 70s era blues and rock and they gigged a lot. I thought, "I should be the bass player for this band" I went to their gigs and introduced myself. Eventually I told them I was looking for work. One of the members said we should talk. Turns out they were looking to replace their bass player. I auditioned several times and eventually was offered the job to play bass and sing backing vocals. That was 9 years ago. Blue

Played a 7 to 10:30 with our acoustic 4 piece in Delefield Saturday night. Very upscale community, a lot of high end homes , condos and resturants. Wasn't the best gig for me, I didn't think I played all that well. I have a full band Maple Road gig tomorrow night in Oconomowoc . Blue Blue