gjones

Should have stuck with the Yammie. Saw him playing it recently on YouTube, so he still owns it.

Played The Howling Wolf in Glasgow last night. It's unusual, in that it's a bar that only has Blues Bands playing and all the piped background music is also Blues. It was a fun gig, the place was pretty full and the audience had a really good time. We're a pretty hard hitting blues band so we fitted the bill. The manager was a happy bunny and asked us back but the times they had available didn't really suit our guitarists work schedule. We'd all like to play there again but we'll have to work something out.

Just listen and play along to some BB King, Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker and you'll be alright.

Ideal for those of us with OCD.

Is that Freddie Starr in the background?

That'd make an impression at the Dog and Duck on Saturday night 🤣

It all seemed to be all on one level, with uninspiring chords and no hooks. When there's no financial incentive to write decent new music why bother? They make their money selling gig tickets these days and people only want to hear the old stuff.

I recently left a band because of the behaviour of the guitarist. Weirdly, within a couple of weeks he asked me to join two other bands? I declined the offers (he obviously just didn't get it that he was the problem).

Yes

6 months ago I had trigger finger in the morning when I woke up, where my finger would not unroll after going into a fist while I slept. I started to put tape over my finger joint every night before bed and it has worked very well and I haven't had any further major issues with it. Prevention is better than cure.

That's a very valid question I really fancy playing with a Soul band, as that's thing I'm into but there's not many of those around these parts.

They sound very good. Is this a songwriter's band? I ask because when a band has a leader, who is also the songwriter, then the other musicians can slot in around them and any new members know the score. When an originals band have multiple songwriters within it, then it usually means there's friction, especially when one songwriter is head and shoulders above the others. All the bands I've been in, which have played original stuff, had one main songwriter. It definitely helps with band harmony and longevity of the band. Good luck.

You only have to be one page ahead of the person you're teaching

I have 3 friends, from Edinburgh, that completed music degrees. One is a piano tuner in Berlin. One is the drummer for Texas. One went to Nashville to be a session drummer and ended up in a boyband (as the singer). He left the boyband and got himself a publishing deal and will soon be putting out an album under his own name in the US. They all seem to be happy but their income situation (including my Nashville friend) is pretty precarious.

I have a feeling if all that ancient electronic gubbins was bypassed and the bass put through the Tech 21 and one of those GKMB800s, I doubt Steve Harris would notice the difference. He's probably deaf by now anyhow

Sometimes my mind will wander off to think about the pizza I'll be getting after the gig but that's about as near to an 'out of body experience' I've ever got.

That's great, I hope you will actually get some use from your Hartke. Most of the players with amp endorsements, that I can think of, play on a silent stage and use IEM to hear themselves and the band, so lugging an amp and cab around is no longer strictly necessary. One rather famous player, who endorses a high end amp manufacturer (who I won't mention), uses a Porter and Davis kinetic transfer platform, to feel and hear what he is playing because his amp is turned so low onstage and he can't hear anything directly from the amp he endorses (he's endorsed by Porter and Davis as well). You should see if you can get Porter and Davis to endorse you https://www.porteranddavies.co.uk/products/kt-platform/?fbclid=IwAR1D4Q7s17-kK0QSbSM64t7t19raQ0XZ11I-L7tb5nhP8U8bGH2yFEnxdyc

Is that Creme Brulee?

Technically challenging, mostly due to the stops, starts and changes in time signatures but, although I like a bit of Rock, not my cup of tea. I like Geddy Lee though - he seems like a nice fella.

I think it shows contempt for the band he's in and the music you play. I've never been in a band where the guitarist, or any other band member 'fiddled about' between numbers, other than when I was in a school band. I assume the guitarist is an adult and this isn't a school band?

I'm sure Mr McVie was personally involved in making sure the engineer got him a good sound at every venue. John Entwistle would have been the same. Pino, in the end, was just a hired hand. So he probably didn't get too hands on with the FOH sound.

Yes, it took me a long time to realise that everybody who was saying they were great, for years, were right......they are great.

I'm starting to accumulate amps, like my basses. I've got two GK MBs, one is 500 watts and the other is 800 watts (I bought the 800 after the 500 wasn't quite loud enough through my Barefaced Super Compact). I bought a Fender Rumble V3 100watt combo because it is so light. I could take it on the bus no problem and it's come in very useful when I play with quieter bands. I also bought a preloved, old, Ashdown ABM a couple of years ago, as I've always loved the sound and it was going very cheap. I bought a Markbass CMD 121 P combo during lockdown, and it's as loud as the GK MB 800 with the Super Compact and not much bigger/heavier than the Fender Rumble. If I was forced at gunpoint to keep one and get rid of the others, I'd probably go with the Markbass Combo.

Great stuff.