Bluewine Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 5 minutes ago, oldslapper said: Number of gigs doesn't equate to level of competence. To suggest a band that only plays 6 gig's a year doesn't deserve good musicians is a bizarre stand point. I'll accept bizarre. Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c2 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 We're not talking about needing to be a "good" musician here though, we're just talking about some fairly basic manners: communicating (within 3 days), practising, and turning up to rehearsals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicbassman Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 31 minutes ago, peteb said: I’ve just agreed to do a bit of work with a band over the next few months who take a different approach. Their advert (if they had needed to put one out) might have read: “Well established high energy R&B band need experienced bass payer to cover gigs for a few months while our regular bassist undergoes medical treatment. Must be able to cover a relatively easy set with no rehearsal. A variety of different types of gigs are in the book for this period, all with reasonable pay. Don’t worry if you have other commitments as we are happy to use more than one bass player to cover these gigs”. What would you think of that advert and would you be interested? I know this is a metaphorical ad, but fat chance of any opportunities like this coming up around here (South Coast UK) It's apparently a gig desert in this location, so even if a band wanted to play more than 5-6 gigs a year they may struggle to manage this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 Good discussion guys. My last two threads sort of bombed. Thanks Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 (edited) 18 minutes ago, musicbassman said: I know this is a metaphorical ad, but fat chance of any opportunities like this coming up around here (South Coast UK) It's apparently a gig desert in this location, so even if a band wanted to play more than 5-6 gigs a year they may struggle to manage this. The thing is that I do know a couple of decent bands on the South Coast, even though I live 250 miles away. However, when one of them needed a new drummer they didn't put an advert out. They just got someone who had played with the bass player in another band and stayed friends. Edited January 30, 2018 by peteb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Are you familiar with The Climax Blues Band bluewine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 In a perfect world my goal would be 5 gigs a week. Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 26 minutes ago, stingrayPete1977 said: Are you familiar with The Climax Blues Band bluewine? Yeah, I remember the name. They had some success back in the 70s Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Couldn't Get It Right was their bigger hit if i remember right. Great song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I think that advert would suit a 'retired gentleman of a certain age' who really only wanted to gig a minimum number of times to prove he can still do it, but is not up to regular gigging. They are straight up about what they want, including a large degree of exclusivity (well, that's how it reads to me). I have another 10 years to go before I am old and infirm enough to answer an ad like that or read it all the way through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 2 hours ago, 12stringbassist said: I think that advert would suit a 'retired gentleman of a certain age' who really only wanted to gig a minimum number of times to prove he can still do it, but is not up to regular gigging. They are straight up about what they want, including a large degree of exclusivity (well, that's how it reads to me). I have another 10 years to go before I am old and infirm enough to answer an ad like that or read it all the way through. I'm 64 soon to be 65. When I feel I can't keep up, learn material or drive safely, I'll milk it out for another 3-4 years then quit. ☺ Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 9 hours ago, Bluewine said: Yeah, I remember the name. They had some success back in the 70s Blue Derek now only does a handful of gigs a year calling on numerous professional musicians to join him, because he can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 11 hours ago, Bluewine said: 2. For 5 gigs a year, I don't think you deserve musicians that are up to scratch. Blue There are plenty of good musicians who for whatever reason aren't looking to gig that often , they might have a busy career in another profession and a busy family life , they might have been full on as a musician and just not wanting that anymore , 1000s of reasons . Most of being in a band is about finding other band members who are similar in what they want from a band at a particular time in their life . Being a slow paced band does not rule out being competent and professional , being a busy band does not automatically mean you'll be better than a slow paced one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrig Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I know of four Swedish guys who gig no more than 5/6 times a year, they all have very good jobs in Sweden which take up a lot of their time, they come over to England once a year to play a couple of local pubs for the same fees that all the other bands get, they are far too busy to play more gigs but when they do, they have so much fun, they have beaming smiles on their faces, have a good drink (after the gig), but the bottom line here is, they are "top top" musicians, I try to catch up with them every time they come over and I can honestly say that they are the best band that I've ever seen playing in a pub, what they do suits them, and if one of them was to leave, I guess that they would have to put out an ad stating that they "require someone who is happy to gig just 5/6 times a year, be a decent quality musician, someone who is prepared to put the work in to get the set tight enough to put on decent shows when they do gig" personally, I don't see what's wrong with being totally up front with their requirements. I also used to go to regular jam nights where quite a few ex-named players from the past would turn up and play a couple of songs, when I got to know them better, I found out that they were perfectly happy just doing a bit here and there after many years of full on gigging/touring and recording etc.. There are lots of reasons for people wanting to only gig a few times a years, just like there are lots of reasons why people want to gig as often as they can. We are all different folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaytonaRik Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 (edited) 13 hours ago, Bluewine said: I have no problem with up to scratch musicians that want this sort of thing. I have a problem with a band that does 5 gigs a year and expects top notch candidates. Why? I think it's expecting too much and offering too little. Blue Retribution consists of 1 x drum teacher with 30 years playing experience, 1 x guitar teacher with the same, 1 x bass player with about 33 years experience, 1 x guitarist with about 30 years experience and a relatively new vocalist who is also a GIT graduate and has around 20 years guitar experience and about 5 years as a vocalist. We must have thousands of gigs between us, but in this project we'll play 10-12 times a year. We all wanted a fun project that we could fit in around other commitments - bands/personal life/hobbies/work/whatever It could be a chance to play a small number of gigs in a different genre, with different personal, maybe closer to where you live. Saying any band doesn't deserve top notch candidates is a bit of a slap in the face to those of us who after years of gigging hard want to put our feet up now and again Edited January 31, 2018 by DaytonaRik 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 13 hours ago, Bluewine said: 2. For 5 gigs a year, I don't think you deserve musicians that are up to scratch. Blue This actually made me quite angry. There is no reason to correlate ability with a desire to gig every day/week. Its true that gigging regularly sharpens you up, but would you rather be a no 1 quarterback playing every week for your college team or a number 2 quaterback on the bench at the superbowl? Personally I don't need to gig to pay the mortgage, and gigging every week would probably reduce the pleasue i get from performing occasionally. I'm happy getting together to learn new stuff and get it right with the band before playing it to n audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 (edited) If they are asking for a top notch candidate and this suits a top notch candidate then everyone wins , if they find no top notch candidate then they'll have to go to plan B . I can't see the problem , their straight forward ad will not mislead anyone and does not effect anyone not replying Edited January 31, 2018 by lojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 So, apparently it was a good add. It seems there are plenty of you here who would see this as reasonable expectations for a very good musician who doesn't want to commit a lot of time but is still committed to high quality output. Me, I side with Blue. If I'm going to commit to a project i.e. learning the songs, figuring out the bass parts, memorizing the changes, practicing with the band so everyone knows the arrangement (my investment in the project), I would hope for a better return on my time than 5-6 gigs. For me, they're asking for a lot of commitment, and expect quality musicians, but have little to justify their expectations. Still a good add, because I know right away I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot barge pole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 3 minutes ago, Yank said: Still a good add, because I know right away I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot barge pole. I think that's exactly the point. The question was whether it's a good ad, not whether it's a band you would want to join. It's a good ad because it explains exactly what they are looking for, what they expect from you, and what you can expect to get out of the band. The purpose of any ad should surely be to get the most suitable people to apply, not to trick people who won't fit into trying out - if you or Blue don't fancy it then it's saved everybody's time, your and theirs, because you know it isn't for you. Far better not to apply than to quit three months later because you want to be playing every night and they don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 As an advert I think it's pretty much perfect, sadly the knobs who fail on the criteria may still apply but they can't really do any more with the advert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 (edited) I'd rather know up front what the score is than be lied to and have my time wasted, as has happened on more than one occasion. Should have known better of course given the number of flakes and fantasists I've had to deal with over the years. Edit: Lots of bands out there who should be called The Flaky Fantasists... Edited January 31, 2018 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrig Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Monkey Steve said: I think that's exactly the point. The question was whether it's a good ad, not whether it's a band you would want to join. It's a good ad because it explains exactly what they are looking for, what they expect from you, and what you can expect to get out of the band. The purpose of any ad should surely be to get the most suitable people to apply, not to trick people who won't fit into trying out - if you or Blue don't fancy it then it's saved everybody's time, your and theirs, because you know it isn't for you. Far better not to apply than to quit three months later because you want to be playing every night and they don't. This hits the nail right on the head! It's upfront, to the point, saves wasting everybody's time if it's not for you, and you are not for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 2 hours ago, Yank said: Still a good add, because I know right away I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot barge pole. Barge poles come in different sizes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 2 minutes ago, ead said: Barge poles come in different sizes? What you really need is a bass-playing Pole. This may be more difficult to arrange after Brexit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Good point, well made sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.