Music goals & ambitions for 2026?

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

 

Very nice!

 

Your point about getting a promo video done - can't recommend doing this strongly enough! In my experience it can be one of the best investments to getting more work, certainly for covers bands which is my particular niche.

 

 

Interesting point. Not sure i've seen a typical covers band do a promo vid. Seen wedding or some tribute bands do it.

Dave 

[Al Krow]

27 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Interesting point. Not sure i've seen a typical covers band do a promo vid. Seen wedding or some tribute bands do it.

Dave 

 

Cheers Dave - it depends what you mean by "typical"? Any covers band looking to do function work (e.g. birthday parties, weddings and corporate events) needs very good quality promo material to have a decent shot at getting work through agencies, given that the competition will all have it, and it's all the punters have to go on when deciding which band to book. If you check out agencies like Alive or Encore it will give you a good feel for what bands are doing.

 

If you're purely focussed on pub work then you don't need something quite so formal/high quality to get yourself into new pubs venues, in my experience, but having some video footage (even decent phone clips) can be helpful in getting your foot in the door.

[dmccombe7]

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Cheers Dave - it depends what you mean by "typical"? Any covers band looking to do function work (e.g. birthday parties, weddings and corporate events) needs very good quality promo material to have a decent shot at getting work through agencies, given that the competition will all have it, and it's all the punters have to go on when deciding which band to book. If you check out agencies like Alive or Encore it will give you a good feel for what bands are doing.

 

If you're purely focussed on pub work then you don't need something quite so formal/high quality to get yourself into new pubs venues, in my experience, but having some video footage (even decent phone clips) can be helpful in getting your foot in the door.

Think maybe I'll mention it to the Glam band but we don't use agencies as we haven't found an honest one in our area we could trust.

Dave

[Al Krow]

On 06/01/2026 at 17:04, dmccombe7 said:

Think maybe I'll mention it to the Glam band but we don't use agencies as we haven't found an honest one in our area we could trust.

Dave

 

Speaking of showreels, I seem to have had a productive start to the year and managed to get the video editing done on an "interim" reel, which should hopefully be a step up from the promo clips we currently have, and assist with my second goal of getting a few more function bookings for us this year.

 

Any other similar little encouraging tales that others have to share on their goals at the start of a snow-swept January?

 

Edited January 9 by Al Krow

[dmccombe7]

Confirmed booking for weekend before Xmas 2026. Think that'll be 5yrs in a row at this venue the Sat before Xmas.

Also another confirmed Xmas gig in Dec.

At the moment them's the highlights of the yearly bookings so far. Few others through the year as well.

Dave

[bass_dinger]

1. Join a band, hopefully in a local church. 

2. Play in a band with my family (my cousin is decent on acoustic, another younger cousin plays guitar in a tribute band). I just need to cobble together some chord charts for us all.

3. Continue with piano lessons. 

4. Learn the mandolin. 

5. Get better at reading rhythms in notation. 

 

And, not music, but life-skills. 

 

6. Learn German (I already speak a little)

7. Learn Italian (my mum was Italian and when I hear the language, it feels familiar to me).

8.  Become more organised in my day - I need to treat my hobbies like a job.  "10am - 20 minutes of scales".

 

 

 

 

[StickyDBRmf]

New home, Studio Shoe getting set up, recording in the future.

(no, that's not all of them)

[Stub Mandrel]

Why the ironing board?

[dmccombe7]

10 hours ago, StickyDBRmf said:

New home, Studio Shoe getting set up, recording in the future.

(no, that's not all of them)

Nice set up.

Dave

[nekomatic]

Didn’t see this thread before but it’s great to hear about all your goals. Good luck with them all!

 

I want to make a jazz trio happen this year - I’ve got a good pianist lined up, who I also get on well with, but no leads on any half decent (but not so decent that they’re fully occupied doing paid gigs) drummers. I’ve heard you can sometimes find one under a big pile of hen’s teeth. 

[nekomatic]

On 30/12/2025 at 17:28, tauzero said:

Finish at least some of the hardware projects I've started (cab, basses, electronics).

Haha, I also need to do this. There is one Project Of Doom in particular that I need to either get done or finally abandon. 
 

Stop starting, start finishing, as the maxim goes. 

[super al]

I didn't see this thread either until now 😎

Before January 1st I would've said the band should get the new songs recorded ASAP and released (as a 4 track EP) plus get started on the next bunch of tunes. Also try to get more gigs outside Salisbury, we played 2 gigs where we couldn't see the spire last year and both went down better than some of our Salisbury gigs.

 

Now after last week our new year's resolution is

 

- find a new guitarist 🙄

 

One of the band's founding members left. The band first got together around 40 years ago (I joined 2022) so it was a lil' bit of a shock.

 

I think it'll be a good thing once the dust settles but it just knocks you back a bit.

[jazzyvee]

I've been playing in reggae bands for most of my music life, both on bass and guitar. For 2026,. I don't mind doing deps in that genre but not joining another band in that genre or ska for that matter. I looking to see if i can move into a band that is more jazz based or a band where there is more adventures to seek on the bass. I also want to be able to grasp theory in a practical way that I can consciously and intentionally apply on the fly (improvising), or to develop a solid bassline for a song or piece of music. Re-start double bass lessons and ideally play similar percentage of my gigs  on bass guitar and DB (eub).

[Al Krow]

9 hours ago, super al said:

I didn't see this thread either until now 😎

Before January 1st I would've said the band should get the new songs recorded ASAP and released (as a 4 track EP) plus get started on the next bunch of tunes. Also try to get more gigs outside Salisbury, we played 2 gigs where we couldn't see the spire last year and both went down better than some of our Salisbury gigs.

 

Now after last week our new year's resolution is

 

- find a new guitarist 🙄

 

One of the band's founding members left. The band first got together around 40 years ago (I joined 2022) so it was a lil' bit of a shock.

 

I think it'll be a good thing once the dust settles but it just knocks you back a bit.

 

Oh that is major event for you guys! Did his departure come as a surprise and / or was it done amicably? I guess your guitarist deserved a well-earned retirement and, as you say, it could be a good thing for the band once the dust settles - I suspect you may not be short of candidates to join such an established band!

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, jazzyvee said:

I've been playing in reggae bands for most of my music life, both on bass and guitar. For 2026,. I don't mind doing deps in that genre but not joining another band in that genre or ska for that matter. I looking to see if i can move into a band that is more jazz based or a band where there is more adventures to seek on the bass. I also want to be able to grasp theory in a practical way that I can consciously and intentionally apply on the fly (improvising), or to develop a solid bassline for a song or piece of music. Re-start double bass lessons and ideally play similar percentage of my gigs  on bass guitar and DB (eub).

Must admit the double bass thing has been creeping into my head recent years but would probably go for the more slim line versions rather than the full bodied DB mainly because of space to store it when not in use. The Bass Cave just aint big enough. 👌

Dave

[Al Krow]

1 minute ago, dmccombe7 said:

Must admit the double bass thing has been creeping into my head recent years but would probably go for the more slim line versions rather than the full bodied DB mainly because of space to store it when not in use. The Bass Cave just aint big enough. 👌

Dave

 

A Stagg EUB could be the perfect entry ticket then, Dave?

[Rollin Thunder]

Going back to just playing properly again, last few years just seem to spend all my time fiddling with knob’s/settings on multi effects units.

 

Bought a new amp (see my Laney post) and just happy plugging in and playing again learning some new sounds.

[dmccombe7]

26 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

A Stagg EUB could be the perfect entry ticket then, Dave?

i'll have a wee look at that but having just bought a new car before Xmas it'll need to wait till state pension comes in now. 😂

Dave.