Well, I am in a band now

[Busker]

I tried out last night. We played for about 1 1/2 hours and they offered me the job right then. That kind of surprised me to tell the truth. I figured they had other bass players to try out.

Anyway, it's a work in progress. They haven't even settled on a name for the band yet. They are looking for a singer, and we need to rehearse a lot to tighten up the sound.

But I'm in! At age 48 I just joined my first band. LOL

[middy]

Congratulations!

[oldrocker]

Hey that's great

Just curious, What are the ages and experience level of the other guys?

[Thor]

Well done Busker. That means these guys got some good
chemistry going with you.

[Busker]

Originally Posted by oldrocker

Hey that's great

Just curious, What are the ages and experience level of the other guys?

Thank you all. THESE guys actually gave me a song list to practice on for the audition, which I appreciated. The first band I auditioned with made me do it "cold" with no list of songs to practice.


They range from 46 to 53. I'm 48, so that works. They have more experience than I do (I can play, getting better all the time, but have virtually no "playing in a band" experience, because I played solo acoustic guitar for years). One of the guitarists is actually a sound man. He runs sound for other bands from time to time. The lead guitarist is very good. They are all nice guys. I'm hoping me and the drummer can get a good groove going. I was plugged into the board for the audition. Next time I'll have a bass amp positioned close to the drum kit, so I hope the drummer can hear me better. Next rehearsal they are supposed to be auditioning a singer.

[Thor]

Sounds like a good fit.

What songs were on the hit list, just out of curiousity?

[Busker]

Originally Posted by Thor

Sounds like a good fit.

What songs were on the hit list, just out of curiousity?

Rock And Roll - Zeppelin
I Got A Line On You - Spirit
Refugee - Tom Petty
Tequila Sunrise - Eagles
Already Gone - Eagles
R.O.C.K. In The USA - Mellencamp
Two Tickets To Paradise - Eddie Money
Evil Ways - Santana

and a couple I didn't expect, like:

So Happy Together - Turtles (it's fun to play)
Made In The Shade - Skynrd


That was just for the audition, of course. And I didn't have Already Gone down yet, so we didn't play that. They know a lot more songs than that, I know more songs too. The song list will evolve, grow, songs will be added, songs will be dropped.

[Thor]

That's a pretty decent audition list!

Man, I was listening to Spirit 12 Dreams of Dr Sardonicus
a few nights back. What a brilliant band. Mr. Skin was the song on
that that really rocked.

The Mellencamp songs are all good bass songs. My band does
Lonely Old Night, great song.

Love to hear how it progresses, keep us posted!

Thor (member of the old fart club).

[Busker]

Well Thor, you asked for an update on how it's going.

It's going slow and I'm not nearly as enthused as I was at the start. I've been to four rehearsals and we're still working on the same 6 or 8 or 10 songs as the first rehearsal. I'm getting impatient and bored at the same time. Come on! We have to learn at least 40 songs to get a show together. At this rate, maybe next year we will get a gig?

The first rehearsal I thought the drummer couldn't hear me because we were having a hard time keeping together, but his drumming is improving a bit (maybe my bass playing is improving a bit too).

Now they've brought in a female vocalist. OK, fine. Except we have to learn a bunch of songs that she can sing. Nice to learn new stuff, but it will take a lot more time still.

Anyway, it shouldn't be like this, I think. This should be coming together much faster than it is. I can learn a bass line off a record in 2 or 3 play-throughs, plus a little bit of practice to polish it. I don't need days or weeks.

What do you think?

[Btone]

I was in a similar situation couple of months ago, joining a new band, had to learn 40 tunes in about two months. And find the groove with the drummer.
Those guys had been playing that stuff for years, so I was the only new guy.

We had a gig coming up, so we had to be effective: We met once a week the first month, playing one set every rehearsal (about 10+ songs), the last weeks we met two or three times a week.

The fact that we had the gig coming up really helped, I think. We simply had to get the job done.

Is it settled which 40 songs to play? Split them up in sets, and play one set a week the first month, then two sets a week the following month. Don't bother if it's not perfect - just go on. Things will mature - you will gain experience playing together. Don't spend more time on those initial 6 - 8 songs, or any other song that causes you much trouble, it'll wear you out. It's boring, as you say. As you get to know each other, getting a song right will be easier and easier.

In short: Work out a program everyone can commit to, and stick to it.

Just my 2c.

[Busker]

Originally Posted by Btone

I was in a similar situation couple of months ago, joining a new band, had to learn 40 tunes in about two months. And find the groove with the drummer.
Those guys had been playing that stuff for years, so I was the only new guy.

We had a gig coming up, so we had to be effective: We met once a week the first month, playing one set every rehearsal (about 10+ songs), the last weeks we met two or three times a week.

The fact that we had the gig coming up really helped, I think. We simply had to get the job done.

Is it settled which 40 songs to play? Split them up in sets, and play one set a week the first month, then two sets a week the following month. Don't bother if it's not perfect - just go on. Things will mature - you will gain experience playing together. Don't spend more time on those initial 6 - 8 songs, or any other song that causes you much trouble, it'll wear you out. It's boring, as you say. As you get to know each other, getting a song right will be easier and easier.

In short: Work out a program everyone can commit to, and stick to it.

Just my 2c.

Good idea. That would work better, if they would do it.

Just to be fair though, I didn't take into account that they have to learn vocal parts, memorize lyrics, etc. So far, they haven't asked me to sing anything, so it is easier for me.

[Btone]

If they are commited, they will. To me it was hard work, but it certainly payed off - we've had two gigs now, both great fun!

Good luck!