My "band" won a local scramble contest ...

lopxtc · #1 09-01-2009, 09:06 AM

So as some people know around here, Im a newbie bass player (less than three years playing) so for me this is kind of a big thing.

Anyway a few weeks back I signed up for whats called a band scramble. They form seven bands at random (drawing names from hats to fill positions), and each band gets three weeks to write three original songs. Well Saturday we all performed at Off Broadway.

We drew first position, which sucked because we really didnt want to go first. The good thing was we got a longer setup time since the sound guy also needed to setup so we could really get the monitors how we wanted them. So we get up play our set, and I thought sounded really good. Made one mistake on the last song, guitar player made a slight change I hadnt expected and I mistook the change for being someplace else in the song. Thankfully he and I cought it right away and covered amazingly. Found out later in the night that he and I were the only two to notice it, even the band didnt realize we messed up.

So come off stage and start drinking to make us not feel so bad about how amazing all the other bands sounded.

Night wraps up and we figured at best we had a shot at third place. They announce third and second and they were both bands that we felt were so much better than us. We start gathering up our stuff and finishing our drinks and saying our goodbye's for the evening, when they call first place and our band name. Took about having to pick jaws up off the floor. We were totally floored and jumping around hugging each other LOL ... none of us expected first place at all.

Cool part is that first place prizes include an opening show at a local place call The Iron Barley and an actual show for at new venue called The Atomic Cowboy ... looking forward to playing those shows.

Cool thing is even though we were formed randomly we all clicked really well and decided to stay together and grow the band. Now we just need to assemble a full set list for the bigger show ...

Aaron

Bruce Lindfield · #2 09-01-2009, 09:13 AM

Actually that sounds more like :

Band Scrabble !!

So like choosing letters to form a word...?

snyderz · #3 09-01-2009, 09:16 AM

So what are you going to name your new "band"?

dido__15 · #4 09-01-2009, 09:16 AM

I've never heard of this sort of thing before. Sounds like it could be good fun. Anyone heard of one in the UK?

lopxtc · #5 09-01-2009, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snyderz

So what are you going to name your new "band"?

Yeah not sure if we are going to stick with the name from the scramble or not lol. We went by the ShazBots during the contest, which believe it or not was the most normal name out there from the other bands.

Aaron

Aenima · #6 09-01-2009, 09:21 AM

Hey Congrats on the 1st place! i had saw a couple ads on craigslist for it but decided to keep concentrating on work, school, and my actual band practice. But sounds like it would have been alot of fun.

Where is "The Atomic Cowboy" going to be?

lopxtc · #7 09-01-2009, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dido__15

I've never heard of this sort of thing before. Sounds like it could be good fun. Anyone heard of one in the UK?

It was a blast ... you signed up under one of the following catagories;

Vocals
Guitar
Bass
Drum
Other

And then they drew names for each band from the names in the hat for each position. None of us had even known each other prior to that night of the draw. We then had three weeks to write three original songs.

I think we got lucky as our other was a keyboard player. Several of the other bands drew mandolin players, and one band drew someone who played a bongo, a violin, and a recorder.

Aaron

lopxtc · #8 09-01-2009, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aenima

Hey Congrats on the 1st place! i had saw a couple ads on craigslist for it but decided to keep concentrating on work, school, and my actual band practice. But sounds like it would have been alot of fun.

Where is "The Atomic Cowboy" going to be?

Atomic Cowboy is a bar located on Manchester, they are opening a music area in September called The Fox Hole attached to the bar. Here is a link to a story in the Riverfront Times about it.

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/ato...otos_price.php

Aaron

Red Rover · #9 09-01-2009, 09:34 AM

Congrats... it's a good way to meet local musicians. We have something like that here too. They call it the "rock lottery" here. I never entered but always thought it sounded like a lot of fun.

GearHeadBassMan · #10 09-01-2009, 10:20 AM

That sounds like a lot of fun! I might have to find one near me sometime!

Good work on winning it too, if you guys make it it will make a great story on your VH1's Behind the Music!

crijan · #11 09-01-2009, 11:31 AM

Yeah, they have this in Denton and Seattle and it's called Rock Lottery. They don't sign people up by instrument though, so some bands may get two drummers and two bass players and some may get four guitarists. And I think the bands have like 12 hours to come up with a three song setlist which usually includes at least one cover.