Your best band?

Sneakypete · #1 05-10-2011, 11:44 AM

This is aimed at the more mature (like an old cheese) bass-player of say 40+. What is the best band you were ever in? I'm guessing it wasn't the first one or two bands - they were just school friends or people who lived conveniently close. I'm also guessing it might not be your current band as maybe now it's more (I hesitate to blaspheme here) hobby/interest/pastime or even as a little side-income. I bet your best band was sometime between 20-ish and 30-ish - you were young but not a kid, you were adult but the wife/kids/mortgage/gotta take the dayjob seriously reality hadn't kicked in yet. You were playing more originals than covers and dared to dream of fame and fortune. You had a passion and determination then that maybe has blunted a little over the years. You still play and you still love it because it has a hold on you that's difficult to explain to someone who has never been interested in playing in a band. So, it's still good but when was it best???

Phalex · #2 05-10-2011, 12:13 PM

I'm 44, and I've been gigging for around 20 years give or take.

It has been my experience that early on in your musical career everybody and his brother plays an instrument. The sheer number of players is high, but it's kind of a mixed bag talent wise. Everyone is very enthusiastic, and are optimistic about "making it".

As time goes by the numbers seem to go down, but the overall talent level increases. Some people leave the scene because of family stuff, jobs, babies.... a certain number of these people will never be in a band again.

Sometime in your 40's, the kids are older, the job is stable, you have money for band equipment.... and some of the ones that were lost come back.

The band I'm in now, is made up of 42-54 years old people. These are the most talented collection of people I've ever played with. (Time seems to weed out the mediocre) We have a good time, and we make decent money for a band of old farts.

The first band I was ever in was really a great band, but the talent level wasn't as high. I learned a lot from that group. A bunch of mediocre players all working together playing relatively simple stuff, can sound really awesome.

So in my estimation, it's always been good, but it really does keep getting better. If it didn't I don't think I'd still be doing it.

Frankjohnson · #3 05-10-2011, 12:22 PM

I was 38 when I started playing. I played at home for 2 years....learned nothing - and then met up with some guys who taught me worthless habits - over a 2-3 year period - that was actually a VALUABLE experience. That was a piss-poor band - and taught me A LOT of what not to do. I started going to a Blues Jam and met some REALLY good players, and learned a lot over 3-4 years. When the restaurant folded - I was able to put together a pretty solid blues band - and have played with many of my local heroes, and really well known guys. I think it helped that the blues jam was hosted by david Bromberg - I learned a lot under his mentoring.

My current band is that same "first band" after the blues jam - and we have some fun. We average 50-60 shows a year, and like Phalex said -
"A bunch of mediocre players all working together playing relatively simple stuff, can sound really awesome. "

I am still in musical puberty, watch out.....or you might get some of dat on you!

Roadhouse Bluesfest

scottbass · #4 05-10-2011, 12:29 PM

I have maybe a different timeline experience than you. My first few bands were predominantly cover bands. They got progressively better as I moved into my 20's. In college I made a lot of money (for the time, anyway) playing brass rock and 50's music (ala Sha Na Na) in the early/mid 70's and then progressed to top 40 and country rock, gigging four or five nights a week at bigger and better dance clubs and making a decent living from it. I stopped gigging altogether when we started having kids, then started again as those kids began graduating from high school when I was in my late 40's. This second stage began in cover bands playing classic rock, progressed to better bands playing blues, and now I am in my 50's and I play in a band that plays mostly originals. It is also the most successful band I have been in as far as CD sales, airplay, following, etc. Of course very few cities still have the bar band scene that existed in the 70's and early 80's, so the money isn't there.

So when I was in my 20's I was in moderately-successful cover bands (in the 70's and 80's), and now I am in my 50's and I'm in a more successful band that plays mostly originals. That's backwards of the progression OP suggested.

zachoff · #5 05-10-2011, 12:40 PM

My current band, by far.

Floyd Eye · #6 05-10-2011, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zachoff

My current band, by far.

+1

I am 43. The band I had from 16 through my 20s was pretty good. Had a great guitar player, but we never had any good singers. My first wife squashed all that so from about 27 until 5 years ago I did no gigging. I've been in 3 bands since then and the one I put together and play in now is definitely the best. All great players and great guys.

jaywa · #7 05-10-2011, 01:53 PM

My best band ever is a local "supergroup" that gets together once a year to play a standing St. Patty's weekend gig at a local bar.

It's a four piece band (keys, guitar, bass and drums) with three of us singing lead or bkg vox. The only limits on our setlist are set by whether songs will go over... not whether the band is capable of executing them because that's never in dispute. Our last gig saw us covering songs by Johnny Cash, Lady Antebellum, Queen, Rush, CeeLo Green, Lada GaGa, Goo Goo Dolls, Heart, the Police and Barenaked Ladies just to name a few.

All of us are in our late 30s to about 50 and we have all been playing our instruments since high school. Combined we probably have 25 to 30 gigging bands in our respective histories... so yeah, you could say we're veterans.

We basically don't play together at all the rest of the year (as we are all in other bands that have steady bookings and make a lot more money), but about a week or two before our annual gig we'll get together for a couple of nights of rehearsal, then do the show. It's a highlight of the year for all of us even though we're not able to make it a regularly gigging concern.

MatticusMania · #8 05-10-2011, 01:59 PM

My best band, thus far, was my second band, followed closely by the band Im in now, which is my 4th.

For the record, Im 26, and have been playing for 10 years.

jaywa · #9 05-10-2011, 02:07 PM

There's also several dimensions of evaluation.

Ideally your "best band ever" would have had the most talented people you've ever played with, who all got along with each other splendidly, played a ton of gigs and made a lot of money.

More often than not though it was one band that had the most talent, another band that had the best "hang" offstage, still another band that made the most money, etc.

Oopsdabassist · #10 05-10-2011, 02:13 PM

Current band, of 4,(all covers) for sure, only been playing bout 8 years, this band, we are all over 50, got tnothing to prove, we play cos we love it, loud bluesy rock, with a touch of showy thrown in, no pressure, no egos, its great!

Jools4001 · #11 05-10-2011, 03:14 PM

Discounting all of the school and college things that were no more than a loose collection of projects, one of the best bands I was in was the second serious band that I put together back in the mid 70's with a keyboard playing friend (me and the keys player also wrote all the songs apart from one cover in the set - which was UK's "In the dead of night"). We were gigging regularly and just starting to get a few mentions in the UK music press along with a bit of attention from A&R folks and management deals. Two things killed that band. Firstly, I used to do lead vocals but I had strained my voice and found it difficult to sing, so we auditioned a lead singer so that I could step back into backing vox. It changed the whole dynamic of the band with the singer constantly whining that we songwriters were not providing him with a sufficient supply of new songs (despite having zero ability to write himself). Also, and probably the main cause, was that the UK cover should tell you where we were at musically but when punk broke we couldn't get ourselves arrested let alone a healthy supply of gigs. The singer decided that punk was where it was at and left taking the drummer with him...oh well.

The other best band is the one I'm in now. Rock covers dating from the 70's right up to date and doing some exciting stuff (mostly heavier covers and at least half the set doing stuff that is popular but not widely covered). Great musicians, no egos and the sound we're getting after only relatively few reheasals is very encouraging. Not gigging yet because we've built it from scratch but got around 90% of the set list gig ready

theduke1 · #12 05-10-2011, 05:42 PM

The best band I ever played in was the band made up of my three best friends, and we started in 1966 7th grade. then came high school, cars ,beer girls, and the band thing went to sleep. We all married and had kids, the 3 of them started playing a again, i was doing a country duo, and when that folded I called my old friends and asked if they wanted to add me on bass and jim could go back to lead. thus began the Elk River Band
we played together for 17 years and still get together once a month to jam and do a show or two a year.
doing what we grew up on, 4 part 50's, 60, 70, country, blues souhern rock ect.....

jaywa · #13 05-10-2011, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theduke1

The best band I ever played in was the band made up of my three best friends, and we started in 1966 7th grade. then came high school, cars ,beer girls, and the band thing went to sleep. We all married and had kids, the 3 of them started playing a again, i was doing a country duo, and when that folded I called my old friends and asked if they wanted to add me on bass and jim could go back to lead. thus began the Elk River Band
we played together for 17 years and still get together once a month to jam and do a show or two a year.
doing what we grew up on, 4 part 50's, 60, 70, country, blues souhern rock ect.....

So basically, "Summer of 69" with a happier ending. Very cool.

thunderstation · #14 05-11-2011, 04:44 AM

ok - here goes. I'm 58 - I started when I was 20 (1973)due to the influence of a really good guitar player & my best friend. I was never good enough to play in his bands but he always took the time to show me stuff & enjoy music with me. Fast forward to 2001 and he asked me to come & play in his band that did all originals. they other 2 player were pretty good muscians and we played really well together, mostly because we had the same influences (alice cooper, david bowie, king crimson etc.). so when he interpeted a song I understood the reference and knew where it came from. sadly, he passed away in 2006- but i'm really happy we got to play together and i was able to come up to his level - the band is still togsther but the sound has changed .not quite as satisfying but still interesting & enjoyable enough to stay togetther

skidrawk · #15 05-11-2011, 04:57 AM

all of them.

baileyboy · #16 05-11-2011, 05:01 AM

Best band as far as great memories was my first, around 1980-81. We were all pretty awful and could only pull off very basic tunes- Breakin the Law, Living After Midnight, basic rock tunes- but we were blissful in our ignorance.

BluesMan845 · #17 05-11-2011, 05:37 AM

Amazing how the OP hit on so many of the things I would have said to describe my musical journey to this point.

I didn't start playing bass until HS graduation in 1986. During a brief college run ( that's another story ) I joined a band with a bunch of older students. We only played one gig but that was a pretty amazing moment , for me at least. There must have been 300 people crammed into the small hall we were playing. Pretty crazy experience that definitely affirmed "why" I wanted to be a musician.

A few more bands went by and then I discovered blues around the mid 90's. The real blues of Chicago that so many of my musical influence learned from. I started attending blues jams at the invitation of my bass instructor and through that experience, met two gents looking to start a blues band. It snowballed from there and the chemistry was really good between us. Everyone brought some unique influences into the fold. We put together a set of covers and started playing around the NJ blues scene. In 96', we recorded an all original blues album ( Doc Lawerence and The Blues Fix ) which I can still listen to and only wonder what would have happened if we did things differently ( had a waste of life manager, ex-drummer that threatened lawsuits if we didn't refund him investment immediately, health issues... ). The band stayed together until sometime around 02'-03' and had almost an entire set of new music worked up for a second CD. This was by and far, my best musical experience and I can't see it being topped. I still listen to some live recordings from time to time and miss those days... who knows, maybe one day we can get together and record that second cd

.

delta7fred · #18 05-11-2011, 06:07 AM

44 years gigging as a weekend warrior, lots of bands quite often in 2 or 3 at the same time, cannot even remember the names of some of the members.

3 best bands really.

Best fun - The first proper band I was in, early 70s. Great bunch of guys, we all travelled to gigs in the van so there was lots of fun and frivolity. We got back in touch with each other a few years a go, after about 30 years of non contact and now meet up a couple of times a year to reminisce and try and play songs we played back then, usually with little success.

Best pay (and most successful) - Early 90s through to about 2002, so much work we having to turn gigs down. We always got fed and wouldn't go out for less than £100 each towards the end. Laziest set of wasters you ever saw, they wouldn't rehears and getting them to learn new songs was like pulling teeth. Too many egos and issues which eventually tore the band apart.

Best band - My current band, 3 piece, over 100 years of gigging experience between us. Learning new songs is routine, it stops us getting bored. We all do our homework and plenty of woodshedding so new suggestions come together in no time. Been together about 5 years and not a single disagreement.

mcapote · #19 05-11-2011, 06:31 AM

my best band was the first band after moving to miami from ct/ny. well at least the only band to be signed to a record deal with a legitimate record label. They are still around, i just dont play hardcore anymore.

bassbully · #20 05-11-2011, 07:06 AM

Since I got back into music about 10 years ago each band I have played in has progressed to a better band when I left one and went to another. The band I am in today is by far the best band I have been in so far in my new music journey. I have been lucky and played with some great people and learned allot, only in 10 years.