Craigslist Bassist Wanted Ad (Idiots or No?)

cassanova · #1 06-05-2009, 02:23 AM

I was on Craigslist last on May 1st and answered an ad I saw for a bassist wanted for a country band. June 2nd the person finally sends me a reply to my email. Because a month went by without hearing from them I pretty much wrote it off that I wasn't going to get a call for an audition. But thats not what bugs me so much about the reply I got. I'm honestly wondering if these people even take the time to read the emails they are sent.

Below is a copy of the emails

Hi, I'm a 5 string bass guitarist located in Pasco county. I have 23 years experience on the bass guitar, I can also sing some backing vocals, I am a fast learner, have a good ear, reliable gear. I have experience playing country. I was in a country band about 8 years ago. Unfortunately, that band didn't work out. I still like the genre just nobody seems to really want to play it.

Do you have any gigs lined up as of yet and would you please email me a copy of your set list so that I can see exactly what I might be getting myself into. Also how often do you intend on rehearsing with the band? How old are you and who are some of your influences? Where are you located?

The reply I get.

Hi John...we have the band pretty much coming together now - Still need a base player - we are looking to play country music...do you have any demos ? Are you local to Pasco County? Phone # ? Let us know if your still interested...we will be holding auditions soon

Ok, first off the moron spelled bass wrong and that makes me seriously question her abilities for some reason. The 2nd one that really bothered me is her asking if I'm local to Pasco. I put in my email that I'm in Pasco county. Third is I never got any of the information that I requested, song list, age(s), etc.

Then the same day I get another email from some cat named Kenny about the same band. I guess this chick forwarded my email to him. He included a link to his myspace page and he's got some covers of country tunes he's playing, if its really him then he's got some very good skills as far as country guitar goes.

I haven't replied yet and dunno if I'm going to now. For some reason her email to me has me turned off. Its almost like she didnt even bother to read what I sent her and her non compliance of my requests is definitely not helping me to wanna call and arrange an audition. I dunno maybe I'm over reacting and just being to quick to avoid the situation.

bwv1013 · #2 06-05-2009, 02:37 AM

i'm sure there are still some legit opportunities out there, but i have all but given up on craigslist. i've "auditioned" with a few band/people and nothing has ever come of it. keep trying, you never know...

Quadcam · #3 06-05-2009, 02:56 AM

I found my band members on CL but it wasnt easy, you gotta weed through lots of idiots.
I posted an ad tonight looking for a lead guitarist and i was very specific as to what we're looking for. I didnt get a reply but I did get an add request for our myspace from this guitarist who about floored me with his songs he has posted on his myspace, this guy is good, really good. Too bad he is already in a band

I dont think I would even bother with that band, if they place an ad and dont have the common courtesy to at least send a response within say 48 hrs how can they pull thier **** together and organize a band project?

plus they cant even spell bass, fail!

i_got_a_mohawk · #4 06-05-2009, 03:21 AM

Maybe she's the drummer . . .

T-Bird · #5 06-05-2009, 03:29 AM

Hi.

Go for it, or at least jam with Kenny, You'll never know what happens.

If correct grammar and spelling was required all the time, nearly all the TBers would be sanctioned or banned, me included

.

Base/bass not as nearly as bad as Squire/Squier. IMHO of course.

Regards
Sam

Sartori · #6 06-05-2009, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quadcam

I found my band members on CL but it wasnt easy, you gotta weed through lots of idiots.
I posted an ad tonight looking for a lead guitarist and i was very specific as to what we're looking for. I didnt get a reply but I did get an add request for our myspace from this guitarist who about floored me with his songs he has posted on his myspace, this guy is good, really good. Too bad he is already in a band

I dont think I would even bother with that band, if they place an ad and dont have the common courtesy to at least send a response within say 48 hrs how can they pull thier **** together and organize a band project?

plus they cant even spell bass, fail!

I don't see the problem.

Steve · #7 06-05-2009, 08:29 AM

That just sounds like typical spastic, space case musician stuff.
I don't know as I would reject it yet...plenty of time for that.

two fingers · #8 06-05-2009, 08:37 AM

Hmmmm...maybe if you are on MySpace you could touch "bass" with the guitar guy? Perhaps he will have more info for you. Maybe the lady is the dumba$$ of the band and everybody else is OK. Who knows? I would at least go audition.

UncleFluffy · #9 06-05-2009, 08:39 AM

Everyone messes up once in a while. Tick it off as "strike one" and go audition.

hover · #10 06-05-2009, 08:57 AM

Yeah, I wouldn't pass the gig entirely just because a vocalist made a spelling error. And as far as them getting back to you so late, and your location issue maybe she was just conforming... maybe they had alot of replies for the bass chair, and through the logistics / scheduling hell had a bitch of a time getting auditions set up with the earlier replies.... That said look at it this way. There is currently an openning being presented to you. You'd be foolish to pass it up based on the criteria you've presented, could be your favorite gig.

Go find out already.

The singer could be really hot too, and you'd have the best view in the house.

Thunderitter · #11 06-05-2009, 10:01 AM

I've advertised on CL a couple of times and on both occasions I had over 40 replies.

After getting rid of the obvious flakes, the only way to deal to these was on a first come basis, which meant that the later guys had to wait! Also, when you're sending the number of e-mails as I ended up having to send it is easy to mix up the details of each person, so I wouldn't take the question about you locale personally!

If you're still looking for a gig and they are looking for a bassist I'd at least go and check them out and good luck!

EricF · #12 06-05-2009, 10:42 AM

I say it's at least worth setting up an audition to check out what they have going on. Maybe it will be a good fit with the rest of the band. If not, you can always bow out after the audition.

CL is a crapshoot. I found the band I'm in through CL, and we found our drummer through CL. However, we couldn't find a decent lead guitar player for quite a while. We auditioned a few weak guys, and I talked with a bunch of losers. I finally found our guy through www.musicianscontact.com.

**baba** · #13 06-05-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Maybe she's the drummer . . .

Beat me to it!!!

Araillac · #14 06-05-2009, 12:22 PM

Sounds like the email the OP got was CTRL+C, CTRL+V

cassanova · #15 06-05-2009, 01:23 PM

Ugh, just got back from meeting the 2 of them. He's cool but shes a premadonna ditz with mediocre vocals. I told them I'd get back with them in a few days and let them know.

Alcyon · #16 06-05-2009, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cassanova

Ugh, just got back from meeting the 2 of them. He's cool but shes a premadonna ditz with mediocre vocals. I told them I'd get back with them in a few days and let them know.

That was my guess too. Whatever, she's just the singer... You only have to lock in with guitar and drums.

Against Will · #17 06-05-2009, 02:05 PM

I found both of my current bands through craigslist and I love them. I had a couple of false starts at first, but I'm very happy now.

I was going to say, she's probably the singer. I've gotten replies like these before from singers, they never know what's going on.

**cheezewiz** · #18 06-05-2009, 02:15 PM

I dunno maybe I'm over reacting and just being to quick to avoid the situation

This. It won't hurt to check it out.

Quadcam · #19 06-06-2009, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sartori

I don't see the problem.

actually he sent me a message last night explaining that his current cover band hasnt been doing many gigs lately and he was going to try and find another band as a side project (he already had 2 others) or another band altogether. however, something changed and they booked a few gigs so he's sticking with them for now to see how things go. I'm going to keep in touch with him just in case.

we're auditioning another guy who lives much closer, I'm not sure how good he is yet. So I gave him 3 songs to work on. G n' R- Sweet child o mine, intro plus all of the solos. Pat Benatar- hit me with your best shot (solo and riffs) and Lit- my own worst enemy (since there is no solo, i want to see how he improvises over the chord progression)