Argh! Lead guitarist goes on hiatus...

sb69coupe · #1 01-11-2005, 10:29 AM

Background: Five of us "old farts" (mid-30's) decided to pick our instruments back up after years of dormancy, and we formed a band this past summer. It started out as just a fun thing to get together and jam, but we realized that we were actually pretty good and decided to work up 3 sets of covers to start gigging. We have played a few private parties through the fall, and things were really coming together.

Fast forward to yesterday. The lead guitar player decides that he needs to take a break from music for a while. He's having a bad bout of tinnitus and he's more depressed than you can imagine. I have total sympathy for the guy,and he's one of my best friends, so I support his decision. However the timing could not have been worse. We were scheduled to be the "Feature Band" at an open stage jam night this coming Thursday. I handled the contacts for it, so I had to call the guy who books the acts and cancel. Major egg on the face, not a good way to start in the local scene here at all.

The most frustrating thing is that he's not sure if or when he'll want to resume playing. Meanwhile, the four of us are left to decide what we want to do going forward. We're all working professionals with young kids, demanding jobs, etc which makes getting together to rehearse pretty tricky. We'd need to find another guitarist who can be flexible and still work with us.

I guess I'm just venting, but after being away from music for so long, I really don't want to stop playing again. It's kind of like I didn't realize how much I missed it until I got back involved in playing again. Back in the day I was so worried about "making it", and playing the most musically proficient originals that we could write. Now I just dig laying down a groove and having fun without all the pressure.

Any advice? Thanks for letting me vent.

Shannon

wulf · #2 01-11-2005, 10:52 AM

What do the remaining musicians play? If you've still got a four piece, you should be stuck for making music even if you need to make some adjustments to your repetoire.

Wulf

sb69coupe · #3 01-11-2005, 11:31 AM

Wulf, the rest of the guys are drummer, bassist (me), singer, and rhythm guitarist. Unfortunately, this is the first time that the rhythm guitarist has ever played electric guitar. He's a proficient acoustic player and has good bluegrass chops, but he's in no way a rock-n-roll lead guitarist.

So at this point we'll likely find ourselves searching for a lead guitartist who can fit into the kind of odd role that we have.

wulf · #4 01-12-2005, 05:07 AM

How about putting him on electro-acoustic so he can exploit some of those chops; figure out a fusion between where you've each been and where you want to go.

Wulf

Joe P · #5 01-12-2005, 05:52 AM

Well dang-it! That open jam is the place you're most likely to find another guy to take his place, too!

Can't you still at least get in on the jam-night thing?

Joe

cassanova · #6 01-12-2005, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sb69coupe

We were scheduled to be the "Feature Band" at an open stage jam night this coming Thursday. I handled the contacts for it, so I had to call the guy who books the acts and cancel. Major egg on the face, not a good way to start in the local scene here at all.

You should've tried to find a fill for the gig instead of cancelling.

As for what to do about the situation, I think you already know the answer to that question. Just move on and find another guitarist. Should this guy decide he's ever ready to play again, then you can always add him as a 2nd guitarist to the band or tell him sorry not interested.