Getting fired - Subtitled: "Move Over Rover"

[Krispy]

I've been in this 5-peice classic rock act for about a year and a half. Pretty talented group of guys with a loose, roots kind of sound. Harp/Sax/Percussion and a couple guitars on the front line. None of us particularly more talented than the other and seemingly compatible personalities except for the lead guitarist who owns the project. He's OCD/arrogant and self absorbed. So we all let him do the things he needs to do to feel relevant and try to get along. I've been in this situation many times and I know how to deal with it. I'm a big boy.

I'm the fifth wheel - the hired gun I suppose. I've been accepted and dealt with pretty fairly as a band member and I contribute anyway I can. I replaced the previous bassist who's related to the #2 guitarist. He left to do a trio gig and play more guitar and get a bigger part of the singing pay. His effort has done well and he fills for me when I have a scheduling conflict.

Tonight the #1 guitarist calls me to say things aren't working out and "some of the guys in the band want a change". Wait, do I really represent myself as stupid & clueless? I'm miffed; this comes out of left field with no writing on the wall, no dropped hints, no bitching about playing - nada. Just the bombshell.

OK, I can deal with it. It's part of the natural cycle. Then it hits me. At my last gig I saw the bassist from my fill-in guy's trio and he told me they let him go. He didn't know if he was going to continue playing in a band setting. Just coincidentally, he's a cousin of #2 guitarist. My band was hemming and hawing over "how terrible it was" while we packed up after the gig.

So I begin to pressure Mr. OCD/Guitar god about who is really looking for the change of line-up and ask him if he might be just "a bit" disingenuous in his assertion? Which he adamantly denies. He insists "Some of the guys" want change. Now I'm pissed. I hate being B/S'd.

I suck it up and wish them well and tell Mr OCD to continue living the dream, but try to grow a set of balls. Yes, I'm bitter - but not because I got let go, but rather because I hate pussies that don't have the spine to stand up to their own decisions and would rather hide behind a bald-faced lie and cower.

I decided a call to the drummer was in order. He and I have gotten along well and he's the most stand-up real guy in the group. He confirms my hunch. We'll stay in touch - he's a class act. I wished him well.

Sorry for the long rant but my wife doesn't get it my five year old doesn't care and I hate spineless pussy guitarists. /rant

I feel a bit better now. Time to look around for another project.

[manicbassman]

start your own project and poach the drummer...

[invader3k]

Sorry to hear about it. It does indeed suck when you get let go, or in my experience when others quit, without any prior warning. I would just say that if this guy is going to be such a coward, you shouldn't want to work with him anyway.

Stealing the drummer is a great idea, BTW.

[jgroh]

Originally Posted by manicbassman

start your own project and poach the drummer...

+1000

[John Wentzien]

Grab that drummer!

[perogato02]

Yep, be a renegade rythm section The ultimate revenge for you and the absolute horror for a band.

[Way Off Bass]

Drummer poaching.... are they in season yet?

[neuromancer]

Given what I've just read about guitarist #1, it sounds like they did you a huge favor.

Granted that was probably the worst way he could've handled it, and I have no tolerance for being BS'd like that, either.

It sucks how it was done, no doubt. In fact, I suspect I may be in a similar situation soon. However, you can't install a spine where one didn't exist - so I think this will end up looking like a good turn of events for you down the road...despite the fact that you're annoyed with execution and not the actual act of being fired....not that I blame you.

[Geddyfleaharris]

A tight rhythm section can find work in a second. Probably with a little bit of pull too. If the rhythm section sucks the band sucks IMO because there is usually no groove. Whether it is a metal groove or a funk groove it matters not.

[txbasschik]

<<<I suck it up and wish them well and tell Mr OCD to continue living the dream, but try to grow a set of balls. Yes, I'm bitter - but not because I got let go, but rather because I hate pussies that don't have the spine to stand up to their own decisions and would rather hide behind a bald-faced lie and cower.
>>>

Hey, welcome to The Fired-By-Cowardly-Liars Club!!!

Sounds just like my old band.

But you know what? Just like me, they sent you to Jesus. So...now you get to go to Heaven and poach that drummer!!!

My old band is beginning to see the consequences...their karma is chewing on them. People don't like the new guy as much. He doesn't learn songs as quickly as I do. He plays too much like a guitarist. Their big tour of the Northeast is not going to happen...cancelled, totally. And this is just the start. I have only to watch, as I play gigs with my new band and work on the bass lines for our originals that people already love and are already begging to have a cd of.

This lousy bunch who kicked you out? Their karma *will* bite them in the butt. I promise. Don't poke the karma, don't try to bring it on...just let it unfold. You may even get to watch when Karma eats them!!! It is entirely likely that you may watch from the lofty spiritual box seat of a great new band that makes you happy!

Here's to karma!!!

Cherie

[Slater]

Originally Posted by Way Off Bass

Drummer poaching.... are they in season yet?

If you're poaching, it doesn't matter.

[Krispy]

Originally Posted by txbasschik

Hey, welcome to The Fired-By-Cowardly-Liars Club!!! Don't poke the karma, don't try to bring it on...just let it unfold.

Cherie

Thanks Cherie, that made me smile.

[oldrocker]

Originally Posted by txbasschik

Sounds just like my old band.

.....

My old band is beginning to see the consequences...their karma is chewing on them. People don't like the new guy as much. He doesn't learn songs as quickly as I do. He plays too much like a guitarist. Their big tour of the Northeast is not going to happen...cancelled, totally. And this is just the start.

Not to hijack the original thread - but - I am not surprised that this is happening to your old band. It seemed the were making the change for the wrong reason - good for you. Karma can be a big kick in the arse

[QORC]

people can be jerks. This is doubly true of musicians.

They frequently aren't adults. It's happened to me. It's happened to a lot of us.

I got canned by 2 bands inside of 2 years for BS reasons and neither of them owned up to it.

You know what? Both of those bands are still stuck in the same 2 crappy places and I'm playing in one of the biggest cover bands in my State. In fact, we just got booked for a gig in a resort in another country - all expenses paid including airfare, food, rooms, drinks, and big pay.

I'd LOVE to say to those two ******* bands 'how ya like me now?'

but I don't.

if they are dishonest, they did you a favor.

Look to the future. And under NO circumstances fill in for the previous band when they get into a jam.

Never look back. Always look forward. Amen.

[scrodzilla]

I say cure yourself of GPS (Guitar Player Syndrome, naturally) an start a new power trio with a drummer and an organ player with bass being the main focus .

[manicbassman]

Originally Posted by scrodzilla

I say cure yourself of GPS (Guitar Player Syndrome, naturally) an start a new power trio with a drummer and an organ player with bass being the main focus .

sounds a bit like ELP...

[pedro]

Originally Posted by manicbassman

start your own project and poach the drummer...

God I love the way you guys across the pond phrase things.

[ZonGuy]

They are a bunch of pussies.

We auditioned a drummer this week on a gig and he didn't make the cut. Band leader told him he didn't have the drum style down on songs a,b,c. Suggested he go rehearse, find a teacher perhaps and come re-audition later.

That's professional and the way I would like to be treated in the same situation.

[ZonGuy]

Last time someone tried to poach me, I got 3rd degree burns.

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by Krispy

None of us particularly more talented than the other and seemingly compatible personalities except for the lead guitarist who owns the project. He's OCD/arrogant and self absorbed. So we all let him do the things he needs to do to feel relevant and try to get along.

I think this right here is the essence of your problem - that plus the fact that you were regarded as merely a hired gun. The fact that you've been in this situation many times before and rarely gotten burned means that the law of averages was bound to catch up to you sooner or later.

Anytime you're in such a one-down position - particularly when the leader is such an arse - it means you have virtually no leverage in the band by which to protect yourself and advance your own interests. Since you were apparently willing to accept such a position - rather than insisting upon status as a full partner - it should not come as a surprise that you could easily be jettisoned at the guitarist's convenience - at the first incidence of expediency.

I continue to be surprised at the general insensitivity to band political dynamics that exists among so many musicians. If they would just pay attention to what is happening all around them and read between the lines once in awhile, they would rarely get blind-sided as often as they apparently do...

Originally Posted by QORC

Look to the future. And under NO circumstances fill in for the previous band when they get into a jam.

Amen to this. The laws of karma suggest that if you'd parted company on amicable terms, that it's in everyone's interest to continue to help one another out. Not so if you've been dealt a screwing over. Learn from this and grow from it...

MM