Understudy/Fill-in

[Haysoochreesto]

I'm in a band right now that appears to want to gig more than I do. They want to keep me but I don't want to be in a working cover band. Something we're discussing right now is having someone fill in for me when I couldn't be there. At this point, with the gigs we have lined up, we wouldn't need a fill in for months. But if something comes up, we might have a guy who could replace me for the night.

Does this kind of thing work out? I've seen it done successfully but that doesn't mean it's not a pain in the ass situation for the band.

Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks.

[NKBassman]

There's tons of bands around here that swap members out all the time whenever this guy or that can't make it. Gives their performances a bit of excitment, more of a jam feel, and they always seem to have lots of fun.

Just my $0.02

[steveksux]

Get the right guy, and it works out good. I fill in for another bassist when he's overbooked, its his gig, I just help out here and there. That's maybe more of a problem, he's being "unfaithful" playing with other bands, where you just don't want to play too much.

Also, we had a guy filling in for our guitar player when he started getting some touring gigs. No problem. Eventually we just gave the fill in guitar player the gig, once he started "filling in" on 90% of the gigs... Once the old guy moved out of the minors and into the majors, he was gone more often than not.

No hard feelings, the old guitar player keeps in touch, we get periodic updates on the road, I surf YouTube for him once in a while. Very happy for him, its great being in a major act, wish I was 20 years younger, I'd love to have done it back then. Not so much now when I have a real job and do music on the side.

But it does highlight the potential problems with that situation, if they like the replacement better, if you take too much time off, they may end up going for the replacement eventually.

The guy I fill in for, that band is a loose conglomeration of a large number of musicians, a band in the quantum mechanical sense... no definte members, but some play a higher % of gigs.. There's the primary lineup of VERY good guys (who of course will be playing often, miss many gigs), and a deep list of subs available.

Randy

[Phalex]

I had to have a fill in for the first time last year. The guy is a phenomenal player, so I figured it would be a piece of cake.

The gig he filled in for me didn't go as well as I had envisioned it going, but it went 100% better than the rest of the band envisioned it going.

Having back up available is cool, but yes, it is a P.I.T.A. for your band.

[MNAirHead]

I actually love it...

Couple of reasons.

1-It's cool to have a close pal that you can discuss your role
2-You can hear your rig from the audience mid room
3-Flexibility.
4-Friends

I'm taking maternity leave.. the guys in the band (session guys) enjoy my alternate.. know his cues.. and like that he jokes around.

We tried the miscellaneous route --- was either perfect or horrid.

Through this I've become a sincere and avid fan of Andy and his band --- he's had some great insight into my setup and role...

I'm REAALLLLY looking forward to rehearsing with him.. he's learning all the material -- I'll then be communicating with him to decide who plays.

Every time he plays my spot I learn something new.

[andymcclure]

Tim, you're too kind. ;-)

Anyway, I love DOING fill-in gigs. I enjoy the challenge of putting together a bunch of material quickly, and it's a great opportunity to work with new people. I never go in to poach a gig, but it almost always leads to more work somewhere down the line.

HAVING a fill-in cover for me is always tough... I want the gig to go well, but not TOO well, you know? Usually, though, the biggest problem is the rest of the band being uncomfortable with it. if the band is accustomed to having fill-ins, it's no problem, but if they've never dealt with that, they can get really worked up over it.

In my experience, if you find a good, reliable fill-in player, they won't be the one in the band making the most mistakes at the gig. A pro fill-in will have his/her sh!t together.

[Bassman18]

I do fill-in's once every 2-3 months or so and have an absolute ball!
I play in 4 bands at the moment and its a real bummer when gigs pop up on the same days and the same time with different bands.
I had to turn a gig down because one of my other bands had already booked. I'm lucky to have a good fill-in bassist that i call when i get double booked, but i'm bummed about losing $150

[Drkwdsman@yahoo]

We have a few bands around town including mine that will swap or sit-in for each other including bass and guitar. We try to help out when we can. That seems to work for a few of us.