I'm in a fairly new 4-piece cover band. We've put together a lot of good material in 2 months time and have our first paying gig at the beginning of October. We all are fairly seasoned, professional, and serious......EXCEPT.........the rhythm guitarist......
This guy is not pulling his weight. His rig sounds like crap, so he's always fiddling with it, his guitar will not stay in tune, so he's always tuning it, he always has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth which he thinks looks cool but really looks all white trashy (I smoke, but darn looking stupid), he tries to sing but cannot do it in key, it is blatantly obvious he does not learn material at home (it's rehearsal, not practice), he's gotten drunk at rehearsal twice to the point of sloppy playing and the drummer got pissed and would not work on new material because of it, he does not understand dynamics, he does not remember stops, accidentals, changes, etc., our lead guitarist is always having to teach him riffs because he has not learned the material, I always have to yell the current chord to him when he misses the change and looks at me like a deer in headlights, he shuffles around the floor in some weird kind of slew footed white boy dance which is going to get plenty of laughs from the crowd, and in summation, he is doing everything a 15 year old kid does when he gets into his first band and is sooooooooo freakin' excited.... (thanks for letting me vent).....
Why put up with it? Because he is the lead guitarists friend. It is the lead guitarists practice space and PA; and quite frankly we have done too well and sound too good (even with his fudge ups) to have to break in someone totally new. We all just want this guy to be up to par with us, that's all. I can tell he can do it (I have played rhythm gtr for a long time myself), and all he has to do is go home, play along with a CD and learn the songs.
I talked to the drummer and lead guitar last night and told them it was time to give this guy a talking to. Drummer is very discouraged about it and LG thinks the RG does not understand how serious this group is. We're gonna wait till the end of rehearsal, sit him down, and give it to him straight......shape up or ship out. He will have till the first gig to get up to par. If he flubs the gig, then he's gone, or me and the drummer are gone. End of story.....
I know we could go 3-piece pretty easy, but I do quite a bit of lead singing, so I need someone to double the bass line so I can simplify it whilst I croon. I'll let you all know how it goes and thanks for reading. Peace!!
This guy is not pulling his weight. His rig sounds like crap, so he's always fiddling with it, his guitar will not stay in tune, so he's always tuning it, he always has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth which he thinks looks cool but really looks all white trashy (I smoke, but darn looking stupid), he tries to sing but cannot do it in key, it is blatantly obvious he does not learn material at home (it's rehearsal, not practice), he's gotten drunk at rehearsal twice to the point of sloppy playing and the drummer got pissed and would not work on new material because of it, he does not understand dynamics, he does not remember stops, accidentals, changes, etc., our lead guitarist is always having to teach him riffs because he has not learned the material, I always have to yell the current chord to him when he misses the change and looks at me like a deer in headlights, he shuffles around the floor in some weird kind of slew footed white boy dance which is going to get plenty of laughs from the crowd, and in summation, he is doing everything a 15 year old kid does when he gets into his first band and is sooooooooo freakin' excited.... (thanks for letting me vent).....
Why put up with it? Because he is the lead guitarists friend. It is the lead guitarists practice space and PA; and quite frankly we have done too well and sound too good (even with his fudge ups) to have to break in someone totally new. We all just want this guy to be up to par with us, that's all. I can tell he can do it (I have played rhythm gtr for a long time myself), and all he has to do is go home, play along with a CD and learn the songs.
I talked to the drummer and lead guitar last night and told them it was time to give this guy a talking to. Drummer is very discouraged about it and LG thinks the RG does not understand how serious this group is. We're gonna wait till the end of rehearsal, sit him down, and give it to him straight......shape up or ship out. He will have till the first gig to get up to par. If he flubs the gig, then he's gone, or me and the drummer are gone. End of story.....
I know we could go 3-piece pretty easy, but I do quite a bit of lead singing, so I need someone to double the bass line so I can simplify it whilst I croon. I'll let you all know how it goes and thanks for reading. Peace!!
