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My Band was Auditioned and ...
- Thread starter 5andFretless
- Start date
Dave Grohl said it best and I totally agree with him. How many of those young girls like that get lured into the casting couch by some scumbag with delusions of fame and fortune just to be cast aside. Fame is fleeting and the world is cruel. I don't play for fame or money, but it's not a hobby...it's a passions and very few of the younger generation influenced by the current trends are missing that.
Problem is none of the American Idol "stars" except for Kelly Clarkson are big names. I guess they learned their lesson with Clarkson and now everyone else is under contract with American Idol Inc. They can't sign on with anyone else or they'll be in breach of contract. Prostitution comes in many forms. That just my $0.02.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/lif...next-generation-of-musicians/article11746664/
Problem is none of the American Idol "stars" except for Kelly Clarkson are big names. I guess they learned their lesson with Clarkson and now everyone else is under contract with American Idol Inc. They can't sign on with anyone else or they'll be in breach of contract. Prostitution comes in many forms. That just my $0.02.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/lif...next-generation-of-musicians/article11746664/
Hummergeist
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I didn't notice this said already...but they'd be better off giving her backing tracks for those local gigs, so she gets the audience experience, then get her some live musicians later, if needed.
Ever hear of Carrie Underwood?
In general though I agree. They take Karaoke singers, eliminate anyone that has even a spark of originality and trot the winners around like prize heifers. I read an article a long time about Kelly Clarkson. She wanted to do harder edged material, but they only let her play the generic pabulum.
Grohl's is a narrow view because you can be legit AND go on the show. Does he think they all "got talent" by sitting watching tv?! Most paid plenty of dues if they can make it beyond the audition round.
Having worked with, and having friends who've worked with, people who've appeared on these shows, and having friends who've appeared on these shows, some of whom did very well on the shows and beyond, with gratitude overall for the opportunity, here's my take FWIW:
Don't want to be bound by the contract? Don't win the contest or sign the contract. Zero common sense? No people skills? Blame parents and schooling equally as much as any other person or entity.
The show's basic position is that as a performer your brand wouldn't exist popularly and profitably without winning the show, ergo the show built your brand, and arguably they've a strong point.
As usual the extremes are just extremes while the truth lies in-between, but a balanced critically-thinking world full of people with common sense is definitely not the world we live in.
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Seems like Mustang Sally comes up in every thread here ....We were told to play the songs as close to the recordings a possible. That is what we did. If you are implying we don't know what we are doing on stage you are off base. The core group has been together for 15 years. If her rep had told us she wanted something different they would have gotten what they asked for. If she wanted to cover Mustang Sally we would have done it
Ive been using alot of midi based "things" since the 80s, and there are times i hear a hit song from the 80s where there was probably real vocals and maybe some real guitar and the rest was done on a keyboard/seq/drum machine/etc. What I meant is that there are no real "guitar heroes" these days like it was in our old fart days. All of my friends either played sports or an instrument. I did both. There isnt that these days. I teach bass and piano at a music school and at the moment all my students are young kids, so there is still hope =)
Speaking of the Karoke singers. Our band saw a woman,late twenties,singing at a bar one night. Killer voice,looks etc. Talked to her a little asking if she had sang in a live band etc. She had said no but she would like to try sometime. Well long story short we invited her to a band rehearsal.
She didn't storm "off the stage," though. It wasn't a performance, it was an audition for the band that was to back her up. She "stormed off" after their lead singer took it upon herself (I guess) to "show her how it's done" which made her feel like she was being ridiculed. Which, if you read all the responses in this thread, was probably true, given that the OP is quite gleeful about how the singer showed her up.
Now maybe the girl wasn't all that good, or was inexperienced. I did my first professional live shows at 19, and I sure didn't know all the things I learned later at that point. There were no Instagram "stars" back then so I don't know what kind of expectations that brings, but as someone pointed out, it's unlikely she's had a lot of opportunity to learn how to do a live stage show.
I guess I just don't get why so many are so quick to say that she's the problem. If you don't want to back up an inexperienced singer, don't volunteer for the job. If you volunteer for the job, then do your job. Your job isn't to make her feel bad about her lack of experience; your job is to learn the material and play it and let the other chips fall where they may as far as she is concerned. Do this and you will get the paycheck. If you think you don't want to risk being seen onstage with an amateur singer, then maybe don't sign up for that.
We all started somewhere.
You're missing the point.
The problem isn't talent, and it isn't age. The audition could have bombed if the singer was 24, or 42, or phenomenally talented. You shouldn't generalize about an entire age group based on one bad audition.
I do think, from the perspective of the artist's Management, that this was probably part of their whole exercise. Maybe not intentionally, but "working out the kinks and getting her ready for the stage" seemed to be the point. If this girl has never been in a room with a backing band before, or even worked with other musicians before, then there's a steep learning curve that she'll have to climb to get ready for a tour. VERY STEEP, by the sounds of it. Going through this whole fiasco was probably half the point.
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So many people disparaging the OP when none of us was there to know how this all went down.
Maybe the young singer was struggling and the OPs singer was just showing here how to do some things better. I don't know that's the case, but neither do those saying they were needlessly showing her up.
Maybe the young singer was struggling and the OPs singer was just showing here how to do some things better. I don't know that's the case, but neither do those saying they were needlessly showing her up.
From the first post:
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. As a hired backing band, blowing away the person you're backing by singing their song better than them isn't part of the job. Just like a guitar player playing a 24 bar solo when the song is written for 8, unless that's what the Name wants. You're not there to shred all over it like it's your gig, make decisions, or step out of your lane. You're there to play as directed. Period. Any commentary should be offered in a way that it comes across as suggestions for their consideration, constructive feedback, or perhaps delicate criticism if you think you can get away with it.
The hired musicians should be capable of covering as needed in a live situation, but why do this at a rehearsal after literally just meeting the person? If she sucks, at least wait till she leaves the building if you feel the need to get that out of your system.
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Meh, there's always someone that wasn't there, doesn't know what they are talking about, that blames the OP just to be a contrarian. If you're doing wedding and corporate events, you know what you're doing. The contrarians are probably sitting home chasing young punks off their lawns.We were told to play the songs as close to the recordings a possible. That is what we did. If you are implying we don't know what we are doing on stage you are off base. The core group has been together for 15 years. If her rep had told us she wanted something different they would have gotten what they asked for. If she wanted to cover Mustang Sally we would have done it
- Mar 19, 2013
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I'm basing my opinion on the OP's attitude about it. His words:
"Shelly, our lead singer, did one of her songs with us last night and blew her away" which sounds suspicious to me. Shelly didn't need to "blow her away." Shelly could have made some points to her without demonstrating what a superior singer she is. I can't really think of a scenario where this needed to happen. Nineteen-year-old is not going magically become a great singer by hearing someone else do what she can't. Showing her something about breath control, warming up, etc. would be appropriate coaching.
But you're right that none of us were there and I can't tell you really why this occurred. All I know is that I remember when I was 19 and how insecure so many of us still were at that age. Whatever, I'm out of this thread. OP hasn't given me any additional clarification that would help me understand better why Shelley mopped the floor with this young woman and until I hear that I have no other clues to go by.
