Recent content by 3orangewhips

Me (left) and my best friend Paul, circa 1993. Same dudes around 1997: Full band around 2000. Band died in 2002. RIP.

Funk lends itself to metaphor when discussed.

It's your drummer and horns more than your guitar player (as best I can hear). There were some times where it got more funky, but the drummer is just not feeling the groove. The horns should work on controlling the notes a little to avoid the Muzak effect (although this could be the interaction...

Here is what I plan to discuss with one of my bands when we reform as an original music outfit after a few years working on a specific project (rock opera): 1. Is everyone OK with transitioning to play original tunes with a few covers? If yes to covers, how do we pick them? 2. Is our current...

50% deposit and contract is a must. No one who intends to be honest has a problem signing a simple contract that lays out the responsibilities of you and the client. A cancellation clause would be part of this, as well as promising a full refund if you cannot play the show, or if it is canceled...

The other guitarist and I trade off bass duties in one of my bands. His musical hero is Eric Johnson. One night we moved our regular Friday happy hour gig to a connected bar within a venue so Johnson could do his elaborate sound check. As we played our last song with me on guitar (I tend to get...

Here's what you need to know about drummers: 1. I don't like that song = it's hard for me to play. 2. That part is weird = it's hard for me to play. 3. This song is boring = it's hard for me to play without being a show-off. 4. This song feels slow = See #3 5. I am really trying to get back to...

Being willing to say "no, not with him" or "no, not at that venue" is the ONLY leverage you have to protect your rep as a serious player. As long as you are respectful and calm when discussing it, there should be no problems. Unsolicited advice: don't talk about this in reference to a...

Thriller, eh? That's a bold choice. Those choral breakdowns must be hard to reproduce. We stick to Billie Jean. /respect!

Then you'll just have to be better!

I think for a lot of us, a balance between the two is important. If I'm only playing covers I start trying to bend the band to my will and change all the arrangements (heavily). If I'm only playing originals I start to push for more covers. Some people are just band-monogamous. I am a bit more...

A buddy and I were discussing this a few days ago. His theory is that only other guitar players care about tone (bass or guitar) or execution. I theorized that only the one playing the instrument really cares. Most civilians have no idea what they are listening to. They want to clearly hear the...

@StarCrazy Check out "The Hammer of the Gods," a Led Zeppelin biography (?) (Not sure what the term is). Aside from some salacious details about Page & Co., it breaks down thoroughly how Zep approached this. They demanded 90% of the ticket sales and allowed promoters--used to pocketing all the...

I don't know who wrote that @NR_Paul , but it is SPOT ON the problem with expecting a band to promote your bar. It's insane. One of my bands played a weekly free show at a mid-sized bar (150-200 people) and (after a while) we were packing them in. Other bars, of course, wanted to book us. We...

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