band advice

hi y'all. I've been playing bass for a little over a year (with a break of about 2 months due to school and work) and some of my friends have invited me to be the bassist for their band. They're all really nice, although I haven't met the drummer, and I think that it would be fun to play with...

I’m looking to put a band together. Which means I’ll be travelling to rehearsal spots and jamming with other musicians. Which is something I don’t have much experience with. How much amp wattage do I actually need to keep up with an acoustic drum kit and other instruments? I’d like to get...

I am in a 5 piece band and the only people putting real work are me, the drummer and the lead guitarist. The vocalist is nowhere to be found and hasnt written anything but still has wants. And the other guitarist kinda sucks but again has alot of wants. What should i do? Should we look for other...

How much notice is too little to cancel a gig? Thinking about backing out of one that’s a little over a month away. Long story short, my band has a cover show gig in a little over a month, and we are utterly unprepared, and trying to get everyone together to rehearse is nearly impossible due...

Hi all, I never successfully auditioned for a band before. I currently play in my church's praise team, but I didn't have to audition to join. I unsuccessfully auditioned for a band when I was ultra new to bass about 30 years ago, but bombed due to not knowing crap about anything. Since then...

For the past 5 years or so I’ve been in a band where I’m the singer/ songwriter & rhythm guitarist, and de facto BL as well. We’ve mostly been an originals band, with some scattered covers mixed in. We have primary played showcase type shows at local bar venues. We have recently played our...

My band has always been an originals band, playing 45min sets at showcase shows, but recently we’ve decided to shift gears towards learning covers to mix in 2-3hr gigs of crowd pleasers at some of the local gastropubs and such. The idea being we’re getting older, time is getting scarcer, and...

Tell me what yall think. I met a guy over the summer while i was helping a friend with her college project. I had a bass with me so i was playing to myself while she was busy. In comes the guy. He sees me playing bass, asks if I could help him with a music project. I said sure I would (i like...

I am a longtime lurker here and I’ve gotten much good musical advice but something in my musical life is making me crazy and I don’t know who else I can talk about it with. I’m pretty much an older part time musician but I gig fairly often with a few bands in the Chicago suburbs, mainly blues...

Hello! A few months back, i joined a then two-member alt/fusion rock band. The drummer and the guitarist have worked together for a decade, and not done much from what I see and hear. One or two gigs, no albums. Apparently no real ambition. Shame, because the guitarist is phenomenal on the...

A while ago I promised some of you on this forum to share my experiences regarding my recent work on cruise ships as a bass player in a jazz/ballroom quartet. As I’ve come home at the end of February, I have had plenty of time time to think about what I experienced and distill all of it into...

Hey everyone !!! I’m currently trying to find out how one could make the lives of bands a lot easier :) Wich is why I have a very simple question: -- What's the biggest issue you guys have with your band's facebook/instagram page? Thanks so much in advance!!! looking forward to reading...

I was recently in a band where, for a while, I thought I was an equal member. I went out of my way to recruit new members like sax and keyboards, supplied my own extra equipment to help out the others (like extra keys, harmoniser etc) but, the more I did to help the band, the more I was being...

So I'm in two bands right now. One is my main gig, where we've got two albums recorded and we've toured and have gigs booked through the summer of next year. The other is my originals band, where we mainly just play at parties, but we've recorded a little bit and we are beginning to move forward...

I have had plenty of embarrassing experiences playing live on stage with my band in the past. I've had my strap fall off, I've accidentally stepped on my tuner during songs, my bass losing signal and more. What are some of your most embarrassing experiences playing live and did you end up...

Hey Talkbassers. Talkbassists? I'm not sure what exactly it was; most likely a combination of things. Definitely a combination of things. Starting a few months ago, i started getting frustrated with the band I'm in, and as of now, i'm almost completely checked out. The backstory: 5 years...

I play in an originals band usually gigging 1-2 times a month, 3 bands per night w/45min sets barroom kinda shows. The pay usually isn’t much, if we make $100 between the whole band it’s a good night, making less than $40 isn’t uncommon. I seem to be the only member of the band who has any...

Unfortunately, due to crisis in our area, they send me to work abroad for two, maybe three months. It's an 8 hours trip from home, by car or train (plane is way too expensive, no low cost companies for that airport), but I'm willing to do it to keep reharsing AT LEAST in weekends during this...

Hello Talk Bass, looking for some feedback/insight. My Original band is working on recording our EP, me and my brother write most of the songs our singer has written a couple and we have a home studio. I finished the ruff mixes, we are a 4 pieces rock and roll group, on some of the songs I...