Age Issue rears it's ugly head after audition.

[prd004]

The two hardest pieces to find in a band are the singer and the bass player. You guys just passed on both of them?

Bet you could find five guitarists before you come across another good singer and bass player.

That being said, at the risk of offending all the older TB'ers, there is nothing wrong with wanting to keep the band members ages in a certain demographic. But this should have been discussed as a band beforehand.

 

[dannster]

What do you guys think? -eSmith.

First and foremost thanks for the new signature!! I now have chicken Korma burning my sinuses!

I think you should evaluate you guitar player. I don't know the dynamics of your band situation but great players are hard to come by.

 

[Arlekiin]

...in the end we all play blues - unless you are one of the slayer members in which case you go out shredding systematically but yeah everything begins and ends with blues and everything else is in between
I myself am probably considered a kid around here being 25

 

[jab]

some guys get real intimidated by a good solid bass player. he's all about himself not the band

 

[stratovani]

I play bass in a three-piece original band. Our drummer is 47, our singer/guitarist is 55, and I'm the old man of the band at 57. To us age is just a number.

 

[perfektspace6]

It's too bad you and the other guitar (?) player didn't put up more of a fight if you thought the addition of the bass player, and by extension, the singer was important.

Sorry but you guys could have influenced the decision of the lead guitarist and you sat on your hands. He would have caved or left. Either way you would have made the correct decision by adding solid players and/or shedding a long term problem. If the lead guitarist stayed and he is a good player, even better. The blame is in your court not the lead guitarist.

 

[SactoBass]

There's always more to the story than meets the eye, but based on the info given by the OP, it sounds to me that the lead player is a wank off. He should stay home and play with his little matchbox cars all by himself where he can rule his world, while the adults focus on what's important when putting a band together.

 

[michael_atw]

So the bassist gave no indication of wanting to play that old Buddy Holly stuff, and his reasoning was:



Sounds like your guitarist is more interested in style over substance. Maybe he should join a boy band and leave music to the rest of us.

Which is kind of funny, because Buddy Holly music can be pulled off just as well as any Beatles tunes in a modern day Indie/Rock scene.

 

[ChrisB2]

Have you considered that maybe he wasn't comfortable with the lady's stage presence?

To some people, "image" is a much larger issue with female fronts than with males. I can see where maybe he didn't feel she brought the right total package, but was embarrassed to admit it and found another reason to disqualify the pair. Maybe...

 

[lowendblues]

I'm 50, and have been playing for 35 or so years.

Not knowing all the details, unless theirs an underlying personal reason, I'd call your lead players move a very shortsighted, amateur move.

The whole idea of music for me is learning from other musicians. I guess your lead guy already knows it all? , yeah, I've met a few of those guys.

You can learn volumes from a seasoned player, especially playing the blues. Alot of times just a suggestion coming from years of experience can lead to a whole new way / train of thought when approaching a lick or a tune.

Unfortunate for you.

 

[Jim Campbell]

So, in our ongoing quest to find a singer we had a lady come over to audition. She asked about bringing a bass player with her and we felt sure, it would make her more comfortable and our bass player is a guitar player doubling on bass.

So, they come on time and set up quickly, seem very nice and we run throught a few songs agreed on before the rehersal. It went well. I really felt she was prepaired and talented and her friend on bass was rock solid, as the Drummer, I was easily able to get in lockstep on the songs and found him dead solid on the beginnings, endings and changes.

Turns out he's 64 but I swear you would never guess he's that old. He's got a hip look for a blues band and would look fine in our lineup.

So after they leave and we do the band meeting thing, our lead guitar player states he doesn't think it will work, the guy is too old. Both the other guitar player and myself were kinda shocked at that. we both thought it was fine. Lead guy say he "Doesn't want to play old buddy holly stuff" (not sure where that came from, the guy was all blues and didn't suggest anything old at all.)

So, I'm thinking the age thing might just be an excuse but can't think what other reason he would have.

Since we are pretty informal and not trying to ramp into gigging right away (more of a fun relaxed weekly jam) we reluctantly decided to keep it just us three until everyone is comfortable.

The guitar player had an email out first thing in the AM telling them thanks but no thanks but he did do it in a way that didn't burn any bridges thankfully. It did seem however that he couldn't cut the ties fast enough.

What do you guys think?

-eSmith.

take your drummer and start a side project with the lady singer/bass player.....from the nature of this post i bet you will be looking for something else sooner than later anyhoo......

 

[Downunderwonder]

.....while you can. Those guys will hook up a good drummer easily enough, let it be you.

 

[Stumbo]

I think he's(the auditioning bassist) probably a lot better bass player than the guitarist ... and the guitarist didn't like that.

+1

+1 on contacting them yourself. Why not two bands?

 

[Stumbo]

...our bass player is a guitar player doubling on bass.

I think your lead player may want to be the only guitar player in the band and not share the spotlight with 2nd guitarist.

Also, if you're not ramping up to gigging, I'd have a long meeting with the singer/bass player duo before you start a "band" with them. Make sure everyone is on the same page with expectations and such. Is there a P.A. involved?

 

[pnut166]

Funny how musicians covet old instruments, but not old musicians. I`d rather have an old guy playing a new guitar in my band than a young guy playing an old guitar. I got my start in music at age 16, playing DB in a bluegrass band made up of 40 - 50 yos. Best music-related learning experience of my life.

 

[Marton]

I had a gig once with some 40-50 years old guys, they were playing regularly together, me and my friend were the "new kids" in the band. Don't miss an opportunity, we had much fun doing this, and I learned a lot.

 

[Gus Borden]

I'd love to hear from the OP again,.seemed like there was more of this story yet to unfold. Update esmith?

 

[BassyBill]

I've played with some excellent musicians more than 30 years older than me, and some excellent musicians 30 years younger than me as well. I've also on occasion had to endure playing with lousy musicians in both of those age groups.

I've learned a hell of a lot from playing with more experienced guys in the past, and I hope that now the boot is on the other foot some younger guys can learn a little from me as well.

Some people get way too obsessed with other people's ages. I like to think of age as a state of mind or collection of attitudes rather than just a number.

 

[pacojas]

you know what i hate,.... "YOUNG" people singing & playing the Blues!!!

ya got no right,....

git off ma grass,...

 

[Rocker949]

I think it's really insulting to assume that a 64 year old would mostly be interested in playing Buddy Holly stuff, especially since even someone 64 would still have been a youngster when Holly died in 1959. I might add that I'm not using the word "insulting" lightly; it's exactly that. The guitarist either needs to get over ageism or find a way to get good enough not to be intimidated by other musicians, whether they're older or not.