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Anybody have luck with Craigslist?

#22
I found my current main band through Craigslist, as well as the previous one... and one before that I found through a online message board for local musicians in the town where I lived at that time. But yes, you do have to do a lot of weeding through to find the worthwhile ones (to my recollection all three bands I mentioned in this post had material online that I could check out before I ever even tried to meet them in person).
 
#23
Band wise? HELL NO! I think 95% of the folks who post or answer Craigslist band ads in my area are frikkin' idiots! I have placed ads with specific desires and I get replies from cats who play a totally different style of music! NO I don't want to be in your metal band! My ad specifically says R&B, Funk, Soul and Jazz. I have also answered quite a lot of ads with not a single reply back! Why post ads and not answer back when someone replies?!?! Craigslist has sucked for me!

Selling and buying? I have done quite well in that area!
 
#25
I went on over 50 auditions when I moved to Chicago thru craigslist and I only wanted to join 2 of em. the first turned me down but the second kept me on and i wound up meeting some really great musicians in the rehearsal studio they had. now I get to choose from some really great musicians whenever I need to put a gig together. really I just used CL to get me in the door with some good guys and then good networking and playing took care of the rest.
 
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#26
I have had no luck with CL. At least in my area there's nothing but flakes and wannabes. Groups who say they are gig ready but can't finish songs (or just can't play them), people who say they are "pro" but sound like that just picked up playing yesterday. People who reach out to you asking if you want to audition and then disappear. I can go on and on! lol.

I have had a couple of good leads on Bandmix. One of which landed me in my current group but at the end of the day, there is nothing like networking in person by going to open mics and getting your name (and playing) out there.
 
#28
npbassman said:
I have had no luck with CL. At least in my area there's nothing but flakes and wannabes. Groups who say they are gig ready but can't finish songs (or just can't play them), people who say they are "pro" but sound like that just picked up playing yesterday. People who reach out to you asking if you want to audition and then disappear. I can go on and on! lol.
Click to expand...

I've found much of the same in the Vancouver area too. One ad was for a band ”restructuring“ that just didn't grab me enough to respond. The bandleader saw my ad and responded to me. I went to the audition only to find that he was also auditioning guitar players and lead vocalists at the same time! The keyboard player had only been with him for two weeks. I stayed for a month and handed in my notice because there just wasn't enough direction and leadership.

Another band I responded to had an ad that made it seem as though they had their act together, but I quickly found out they were a long way away from that. Plus I was getting far too annoyed with the guitar player noodling at full volume between each song.

I don't mind when a band says they are beginners and just want to have some fun playing, but I sure do wish, that if they make themselves out to be pros, they deliver on that. Otherwise they are wasting people's time and setting themselves up for frequent turnover.
 
#30
With buying and selling gear, I've had great success. I've found two Ampeg cabinets for what I thought were steals, and got more than what I wanted when I eventually sold one, and also got good money for a guitar amp I thought nobody would want.

With finding gigs, it's been pretty much a miserable failure. Every collection of stoners, basement legends, fascists and all sorts of nuts and flakes you can think of. With one band, we were running auditions for a guitar player and had about a 33% success rate of people actually physically showing up to their scheduled audition.
 
#31
The way I approach CL seems to work. I mostly look at it for entertainment value. There's always something that makes me laugh. If it takes a minute to find something funny, you are spending too much time. When you approach it like that, occasionally something pops out that seems like it might work. It's sometimes quirky, sometimes straight forward. There's no set rule. Filtering by looking for the amusing stuff first seems to work as an effective filter. It also helps that I'm not trying to find bands and musicians who are trying to make a living doing it. If I were, it's probably not the place. I never audition for anybody nor do I audition other people until we meet somewhere for beer or coffee to find out whether we are both humans. That helps, too.

Keep in mind that if you fail two thirds of the time, you can be a hall of fame hitter.
 
#33
successes and failures buying, selling,and finding band mates :)

Best successes have been free cabinets, worst failure was a copy-of-a-copy 70s strat. (sold as an ibanez strat copy, it ended up being a plywood knock-off)

Hooked up with 1 band that stuck together a couple years and we released an EP and a 7", and I met tons of other local musicians while gigging with that band, which ultimately led me to my current bass gig.

I've definitely met some interesting folks. One guy came in and played 4 or 5 times over the course of a few months; we came to learn he was driving like 4 hours every time just to get together and jam. he was absolutely desperate for people to play with and he always brought & shared plenty of ahem, goodies. he was a good player, too, and he fit right into what we were trying to do, until he started pushing his own songs on the group. they were just the worst songs ever. also turned out he was a bit of a nutjob, started going off about aliens and jesus one night :cigar:
 
#35
I've had pretty good luck with CL. I answered an ad 8 years ago and that band is my main band and still going strong - and good friends now too. I've landed other gigs that way as well, although none of those other projects are still going. But there was nothing wrong with the folks involved. However, there have been some clunkers with people who weren't crazy ... but they just couldn't play music very well.
 
#36
When I started playing again after several years off, I initially tried to find other people to play with by posting a "Bassist seeking" ad on CL. I listed my influences, what I'd like my band to sound like, and links to some songs I had recorded myself. I got a few nibbles, had a few phone conversations, but it always fell through.

Eventually I resigned myself to searching CL for existing bands that needed a bassist. I had two auditions, one with a cover band that went with someone else, and one with an originals band that I immediately clicked with and am still playing with today. Their sound was not quite what I was hoping for initially, but as we have grown together as a band, our sound has naturally incorporated some of my songs and style, and I'm loving the newer stuff we've been writing together.
 
#38
I put a bass player available ad on CL, and got great results. I had quite a few bands show interest, and have actually joined one of them. I posted a photo of the basses I wanted to feature, and the rig I would be playing through; Text read:

Experienced bass player available. Pro gear. 4 and 5 string Fender Jazz and Rickenbacker 4003 into Ampeg SVT and 410. Backing vocals all you need, can do some lead vocals if necessary. Prefer Classic Rock, but can play all styles.
 
#39
Hit or miss.

Horror stories (not mine!) would include someone showing up to tryout at an address only to get jumped and his gear stolen. Red flags "yeah, we have a practice shed down this dirt road behind an abandoned barn..."

Success stories (mine) would include meeting some really genuine people, becoming close friends with their family and vice versa, and even helping find me a job when I got laid off.

I've met some strange folks too though - and that was after screening out the really weird ones over email!
 
#40
I scored on of my best gigs (for three years) off a craigslist adds. I've had more good than bad experiences, but I always ask a ton of the right questions, to weed out the problems somewhat. I've also had pretty decent luck selling, and occasionally buying gear there as well.
 

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