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Hi @mrcbass,
[EDIT] I see there have been some more responses between the time I walked away from my post and then came back to finish. Please forgive any redundancies and profound glimpses into the obvious.
Thanks for all the sordid details. As for myself, I would be a bit leery about getting too involved with these guys on a professional musical level. You may find it frustrating after a while. I know I'm spoiled but it sounds like these guys just might not have it together enough. You've got a good perspective and you're going in with both eyes and ears open, that's great. It seems like there are some promising aspects about this project.
I've only ever auditioned for one band in my entire "career" since I started playing for money in 1970. That band had gigs booked and we were playing them after three rehearsals. For all the other bands I was recruited through networking and I started gigging with most of them without any rehearsal at all. And most everyone I've ever worked with has had some musical training, lessons, education, etc. Like you said, the music-speak is important in order to communicate clearly. I like to be able to tell someone "It's just a I-V-vi-IV in A" and they know what I mean. It saves so much time.
Not having a workable PA system is a problem. Will you be renting? Borrowing? In my current band, three members own PA systems and we still end up hiring a sound company for most of our gigs, when the budget is there.
I wouldn't worry too much about three guitars. Give one of them an acoustic, the lead singer probably, and you should be OK as long as the other two behave themselves.
But the lead singer not knowing the arrangements could be brutal. How is his timing? Does he at least come in at the right spots? I ask because I'm currently involved in a little talent show project. I'm playing acoustic guitar accompanying a "singer" who's had no musical training and he has absolutely no rhythm, no feel for meter, sings ahead, sings behind, comes in late, comes in early, and I'm being nice, giving him pointers and tricks to use so that he sounds like he knows what he's doing. But unless I sing along with him he messes up the timing.
Oh drat. I didn't mean to make this about me but I thought I'd share some personal experiences, as if you haven't had enough personal experiences already.
Sure, give'em a chance. Hang out for a while. See if they'll live up to expectations. If your lead singer has never gigged then I wonder how serious this project is about getting good gigs. Do they know how to get good gigs? Or do they want to use this as an excuse just to get out of the house, party, and make some noise? Don't get me wrong, I like to get out of the house, make some noise, and party a bit, but I also like good music, good gigs, good fun, and good money. Dang, I'm spoiled. Thanks for putting up with this 61 year old country bass player.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
Ther wasn't really an issue with anyone's playing - some mis-learned song forms which really is correctable. I am the only one in the room with musical training (theory, composition), which is mostly annoying - and the drummer actually encouraged me to train them a little - which I will if I stick around.
I agree on the vocal work, but three of us fell right in line on songs we'd never sung together (if at all) before without any issue. This can only get better. Yes, a bit concerned about three guitars. I suspect the front guy will pay acoustic most of the time, the rhythm guy was so tame I barely knew he was playing. And he's got to prove he'll do the homework, so may not even be a long term member.
The drummer in my gigging band is very hard to play with. Oddly, he's a converted bassist who traded in his bass gear for a kit one day. He's OK on a straight 4 beat but anytime there's a hint of syncopation or touch, it is just choppy and bad. And it really hasn't gotten any better over the last 6 months - despite the fact he claims that I make him a better player. He's also the BL and I don't share his vision of song selection. There's a few other reasons as well, but he's the biggest issue. I may end up doing both projects - neither will gig a lot.
Yep, just two week trial period. Would have liked four, but they have another bassist on hold so they don't want to drag it out too much. And for the record, I don't have all that much experience on bass. Just three and half years of playing with four other garage projects and started gigging last October. Yes, I have an extensive musical background, but most of that is 30 years in my past on horns and a little guitar. If I believe they will be ready by August, I'll be fine. There's just not enough money to be too worried about it, but I do want to play for people.
He wasn't making up his own lyrics - he just created his own form for most of the songs we ran through and he has two weeks to relearn the songs for the trial period. He does have his own cadence to known songs, which does make them interesting - it will just be harder to do backing vox….
Geez Cliff the more you post the more I envy...one audition in your life? Geez...
Anyway, thanks for all the feedback. Yes eyes are wide open and I'm doing a two week trial period to see if they can walk the walk. Spoke with the drummer at length -he had concerns about my other band and I had concerns about their flags. He seems to be on the same page as me regarding getting the lead guy to learn songs properly and even most of my concerns. Two weeks is really not enough time to learn much and I'm going in with one foot out the door - they have to prove they can learn the songs quickly - we've identified 6 songs to have ready to play for people in two weeks. If we can't do that, I'm not going to stick around. They had another guy audition was in my league as far as playing, but didn't do any vocals, so they prefer me.
It just really felt comfortable playing with them and we did gel pretty easily - or else I wouldn't be interested. I may not even dump y other band - their gigging goals are very modest (once a month) so probably not too much issues with competing bookings. We'll see...
tell you what, that line..."I'm going in with one foot out the door"... would make a great country song. If you don't mind, I'm going to try and write that song. Don't worry, I'll give you credit. Together we could make tens of dollars.
