Auditioning for a Blues Band

Well, I think I may have found a potential paying gig. Responded to an ad in Craigsist. A guitarist/drummer combo looking for a bass player to gig in the few local bars and in Memphis. I've never been in a straight blues band but the guy sent me some clips of his old band, and he's actually really good. They want to play stuff like Joe Kubek, Tommy Castro, Popa Chubby and of course SRV. His ad listed his equipment as a 55 watt Mesa boogie head with a 2/12 cab. I'm guessing my 400 watt hartke and 4X10 cab would be enough for this guy, a drummer and possibly a keyboard player?

He hasn't gotten any gigs yet, he's from California. I'm really not even sure what the demand is for blues bands these days, but surely we can work in Memphis?

Anyway, the songs I'm gonna have to learn are as follows:

Nasty Habits: Tommy Castro
Caffeine and Nicotine: Popa Chubby
She's It: Smokin Joe Kubek
Cold Shot: SRV

They're all pretty simple, but fun to play. I'm kind of stoked. It's not exactly what I was after but if he can get the thing going, it should be some kick ass experience. It would have been cool to audition for a working band, but there is less pressure here. It's a start anyway.

I'm more hopeful about this little project than I am my current one. "Original" metal. I'm a 4 string player and they are all about some Drop D. We've yet to write a song. And they don't know any covers. I usually end up getting bored about an hour into practice(?).

well that's all. It's exciting to me.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean about Castro. From what I've listend to it sounds like it would go over great in a bar.

I'm actually better suited to play blues than metal. I learned how to play in a cover band that covered mostly Southern Rock and alot of the bluesier Classic rock like Zeppelin, SRV and some of that old Sabbath. I'm just more comfortable with Pentatonic type stuff than anything else. I'm just learning how to slap, I'm trying to work on my three finger technique for speed metal but that's alot harder than I thought it would be. I don't mind learning new techniques, and I'll continue to work on them, but I just don't "feel" it.

I played an old Engalhardt URB in my high school jazz band, but the school wouldn't support us and it never really lasted. So I never really had any proper training. i wouldn't describe myself as having any real jazz experience.

At any rate, I'm sure I could learn a few things from playing this material and playing with actual blues musicians, but again, I am very comfortable with it.

Thanks for the advice. I take it people still like to hear blues then, if you're playing all of that. That's good to hear.

 

Actually, I did have a question. The guy also says he likes to do Claptons version of Crossroads. I actually learned Creams version a long time ago, and it seems to me that Clapton has done this song in a variety of ways since then. What version do you think he means? Bruces bassline is different than alot of versions I've heard of it. The chord changes are always the same, but some versions have a busier bass line than others, and the tempo varies. Surely he knows this right? Do you think he is expecting to hear a certain bassline that he is used to or does he just want to make sure I know the changes?

 

No, the guy that I will be auditioning for has never played here. I haven't even met him yet. All I have are sound clips. I didn't mean to imply that I'm about to start playing clubs next weekend. He said he's tried out a few guys around here and even tho they are good players and nice guys, they really only want to play heavier stuff, and just didn't get what he wanted to do. I'm willing to learn and play what he wants to play, so we will actually have time to practice before we try and get gigs.


All I need is to get in. If he's what he says he is and will do what he says he wants to, then I could be playing in Memphis in a couple(few?)months. I dunno, never played there, it seems to me that it can't be very easy to get a gig on Beale street, but he seems pretty confident. If he's full of it, I've lost nothing.

Just the possibility of playing with a real musician is exciting for me. There are a few bands around here that like to spend money in a studio and do free shows for exposure, but I've not heard anything special from any of em. This is the first guy that has actually expressed an interest in playing something other than metal or classic rock.(nothing wrong with either of those, btw.)

This post doesn't quite compare to alot of the others who have actually caught a break. But I've only just started back up and I'm already getting some promising leads. It just makes me hopeful. I thought I would share and try and get some advice from all of you. And that advice is appreciated and will be applied.

I won't be getting together with this guy for another week or two, if all goes well-or if it doesn't- I'll probably have alot more questions.

Thanks