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Band advice needed

#61
It seems as if there's a lot of head-shaking about why a band would rehearse more than a few times a year, but if it's an original band then time spent together at rehearsals is usually a necessity, unless it's a solo artist with a backing band that plays what they're told to play.
 
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#62
salmon256 said:
Having lived in South Jersey, and Jersey just being one of those states where you have to take the Garden state to get anywhere, I wouldn't do it. Are you in South Jersey? Because sadly in that area, to get anywhere interesting (Ignoring Philly of course which is cool!) you have to do hours long drives and North is where a lot of the cool stuff is.

And if not and the band is just far, I feel sad saying that I agree with others on here I wouldn't do it. It sucks I been in those shoes where you wanna do something but it is a long commute away, I mean some hobbies yes I seen people commute that long, but it would suck for you have an added stress of driving for something you are looking forward to. If you are taking the Garden State all that way, while that road is hated isn't the worse, (Beats most main roads in NY let me tell you that imo!)

I always tried to say, when we lose an opportunity a better one will always pop up... but if you do go through with it, stay safe and look on the positives!

Also wanna add follow your heart and do what you feel. Everyone is just giving an opinion and view. Sometimes doing the crazy is rewarding and other times finding a new adventure is just as rewarding... best of luck again!
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I’m up and down the NJ corridor most weekends for gigs… but just that… PAID GIGS. I wouldn’t be doing it for unpaid rehearsals. Luckily I like to drive and the pay is good.

If there are no gigs on the books, that’s a hobby band. Nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn’t drive that far for unpaid rehearsals. But that’s just me…

Sadly last year I played guitar and keys for a band in NJ that played the shore a lot. Even decent casino gigs. But the pay was scary low - like $125 to play at Borgata. Rehearsals were weekly and an hour or so drive. I did them until the day the BL (drummer) clearly hadn’t learned one of the songs he asked us to learn. After three attempts where he kept messing up he said shelve it but keep it current in case we pull it out later…??? I was checked out at that point, and made it clear I would not be returning to rehearsals. Within 2 months I found my current band which pays much better and rarely rehearses.

But the reality is there aren’t that many great paying bands that don’t rehearse much in the NJ/NY area. I suspect the studied pros are doing the wedding sub thing, and the rest of the cover circuit is slowly melting away. If the band truly ticks off all the boxes, I say grab the opportunity while it’s there. You can always walk away later. Just make it clear rehearsals need to be productive and tell them you’ll try things out for a few months and re-evaluate.
 
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#63
I was in a similar situation for about 9 years. I lived (and still live) an hour's drive from rehearsal space and all the gigs. When I signed up with the band in 2015, I knew, and the band knew, that I had the longest commute. It was unspoken policy that I did not have to stay for load-out, because I had the longest drive. At least it wasn't a hobby band: We worked most weekends and I'd wake up Sunday morning with a couple hundred bucks in my wallet. Eventually, I decided that I was spending too much time on the band, and left. I regret nothing: By the time I left, I was a much better player than I was at the beginning. As posted elsewhere, there's nothing like logging a lot of hours in front of a crowd to improve your skills. I have tried to find a local band that also works a lot. Slim pickings. Advice? I don't have any. YMMV.
 
#64
31HZ said:
It seems as if there's a lot of head-shaking about why a band would rehearse more than a few times a year, but if it's an original band then time spent together at rehearsals is usually a necessity, unless it's a solo artist with a backing band that plays what they're told to play.
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Plus it's not ALWAYS about the money. I have a band I rehearse with weekly. They are nice guys, we have fun, I get to play at least once a week. We have a three hour rehearsal and we play the entire time, no breaks.

Despite what people say about not needing to rehearse, we fix minor issues that probably wouldn't get fixed on a gig. We are able to stop and work through new arrangements. We've added some harmonies that weren't on the original. We have come up with some really cool endings and intros that you couldn't do on the fly.

I'm not trying to sell anyone on rehearsing; if you don't care, I don't care. But I am tired of people acting like rehearsals are a waste of time. I've been playing for over 50 years, I've played in bands that never rehearsed, I've done pickup gigs, I've played in bands that occasionally rehearsed, and I've played in bands that regularly rehearsed. The bands that rehearsed have always been tighter and had cleaner and more imaginative arrangements than bands that don't rehearse, it's just a fact.
 
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#66
If frequent rehearsals are the plan, it may be worth exploring recording the bass parts so the band can rehearse as often as desired with the backing track, and you can be selective about how often or when you make the trip.

I did this with a band (mostly originals) that was an hour away. One member was always prepared, another not so much, and the other always “shaking off the rust.” They were very happy to maintain the rehearsal schedule while also retaining on bass what they referred to as “their guy.”
 
#67
Just my 2¢....there are 2 ways of looking at it:

1. You enjoy the music and the hang. Then, honestly discuss the travel time to have fewer, but longer productive, rehearsals. Also discuss number of monthly gigs, location of gigs and nightly gig pay. If that's worth it to you ...great, go for it!

2. If you're already thinking the drive will probably be too much then be honest with the members of the band. Maybe they will help you decide what is best!

Whichever, good luck with your musical journey!!!!
 
#68
depends if covers or original.
One of my covers bands sends though a new song suggestion on the whatsapp group, and everyone says yep to doing it next gig. And thats how we set build 30 months in..
 
#72
Places I've lived its been difficult to find a good band, pass an audition, get along, etc. Imo its very rare to get a good, non toxic, band together. Very rare for me. I would make that drive!
 
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#73
DRBassist said:
They rehearse about 3 times a month. I thought that if they rehearse 2x a month, I might go for it. Unlike some musicians, I love rehearsals so I actually WANT to rehearse. But you brought up a good point about gigs. They have a few gigs planned and they are also in the same area as the rehearsals. So, that might be the deal breaker.
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- So first disclosure, I'm biased cause even north of Dallas it's a 30 to 45 minute commitment to do just about anything if you've gotta drive so that's what I was used to before moving away. So for that, driving an hour and a half for a gig (especially going from Denton to Deep Ellum or downtown Dallas) was not at all unheard of or unusual. Worse for Ft Worth. To me, an hour and a half is pushing it for reherasal, but what if they'd be amenable to having their 3 rehearsals but you join for 2 of them and those are the more intense or perhaps longer ones? That'd make it worth it to me IF the gigging schedule was also reasonable. This is assuming this is a cover band and these are actual "rehearsals". I've met plenty of fellas who use the terms interchangeably with "practice" which they really aren't.
 
#75
Core Creek said:
But the reality is there aren’t that many great paying bands that don’t rehearse much in the NJ/NY area. I suspect the studied pros are doing the wedding sub thing, and the rest of the cover circuit is slowly melting away. If the band truly ticks off all the boxes, I say grab the opportunity while it’s there. You can always walk away later. Just make it clear rehearsals need to be productive and tell them you’ll try things out for a few months and re-evaluate.
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I use to live on the shore when I was very young hence how I also know. Unsure of the music scene though, but when I lived there it was very rural area of the state lol!

I think the NY thing depends, out here in LI it can be quiet but it is shocking how much musical stuff is available here, maybe we are super dense living wise, there is a whole punk scene going on here and it is vibrant, upstate areas yeah they can be dry, NYC obv is a whole new world of music but can be a rough scene to get into depending on the genre.
 
#76
KenSmithFan said:
Plus it's not ALWAYS about the money. I have a band I rehearse with weekly. They are nice guys, we have fun, I get to play at least once a week. We have a three hour rehearsal and we play the entire time, no breaks.

Despite what people say about not needing to rehearse, we fix minor issues that probably wouldn't get fixed on a gig. We are able to stop and work through new arrangements. We've added some harmonies that weren't on the original. We have come up with some really cool endings and intros that you couldn't do on the fly.

I'm not trying to sell anyone on rehearsing; if you don't care, I don't care. But I am tired of people acting like rehearsals are a waste of time. I've been playing for over 50 years, I've played in bands that never rehearsed, I've done pickup gigs, I've played in bands that occasionally rehearsed, and I've played in bands that regularly rehearsed. The bands that rehearsed have always been tighter and had cleaner and more imaginative arrangements than bands that don't rehearse, it's just a fact.
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Completely agree with your thoughts. As you say, when cover bands rehearse you can work on different arrangements, tighten up songs that might have a problem part etc. Plus, I like playing and the hang. My cover band might rehearse three weeks in a row to work in new songs but then not rehearse for month because of schedules etc. I never look at rehearsals as being a waste of time.
 
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#77
31HZ said:
It seems as if there's a lot of head-shaking about why a band would rehearse more than a few times a year....
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I've never been in a band that was good enough to just learn songs individually and then just play them at gigs. I've been in bands that didn't practice a lot but they ended up playing the same songs all the time, not learning anything new.
 

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