Band Member or Hired Gun?

[BassCycle]

I'm basically a musical whore. If you got a gig, and it pays, I plays. Be it a sit in gig, or a band member gig. If it pays, I plays. I'm in a band that works nearly every weekend. I love gettin pickup jazz or blues gigs. There's a '70s band that calls me from time to time, all charts. I play at various churches. I just love to play . . . any gig, any style, any time.

 

[sonic assassin]

im always in a band. but im also always close to my phone. ive filled in for a lot of people. everyone in this town knows i can pick up guitar or bass for most styles of music in about an hour. so i welcome fill in gigs. they keep life interesting, as they are few and far between.

but the band comes first.

 

[RustyAxe]

To make good (well, any ... grin!) money I prefer to be a hired gun. Just tell me what, where, and when, and pay me when the night is over. No rehearsals (if there are, I get paid), no drama, no nonsense ... and if there is, it isn't my problem.

A band only works if I'm already fairly well acquainted with one or more of the members, the music is the kind I like hear and play, the venues are the kind I like to play at, everyone is mature and there are no gigantic egos, etc. Much harder to find, and harder to keep together, I think.

 

[DennyOnBass]

I do both. My original band is a lot of work and I usually see somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 per show for my troubles. The cover band that hires me has made me their first call guy, and this time of year with weddings I usually see around $400-500 a show for keeping up on a 120 song setlist and showing up on time and properly dressed.

Both bands have great players and are fun to play in. The work to $$$$$ ratio is far less in the cover band, but the personal investment and satisfaction is much higher in the original band. Between the two, I play pretty much every weekend. The cover band has a semi-stable lineup, but I also occasionally get to play with some other really good mercenary musicians which will lead to other gigs.

If I were doing one or the other I think I'd get tired of it, but the two create a really good balance for me.

 

[billhilly66]

Hired gun/whore for me although I've been on the same house gig for 8 years off and on so it seems like I'm "in a band" on that deal.

I like the freedom to set up side deals and work with other players who can just show up and bring it. When the gig peters out, we all start looking for the next deal.

 

[RDUB]

I'm in a neat situation. I have a day job, so it's not just about the money. I have a regular band that I really love, and we rehearse and play fairly regularly. I also do hireons for many other people around town. The great thing is that there is a core of about 20-30 different musicians who all seem to gel together for many different events, so I get to play with many of the same people, all in different combinations. Jazz vocalists, theatre gigs, pop originals, rock...

It's a real challenge, both musically and to the diary, but I'm having a great time doing it. I just wanna play!

 

[TheVoiceless]

How about doing covers of a genre/artist you like? Typically those niche-type cover bands tend to do just as well, if not better than the top 40 types IME.

I'm playing in a soul/r&b revue, and the material couldn't be any more fun to play, and we can get people out in droves.

I wouldn't mind a tribute band. Like Sabbath, Chili Peppers, etc. I could get into a situation like you describe.

Still it would be a tough sell if that was my only band. At some point I would want to create. Preferably with a group, but I would at least have to have a recording project on the side.

 

[MarTONEbass]

+1
Wow, I thought I was in the minority feeling this way. I like the guys I play with (original band AND hired gun/cover work), but I have a family that I love to be with and a masters degree in the works, so I rarely hang before or after gigs and rehearsals. Not thatI dislike them, I just enjoy my time.

That`s why I love hired gun work. Get payed 25-50% at the one rehearsal before the gig, get payed the rest at the gig before I even play a note, and then I have no obligations to stay afterwards.

Love it

 

[G RICH 5]

FWIW---
I am in a decent working band, and I have been in bands for over 20 years. I do, however, do fill in work whenever I get the chance. My reasons are simple.

- Playing with a variety of different musicians( even doing the same old songs, gives it a little different twist)
- Networking (playing with different players/bands gives you a whole new group of people to deal with, and can also lead to getting new places to play for your main band)
- I can usually just show up, plug in, and play as a fill in and not worry about moving equiptment, etc.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Billnc]

I've done both. I've got to say, I had to learn 40 or 50 songs last month, to sub for two different bands, along with my bands stuff. After a while you learn new material pretty quickly. A real bugger is my main band and the two I subbed for all play 'Guilty'. I had to learn three sets of changes and three different keys. Having said all that I prefer to play music I'm familiar with live.

I too hate hanging out after the gig, pack up and go home, there are still hours worth of work to do, drive home, unload etc.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Ugh. The band I gig with most will schedule rehearsals even if they're not learning new songs... and they play straight-ahead rock. Fortunately they've been learning lots of new songs lately, but they gig a few times a month so they have no excuse to rehearse the old stuff.

With two bands I work work with which add new songs, they simply email that info to everyone. It's up to us to show up prepared at the gig. This are the highest paying regular gigs. Some people take that more seriously than others... a wedding/corporate band I'm in did the weirdest/lamest version of Maurice Cheavlier's "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" for a ftaher/daughter dance. The singer didn't even bother to listen to it and sang it as a I-IV-V Blues on top of the musicians playing the original arrangement which bears no resemblance to I-IV-V. You'd think that would embarass him enough to learn the next new song but nooo...


It ain't my band... I do what I can.

 

[cassanova]

I prefer the hired gun route. The income is better nor do you have to deal with the drama and politics that comes from being a regular member. The drawbacks are you never know if you're going to get a call for work and might not play a gig for a month or more, you have to learn complete set lists in minimal amounts of time, and other than a sound check (if you're lucky) no rehearsals. This can pose a problem if a song has several variations and you learn the wrong one. Though usually they'll tell you what one to learn.