Yea, I should have been clued in when it was billed as "acoustic".
I have a good friend that I've known for years, in fact he was the guitarist in my first band. He has had his share of self induced bad knocks, and struggles with alcoholism. He is on disability, and all he really has left in his life is his music. He has been sober for many months now, and honestly I'm very proud of him. I get together with him about once a week lately, where we are working up some songs, him on acoustic guitar, me on fretless bass. He still has chops and can sing, but it's nothing serious, and I'm really doing this to give him something to live for and stay sober. We have talked about working enough material up to do a show, I'm super busy, but it if keeps him sober, I'll put the time in for him.
Now that you know the background, tonight he invited me to a jam, where we would get up and do a few songs. I agree, and meet him at the bar the jam is being held. I get there before him and have the fretless with me. I notice a few mics, a monitor, and the acoustic guitars are going direct. Hmm.
Long story short, the set up is not equipped to run an electric bass, and honestly I don't think they cared. I tried running direct, but they wouldn't put me in the monitor, which was overpoweringly loud with guitar and vox, so I had no way to hear myself play. I could have fudged it on a fretted, but not on a fretless. I tried playing about half a song, but I bowed out and took a seat. My friend played about four songs before he was done.
I felt bad leaving the stage, but with the organizer not wanting to work with me and playing a fretless, where I absolutely have to hear the notes, it was just left a bad taste in my mouth. It was obvious they weren't set up to have electric instruments, or just didn't want them. It was a very folky, bob Dylan feel for the rest of the hour I stayed. To top it off, there were some really, really bad players and singers that got up after us. Yikes.
My friend wants to go back next week (he is a semi-regular there I guess). And said he will bring a little amp for me to play through. I reluctantly agreed, forcing a smile.
My main issue is I felt because I was not playing an acoustic guitar, I wasn't really welcome. Im not a Prima Donna by any means, but this jam was well beneath my pay grade, if you will. The fretless bass and acoustic guitar play very well with each other, and over hundreds of acoustic shows I've played over the years, those two instruments alway fit together. I didn't feel there was any need for the underlying attitude.
I will do this for my friend next week, but it's going to be brutal. I've never been to a jam where I got the feeling that other instruments weren't welcome, but I sure did tonight.
Sorry for the rant, this just really bugged me tonight. I guess I will pay more attention to the word "acoustic" next time.
I have a good friend that I've known for years, in fact he was the guitarist in my first band. He has had his share of self induced bad knocks, and struggles with alcoholism. He is on disability, and all he really has left in his life is his music. He has been sober for many months now, and honestly I'm very proud of him. I get together with him about once a week lately, where we are working up some songs, him on acoustic guitar, me on fretless bass. He still has chops and can sing, but it's nothing serious, and I'm really doing this to give him something to live for and stay sober. We have talked about working enough material up to do a show, I'm super busy, but it if keeps him sober, I'll put the time in for him.
Now that you know the background, tonight he invited me to a jam, where we would get up and do a few songs. I agree, and meet him at the bar the jam is being held. I get there before him and have the fretless with me. I notice a few mics, a monitor, and the acoustic guitars are going direct. Hmm.
Long story short, the set up is not equipped to run an electric bass, and honestly I don't think they cared. I tried running direct, but they wouldn't put me in the monitor, which was overpoweringly loud with guitar and vox, so I had no way to hear myself play. I could have fudged it on a fretted, but not on a fretless. I tried playing about half a song, but I bowed out and took a seat. My friend played about four songs before he was done.
I felt bad leaving the stage, but with the organizer not wanting to work with me and playing a fretless, where I absolutely have to hear the notes, it was just left a bad taste in my mouth. It was obvious they weren't set up to have electric instruments, or just didn't want them. It was a very folky, bob Dylan feel for the rest of the hour I stayed. To top it off, there were some really, really bad players and singers that got up after us. Yikes.
My friend wants to go back next week (he is a semi-regular there I guess). And said he will bring a little amp for me to play through. I reluctantly agreed, forcing a smile.
My main issue is I felt because I was not playing an acoustic guitar, I wasn't really welcome. Im not a Prima Donna by any means, but this jam was well beneath my pay grade, if you will. The fretless bass and acoustic guitar play very well with each other, and over hundreds of acoustic shows I've played over the years, those two instruments alway fit together. I didn't feel there was any need for the underlying attitude.
I will do this for my friend next week, but it's going to be brutal. I've never been to a jam where I got the feeling that other instruments weren't welcome, but I sure did tonight.
Sorry for the rant, this just really bugged me tonight. I guess I will pay more attention to the word "acoustic" next time.
