I've been recruited to join a start-up Cajun style band by a drummer who is playing washboard and triangle and a bit of snare drum in this project. Mostly old-time Cajun songs but a few mouldy olies like "C'est la vie" and "Jambalays" too. The rhythm guitarist is a veteran drummer too so he's really really solid and chunky.
Two extremely good fiddlers, one from bluegrass and the other from a classical, swing, country-rockabilly background. Couldn't find a real Cajun sytle button accoridon player so we have a very good piano accordion player. He is skilled and musically trained too; whips up lead sheets in minutes with all the notes written out for the fiddlers to learn the heads of songs.
Trouble is that the washboard player started the band, is the defacto BL, directs the rehearsals and suggests arrangements, or at least tries to get everyone to agree on where solos go and for how long.
The accordionist is very opinionated in this regard too and at times his suggestions contradict the BL's ideas and rhearsals come to a dead stop while they "discuss" their differences. I hope it works out, the overall sound is awesome and for the first time in 52 years of playing I'm getting asked to do lead vocals. Mostly because I can speak French, but also, my vocals are whiny and slightly out of tune, just like the old records.
But now I have an original song I showed them last week and wrote out the melody yesterday in my unschooled self-taught way but the whole thing works out to 10 bars. Should be 8 or 12 I think.
Somehting just ain't right. I suggested in an email tothe BL that I ask the accordion player to write out the lead sheet for the head but he wrote: "No, don't let him arrange your original song." I think he's primairly worried about losing control of the band.
Anyway, I'm ging to make a short video of me playing guitar and warbling through my two-chord original Cajun tune and send to them. The fiddlers are good enough to pick it up by ear anyway.
Two extremely good fiddlers, one from bluegrass and the other from a classical, swing, country-rockabilly background. Couldn't find a real Cajun sytle button accoridon player so we have a very good piano accordion player. He is skilled and musically trained too; whips up lead sheets in minutes with all the notes written out for the fiddlers to learn the heads of songs.
Trouble is that the washboard player started the band, is the defacto BL, directs the rehearsals and suggests arrangements, or at least tries to get everyone to agree on where solos go and for how long.
The accordionist is very opinionated in this regard too and at times his suggestions contradict the BL's ideas and rhearsals come to a dead stop while they "discuss" their differences. I hope it works out, the overall sound is awesome and for the first time in 52 years of playing I'm getting asked to do lead vocals. Mostly because I can speak French, but also, my vocals are whiny and slightly out of tune, just like the old records.
But now I have an original song I showed them last week and wrote out the melody yesterday in my unschooled self-taught way but the whole thing works out to 10 bars. Should be 8 or 12 I think.
Somehting just ain't right. I suggested in an email tothe BL that I ask the accordion player to write out the lead sheet for the head but he wrote: "No, don't let him arrange your original song." I think he's primairly worried about losing control of the band.
Anyway, I'm ging to make a short video of me playing guitar and warbling through my two-chord original Cajun tune and send to them. The fiddlers are good enough to pick it up by ear anyway.
