Hey folks, for those new to the diary, I am a middle aged musician enjoying a bit of a musical renaissance, including finally picking up the bass as a secondary instrument. I have been learning *pretty* much on the fly gigging in a duo or trio, and have documented my gigs with brief writeups. See the links to past entries below!
This was the entry I was afraid I was going to be posting soon, and here we are. The trio I have been playing in imploded last weekend.
A short bit of background, with more of the story available at another forum post I made at *this link*. Frank is the guy who hosts the jam at The Patio where we played, and Evan is the drummer.
What started as a casual open jam quickly became a total mess. Frank and I cycled through a couple of drummers before Evan came along. He was led to believe that this was a project that was going to fast track to paying gigs, and he and Frank both pushed us into a full on reggae direction. I enjoyed the challenge, but this quickly became a weekly unpaid band practice with a song list of 30+ songs, without any discussion about compensation, booking prospects, etc.
Already on edge, finding out that Frank had booked a well paying festival gig for last weekend, and played with Evan on drums, a keyboardist, and his son on bass was the breaking point for me. I felt I had been taken advantage of at best, and used at worst. I talked to Evan about it, and while he took the high road and said that Frank wanted to perform his original songs with his son (which I 100% get), he understood how I felt, and shared my concerns. We agreed that a discussion had to take place. The next day, Evan jumped the gun and informed us that he was backing out due to the lack of pay. Frank claimed he wasn't getting paid either, which I am not sure if I believe or not (though I doubt they are giving him much given how few people we generally play to). I was down playing guitar/vocals that night, and dropped in to see Frank playing alone & didn't detect any real animosity.
So the project more or less ended with a whimper. I have decided to take a break from performing on bass for now, and will just focus on practicing until something comes along. I had three basses and a small portable practice amp, and I decided to sell two of those basses, and get a proper full sized practice amp (maybe a Rumble 40).
So I suspect this will be the last diary for the rest of the Summer, and maybe beyond. It's been a blast, I learned a ton about both performing, being a bassist, and in interpersonal dynamics! I am not giving up tho, I still really enjoy playing bass, and will keep my eyes open for something when the time is right!
1st entry: Bass Players | Played my first bass gig tonight
| Facebook
2nd entry: Bass Players | First off, Merry Christmas | Facebook
3rd entry: Bass Players | Third bass gig tonight | Facebook
4th entry: Bass Players | Another gig tonight | Facebook
5th entry: Bass Players | Another entry in my running gig diary | Facebook
6th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-6.1645734/#post-28323213
7th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-7-or-along-came-a-drummer.1646312/
8th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-8-there-goes-the-drummer.1649424/#post-28411461
9th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-9-drummer-redux.1650998/
10th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-10-the-takeover-jam.1653436/
11th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-11-back-to-the-future.1655395/#post-28540235
12th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-12-welcome-to-the-machine.1656230/
13th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-13-wait-are-we-a-real-band.1656725/
14th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-14-reggae-school.1657165/
15th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-15-rock-n-reggae.1657516/
This was the entry I was afraid I was going to be posting soon, and here we are. The trio I have been playing in imploded last weekend.
A short bit of background, with more of the story available at another forum post I made at *this link*. Frank is the guy who hosts the jam at The Patio where we played, and Evan is the drummer.
What started as a casual open jam quickly became a total mess. Frank and I cycled through a couple of drummers before Evan came along. He was led to believe that this was a project that was going to fast track to paying gigs, and he and Frank both pushed us into a full on reggae direction. I enjoyed the challenge, but this quickly became a weekly unpaid band practice with a song list of 30+ songs, without any discussion about compensation, booking prospects, etc.
Already on edge, finding out that Frank had booked a well paying festival gig for last weekend, and played with Evan on drums, a keyboardist, and his son on bass was the breaking point for me. I felt I had been taken advantage of at best, and used at worst. I talked to Evan about it, and while he took the high road and said that Frank wanted to perform his original songs with his son (which I 100% get), he understood how I felt, and shared my concerns. We agreed that a discussion had to take place. The next day, Evan jumped the gun and informed us that he was backing out due to the lack of pay. Frank claimed he wasn't getting paid either, which I am not sure if I believe or not (though I doubt they are giving him much given how few people we generally play to). I was down playing guitar/vocals that night, and dropped in to see Frank playing alone & didn't detect any real animosity.
So the project more or less ended with a whimper. I have decided to take a break from performing on bass for now, and will just focus on practicing until something comes along. I had three basses and a small portable practice amp, and I decided to sell two of those basses, and get a proper full sized practice amp (maybe a Rumble 40).
So I suspect this will be the last diary for the rest of the Summer, and maybe beyond. It's been a blast, I learned a ton about both performing, being a bassist, and in interpersonal dynamics! I am not giving up tho, I still really enjoy playing bass, and will keep my eyes open for something when the time is right!
1st entry: Bass Players | Played my first bass gig tonight
| Facebook2nd entry: Bass Players | First off, Merry Christmas | Facebook
3rd entry: Bass Players | Third bass gig tonight | Facebook
4th entry: Bass Players | Another gig tonight | Facebook
5th entry: Bass Players | Another entry in my running gig diary | Facebook
6th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-6.1645734/#post-28323213
7th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-7-or-along-came-a-drummer.1646312/
8th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-8-there-goes-the-drummer.1649424/#post-28411461
9th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-9-drummer-redux.1650998/
10th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-10-the-takeover-jam.1653436/
11th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-11-back-to-the-future.1655395/#post-28540235
12th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-12-welcome-to-the-machine.1656230/
13th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-13-wait-are-we-a-real-band.1656725/
14th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-14-reggae-school.1657165/
15th entry: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diary-of-a-bassist-15-rock-n-reggae.1657516/
