If you have any video or audio of your playing, send that to me so I can send it to them if the need comes up. You just never know
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Do you play in two bands?
- Thread starter stratovani
- Start date
Good morning! Good thread, amazing to find this kind consensus on Talk Bass Dot Com.
Just to be contrary (it is still Talk Bass Dot Com y'all!) I'll offer a slightly different perspective.
I was in two bands briefly in 2019, my current jazz/R&B project and a biker rock band. I quit the biker rock band shortly after starting with the jazz project, which is much more squarely in my wheelhouse as an artist.
For me it wasn't the scheduling that was a hassle, it was the split attention learning originals and coming up with bass lines in a genre I'm not familiar with or particularly fond of in Band A while arranging/transposing standards and learning/arranging originals in an idiom I live and breathe in Band B. I play best when I play music I like and have time to learn and play well (though I'm not at all dogmatic about it, ten bucks is ten bucks, as Geddy would say*). End of the day, I chose to put all my energy into the project making music that I would listen to even if I weren't in it.
I've never played in a cover band. I suppose if it were just a show-up-and-read-charts gig, I'd do fine, but most cover bands don't have bass charts (I'm not familiar enough with the canon to fake the bass parts from chord/lyric charts). And I'd rather spend my time and energy on something original than learning 4-6 decades of pop/rock favorites by rote.
*Geddy reference:
Just to be contrary (it is still Talk Bass Dot Com y'all!) I'll offer a slightly different perspective.I was in two bands briefly in 2019, my current jazz/R&B project and a biker rock band. I quit the biker rock band shortly after starting with the jazz project, which is much more squarely in my wheelhouse as an artist.
For me it wasn't the scheduling that was a hassle, it was the split attention learning originals and coming up with bass lines in a genre I'm not familiar with or particularly fond of in Band A while arranging/transposing standards and learning/arranging originals in an idiom I live and breathe in Band B. I play best when I play music I like and have time to learn and play well (though I'm not at all dogmatic about it, ten bucks is ten bucks, as Geddy would say*). End of the day, I chose to put all my energy into the project making music that I would listen to even if I weren't in it.
I've never played in a cover band. I suppose if it were just a show-up-and-read-charts gig, I'd do fine, but most cover bands don't have bass charts (I'm not familiar enough with the canon to fake the bass parts from chord/lyric charts). And I'd rather spend my time and energy on something original than learning 4-6 decades of pop/rock favorites by rote.
*Geddy reference:
That's always a tough situation. I played in 3 different bands at a time before. Seldom did any gigs conflict because these bands didn't play much. I considered myself a sub in all of them so getting one of them getting a sub wasn't a problem and I knew enough players who could fill in for me, and I knew they didn't really want any of these gigs so no chance of losing one.
All of these bands had similar song lists but several in different keys... talk about confusion... lol!
I was always a one-band man until a couple of years ago. It's first-come, first-served, and both bands have had to turn down gigs because members are unavailable. Both bands keep Google calendars so everyone knows what's going on. Everyone in my second band also is in multiple acts, so it gets a little complicated. In an ideal world, it would probably be best to serve only one master at a time, but these days it's often hard to stay busy with a single band.
I don't play "important" gigs, so the gig that was booked first takes precedence. The second band wouldn't book a date without a bassist, so they would either get a sub for me (has never happened, but one band is just not very busy and the other has our first gig in March) or not play the gig.
I'm in two bands (my keyboardist is in both as well), and it's first come, first served. We haven't had any issues yet. In fact, a couple weeks ago we had two different messenger threads going at the same time, as the booking agent was talking to both bands at the same time about a bunch of bookings. We worked it out perfectly with no complaints. Communication and keeping the band calendars updated are key.
With the number of gigs my bands play, it'd be a Murphy's law kind of situation to get double booked, but it may happen eventually, so I do first come/first serve.
Day job conflicts are a different issue. I'm a public defender, so I've told my bands that if I have a trial, my day job preempts any show, and sometimes I can't predict exactly when it'll happen (cases frequently get moved around for reasons that are beyond my control). If I play the gig and underprepare for the the trial, I'll be thinking about that dude in prison every gig I play forever. I haven't had that issue yet, but I probably will eventually.
Day job conflicts are a different issue. I'm a public defender, so I've told my bands that if I have a trial, my day job preempts any show, and sometimes I can't predict exactly when it'll happen (cases frequently get moved around for reasons that are beyond my control). If I play the gig and underprepare for the the trial, I'll be thinking about that dude in prison every gig I play forever. I haven't had that issue yet, but I probably will eventually.
Everyone here (Portland, OR) that plays is in at least two bands. Shared online calendars is how I've done it here so far. Even with the calendar, when gigs are offered, a mass text is sent confirming everyone's availability. Once the date is locked for one band I make myself unavailable for anything with the other. Securing backups is usually done by band leaders but some players (myself included) have trusted backups for all their projects.
I play in two bands, but this isn't much of an issue for me. The guitarist, drummer and I are the core of both bands. Band 1 adds keys and trumpet. Band 2 adds 2nd guitar. Everybody sings in both bands.
I play in several bands but none of them are all that active. I do keep all of them informed and they all have access to my calendar that they know to check before booking any gigs. Subbing out my parts are next to impossible as they are all originals projects.
Sure, I don't have much that features me, but I am putting a sampler together of what I have this week. I'll send you a link to that that you can share when I get it finished. Unfortunately, most of what I have is just band shots from a single stationary camera, but I did get some brief footage of just me from our last gig.If you have any video or audio of your playing, send that to me so I can send it to them if the need comes up. You just never know
This is it and the only way I know to make it work since everyone knows and understands the rules. Simply it's 1st come, 1st served. I play in two bands and pick up fill in work as well. Of course you have to have some ethics too, don't commit to one and then bail if a gig comes up that pays a little better.
One is a Friday night band. The other is a Saturday night band. The BL in the Friday night band is also in a Saturday night band. So he only books on Friday nights. The Saturday night band takes priority in terms of practice time because it plays more frequently, plays to much bigger audiences, sells a lot more beer, and as a result the pay is better.
I play in 3 modestly active bands that work locally and regionally. I also sub when the offer is interesting (I don't take every sub call I get). By design all of these bands (aside from the sub calls) are primarily original projects (at least 50% of the set lists are originals, some go as high as 80%), not cover bands, which is a different animal. The market I play in has quite a few venues (6 active music venues in a town of 90k, plus many wineries in the surrounding area and a pretty solid festival season Apr-Oct), so overall gigging opportunity is pretty good. I did 74 gigs last year, which is close to being as busy as I want to be without cutting in to other things I like to do. I am hoping to up that number a bit this year, but also focus on better/bigger venues.
From my perspective, the key is being very organized and up front with the regular bands and subbing prospects. It helps that I personally book all three bands to a significant degree (50% or more of their gigs), so I have worked out a pretty good method for keeping things straight. I also try to keep a long view (like 6 months out) on the calendar and not just look a week or month out.
it can get tricky in the thick of the season but I have not had very many conflicts so far and I have been doing this a long time.
From my perspective, the key is being very organized and up front with the regular bands and subbing prospects. It helps that I personally book all three bands to a significant degree (50% or more of their gigs), so I have worked out a pretty good method for keeping things straight. I also try to keep a long view (like 6 months out) on the calendar and not just look a week or month out.
it can get tricky in the thick of the season but I have not had very many conflicts so far and I have been doing this a long time.
just do both gigs.
tell one band that you are doing an early set, the other you are doing a late set.
make sure you bring a friend or two along for the ride and make it a party!
tell one band that you are doing an early set, the other you are doing a late set.
make sure you bring a friend or two along for the ride and make it a party!
It's an age old dilemma, almost as hard as dating two or three women which never worked well for me. Two or three bands is communication and scheduling.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
yes 2 bands ...
Band one a bunch of old guys with health problems … we rarely get together
Band two new band trying to come together … this one may come off the rails
I may be soon searching for band three
I am 65 but I need to keep working because I want to increase my net worth
