Each band has only one venue?

[PennyroyalWe]

The band I play in pretty much plays the same 2 venues, that are owned by the same owner. I don’t mind, they treat us well and the crowds are fun.

 

[JazznFunk]

If you play more than just a couple of venues in the same general metropolitan area in a short time, you can bill it as a 'tour'!

 

[Pocket Dave]

Not sure that's how it is now or not - My main band has 7 places we hit about once a month + one-off events. Another club owner gives me one Friday a month if I have one to spare; There I put together a pickup band with a special guest front person.

I also pick up the occasional sub gig.

Like @buldog5151bass said, sounds like no one in those bands wants to hustle gigs.

 

[klokker]

In my world I know people who play in 4 bands. It's my area and context I suppose but I don't know anyone who could do that very well. I can sub for a band here and there, but I can sort of "get by" at best. It works, but not really. We have a guy in our band who plays in multiple bands and he's a drag on us. The rest of us pull him through every gig and he has to fake it a lot.

There are people who can do that well, they're way better than I am, not weekend warriors like I am.

I've been in bands that basically only had one gig. It's better than nothing I suppose, but I really enjoy the different places and crowds we run into. We have tons of songs to draw from, how would I do this with 4 bands? Maybe they all play the same songs?

But I agree, it's better than nothing if you're enjoying it.

 

[Pocket Dave]

In my world I know people who play in 4 bands. It's my area and context I suppose but I don't know anyone who could do that very well. I can sub for a band here and there, but I can sort of "get by" at best. It works, but not really. We have a guy in our band who plays in multiple bands and he's a drag on us. The rest of us pull him through every gig and he has to fake it a lot.

There are people who can do that well, they're way better than I am, not weekend warriors like I am.

I've been in bands that basically only had one gig. It's better than nothing I suppose, but I really enjoy the different places and crowds we run into. We have tons of songs to draw from, how would I do this with 4 bands? Maybe they all play the same songs?

But I agree, it's better than nothing if you're enjoying it.

Yeah. In my world, if you sub, you'd best put in the time woodshedding the whole setlist.

Advantages:

1. Do it often enough, they'll be overlap in material between bands.
2. Do it often enough, the learning process becomes easier/faster.
3. Being completely prepared makes for better odds you'll be considered again, maybe even worked into regular rotation; The return on time investment will come quicker.

 

[klokker]

Yeah. In my world, if you sub, you'd best put in the time woodshedding the whole setlist.

Advantages:

1. Do it often enough, they'll be overlap in material between bands.
2. Do it often enough, the learning process becomes easier/faster.
3. Being completely prepared makes for better odds you'll be considered again, maybe even worked into regular rotation; The return on time investment will come quicker.

Can't disagree. I got in this band I'm in through a sub job. They gave me a set list the week before and i showed up with no rehearsal, let's go.

Did OK, but in my situation at the point, the woodshedding I do is on OUR set list. Keeping it up and sharp and a little new stuff is about all I can do. Still learning to sing well, and have an "attitude". 4 bands would overwhelm me, given my reality.

There is such a variety of skill level and expectation.

 

[fdeck]

Yeah. In my world, if you sub, you'd best put in the time woodshedding the whole setlist.

Advantages:

1. Do it often enough, they'll be overlap in material between bands.
2. Do it often enough, the learning process becomes easier/faster.
3. Being completely prepared makes for better odds you'll be considered again, maybe even worked into regular rotation; The return on time investment will come quicker.

I've begun to shed entire set lists. What I realized is that a fair amount of my practice time can be devoted to shedding practically anything that gets my fingers moving and maintains my chops. I can turn anything into an exercise, and new material often uncovers technical problems that I wasn't aware of, even if it's basic stuff.

My rule of thumb about subbing is every gig is an audition. Both of my kids are musicians, and I've given them the same advice. The older kid, who's a bit further along, is now gigging fairly regularly.

Oddly enough my main band has one venue. We stayed at our previous venue for more than a decade before it closed. It's hard to find a place that can host a 19 piece jazz band, figure out the logistics, etc. And we can't realistically play more gigs than once a month.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Oddly enough my main band has one venue. We stayed at our previous venue for more than a decade before it closed. It's hard to find a place that can host a 19 piece jazz band, figure out the logistics, etc. And we can't realistically play more gigs than once a month.

Sounds like the same path as the Dallas Jazz Orchestra; They've done the one-venue thing for decades, first at Dallas' Village CC and later at I-can't remember-the-venue-name-where-I-used-to-play in Addison.

At both venues they performed weekly on Sunday evenings. It was a win-win for all; 1. It was preferable over scheduling a weekly rehearsal, 2. When all the family and close friends of all the musicians showed up, the venues profited.

OTOH, pay scale for each musician was super-low toward the end of their weekly runs, significantly below union scale.

They're now doing monthly Wednesday shows at Poor David's for a $25 cover.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I'm with four bands right now. Seems each band has one place they book regularly... and not much else. Is that how it is now?

I'd much rather have one band that books several places. Four bands' worth of songs to learn is a bit much! I don't have enough study time for that.

If you don't have time then you don't have time, but as mentioned by someone else, the more songs you learn, the easier it becomes to learn new songs. So, I encourage you to spend as much time as you can learning new tunes, along with 'shedding the ones you already know.

As for "is that how it is?": I live in a huge multi-state metro area, but at my level (bar/restaurant gigs, not higher-dollar showcase gigs under talent agencies) the only way to keep really busy is to juggle multiple bands. So, I play in a half-dozen regular bands, sometimes sharing bass duty. On top of that I get hired to play sub gigs by various musicians I've become networked with. There's only so much overlap between these band setlists, and only so many songs that I play on a regular basis. So, I use a tablet with over 600 song "charts" that I've cobbled out myself in Nashville Number shorthand. All of my bands are fine with me using the tablet*, so I suggest you do the same if possible.

*It's important to note that I only have to read a few songs per set at most. And much of the time, "reading" means a quick glance at the chart to remind myself of the structure, along with any notes (such as Band X plays this in C, Band Y plays this in D).

As the booker of gigs for my band, I ask that we are the only band you are booking with as trying to book around everyone’s competing schedule is not practical for a band that books a lot of gigs. Granted, I have us booked a year out.

I totally get this. If a band offered me 40-plus nice-paying gigs per year then I would agree to be exclusive to that band. Right now, to get my 50-70 gigs per year I have to juggle a bunch of bands. Matter of fact, the BL for one of these bands is the opposite: "I play in multiple bands, and prefer that all members of this band do the same. Last thing I need is for someone to complain that this band isn't filling their calendar with gigs".

I'd opt for four bands each with one stage rather than obe band playing four times as much. One setlist gets boring fast. One-off gigs are ideal with a rotation of players and different set lists.

Amen to this. I love the variety of juggling multiple bands and sub gigs. Disclosure: most of the tunes I play are classic rock radio standards, but one of the bands has a female lead singer (very different set of tunes of course), another is mostly roots/country, and another is mostly original blues/funk/rock.

 

[Lazylion]

"I encourage you to spend as much time as you can learning new tunes"

Aaaand.. that is exactly the problem. But thanks for the encouragement.

 

[51PRI]

If you don't have time then you don't have time, but as mentioned by someone else, the more songs you learn, the easier it becomes to learn new songs.....

This is a great point. You can broaden your pallet if you actually take the time to sit down and learn new songs instead of just winging them.