A while ago I answered an ad on Craiglist for a guy looking for a bass player. He's a piano player, he had a woman singing, he said he was looking for somebody to do serious rehearsing and then start looking for gigs. He's a pretty good player, accomplished but tends to way over think things. He wanted to kind of micromanage the bass parts, and he's a persnickety guy, but I was ok with it--it was good practice, and I had nothing else going on, and I was ok with rehearsing twice a week. No sign of any gigs, just a bit of talk.
So during that time I was twice offered gigs by some old friends who needed a fill-in--paying gigs, where I was also doing friends a favor. Twice these gigs were on nights we were supposed to rehearse the trio. I gave him plenty of notice each time, several days.
So the other night i go to rehearse and he tells me that we need to talk "it's come to his attention" that I've missed rehearsals and "do i realize that this sets us back and it's not professional ..." and at that point I zip up the case and say "find another bass player, good luck with that" and walk out.
Am I wrong or is he? My feeling is, I have no contract with him, he has no promise of a gig, I'm going to take the paying gig over the rehearsal, and I'm completely right to do so, and it's in fact reasonable, normal behavior. He thinks this is "unprofessional." I kind of think, forgive me, that "professional" involves "getting paid," not micromanaging charts in his living room.
He's perfectly within his rights to want a bass player who never misses his rehearsal, sure, but I want a lot of things that don't exist in real life, like a pickup that sounds like my bass only louder, or a set of strings that sounds just as good arco as it does pizz. He's wrong to get all high and mighty about it.
I'm done with the guy, it wasn't much fun playing with him, but I wonder what other players think of the ethics of the situation?
Also I'm 50 years old and he's in his late 20s-30s, and he's lecturing me and I'm pretty much f$&k that unless you're paying me.
So during that time I was twice offered gigs by some old friends who needed a fill-in--paying gigs, where I was also doing friends a favor. Twice these gigs were on nights we were supposed to rehearse the trio. I gave him plenty of notice each time, several days.
So the other night i go to rehearse and he tells me that we need to talk "it's come to his attention" that I've missed rehearsals and "do i realize that this sets us back and it's not professional ..." and at that point I zip up the case and say "find another bass player, good luck with that" and walk out.
Am I wrong or is he? My feeling is, I have no contract with him, he has no promise of a gig, I'm going to take the paying gig over the rehearsal, and I'm completely right to do so, and it's in fact reasonable, normal behavior. He thinks this is "unprofessional." I kind of think, forgive me, that "professional" involves "getting paid," not micromanaging charts in his living room.
He's perfectly within his rights to want a bass player who never misses his rehearsal, sure, but I want a lot of things that don't exist in real life, like a pickup that sounds like my bass only louder, or a set of strings that sounds just as good arco as it does pizz. He's wrong to get all high and mighty about it.
I'm done with the guy, it wasn't much fun playing with him, but I wonder what other players think of the ethics of the situation?
Also I'm 50 years old and he's in his late 20s-30s, and he's lecturing me and I'm pretty much f$&k that unless you're paying me.
