Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Guests joining in
- Thread starter juancaminos
- Start date
Short answer: It depends.
If you are playing at a bar, and some local you don't know from Adam wants to get up and play, no way.... UNLESS the bar owner knows the guy and vouches for his professionalism. That's just smoothing things over with the bar.
If you play in a wedding band, and you're getting paid $7,000-$10,000 or more, it still depends. What you have to be cool with is that EVERYONE at that wedding would LOVE to see "crazy uncle Skip" get up and sing Brown Eyed Girl. It would be a big moment for the family. We have had the father of the bride up to sing or play dozens of times. He's the one writing the check (usually) so HECK YEAH! Hop on up and murder one. And thank you for the multiple thousands of dollars. Bridesmaids? Yep. Hop on up. Grab a mic and a tambourine and go nuts. Here's a bag of toys including shakers and a cowbell. Knock yourself out. Again, the family will LOVE it.
Somebody you don't know at a bar? Nope. Somebody you don't know at a bar who has had quite a few drinks? Super duper mega no. Not happening. Period.
Somebody we know and have all worked with and trust his/her abilities in a cover band at a bar gig? Heck yeah. Here's your spot on the stage. Jump up whenever you feel like it.
If you are playing at a bar, and some local you don't know from Adam wants to get up and play, no way.... UNLESS the bar owner knows the guy and vouches for his professionalism. That's just smoothing things over with the bar.
If you play in a wedding band, and you're getting paid $7,000-$10,000 or more, it still depends. What you have to be cool with is that EVERYONE at that wedding would LOVE to see "crazy uncle Skip" get up and sing Brown Eyed Girl. It would be a big moment for the family. We have had the father of the bride up to sing or play dozens of times. He's the one writing the check (usually) so HECK YEAH! Hop on up and murder one. And thank you for the multiple thousands of dollars. Bridesmaids? Yep. Hop on up. Grab a mic and a tambourine and go nuts. Here's a bag of toys including shakers and a cowbell. Knock yourself out. Again, the family will LOVE it.
Somebody you don't know at a bar? Nope. Somebody you don't know at a bar who has had quite a few drinks? Super duper mega no. Not happening. Period.
Somebody we know and have all worked with and trust his/her abilities in a cover band at a bar gig? Heck yeah. Here's your spot on the stage. Jump up whenever you feel like it.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Weddings are an entire different kettle of fish. You are basically there to do whatever the people paying you want. I played in weddings for a time - one night we did 4 songs, another 4 hours - for the same price (that second gig they paid us to stay another set where they got to sing some songs.
When my nephew got married, he didn't know that I knew that he loved to sing Elvis at karayoke nights. So after the first set, I spoke with the band, and got them to introduce him and have him sing Burning Love. The entire wedding party loved it, and the band enjoyed it as well.
When my nephew got married, he didn't know that I knew that he loved to sing Elvis at karayoke nights. So after the first set, I spoke with the band, and got them to introduce him and have him sing Burning Love. The entire wedding party loved it, and the band enjoyed it as well.
Wow, someone actually read the OP.
It used to happen here but not so much these days.
For years I gigged in an area where most of the local bands knew each other. We would sit-in at each other’s gigs all the time. The audience seem to love it, as it added some variety. We were also experienced musicians who knew how to communicate on stage, and didn’t really need rehearsals.
I have been in a bunch of bands in AZ since '98. We always had friends from other bands come up and join us, that includes: Metal, Rock, Country and Blue Grass
Yeah it does depend. Hers a vid of a typical Hussy Hicks gig. The short chick on stand up drums is the usual bass player and ten times better than ill ever be. The young guitarist that appears is my 17 year old daughter and I'm on bass. Their gigs do this quite often and its always a ball. This particular song is always an improvised jam in Gm..... the whole song. I love it.
I don't mind the occasional guest - BUT you should get the agreement of all the band members in advance - and understand that bringing someone up often destroys your momentum. in general, I'm against it
If you're a known, local musician that has been in the area for a while and can play above average,
yes, you'll get to sit in for a song or two and return the favor.
If you're new to the area, only an average player at best and not particularly well know,
doesn't matter what state you're in, just don't expect the welcome mat to be rolled out simply because you arrived.
Although, I have been in the most out of the way places like Tulsa OK and Bisbee AZ and got asked to sit in.
They did not know me or ever heard me play.Had a blast and learned what a walking country bass line is.
yes, you'll get to sit in for a song or two and return the favor.
If you're new to the area, only an average player at best and not particularly well know,
doesn't matter what state you're in, just don't expect the welcome mat to be rolled out simply because you arrived.
Although, I have been in the most out of the way places like Tulsa OK and Bisbee AZ and got asked to sit in.
They did not know me or ever heard me play.Had a blast and learned what a walking country bass line is.
Last edited:
If it's a tried and tested scenario where we know what to expect - sure why not? If it's some rando who wants to get up on stage with us, no thanks. We've already learned the hard way.
I fell into a loose, long-standing weekly gig at a venue in a part of town near a bunch of other music venues. We were a trio, and we'd often have musicians we knew sit in after they'd finished their sets, or even on their set breaks. Mostly it was horn players, all at least good and sometimes exceptional. A couple of times, when the musicians were having a good time and the venue's closing staff were into it, they just did a lock in and we kept calling out tunes and playing well after closing. That gig ran 6+ years, and the sits-ins were my favorite moments.
That gig, as a rule we allowed sit ins only if someone in the band had played with them and could vouch, but on a couple occasions the venue owner asked us if someone could sit in as a favor to her. The first time, it was a blues harp player who wasn't bad, but wasn't adding anything.
So the second occasion she asked, we weren't eager to trust her judgment. It was mid-set, and she came up at the end of a song with a couple haggard looking guys in tow, and apologetically asked if it would be okay if they sat in. We didn't recognize them, the venue was packed, and we weren't eager to set ourselves up for what could well turn into a trainwreck, so we said no. A few songs later, we took a break, and mingling w/ the room we ran into the singer guy and the guitarist, who were with a group of 5-6 other guys. Turns out it was Gary Allan and his band, who were out touring on the "Living Hard" album, which then had a few sizeable hits and was near the top of the country charts. They'd had their concert at Charlottesville's downtown ampitheater cancelled two songs in after a huge thunderstorm hit. The kicker: they'd drunk their way down from the ampitheater to the venue we were playing, stopping at every bar in between. So a few of the more sober members of this very professional set of Nashville road dogs allowed as they were mostly too far into their cups to be on stage, but we did have Allan and one of his guitarists sit in and play a couple songs. And, naturally, they were great.
I would guess that we have someone step up and do a song or three with us at about half our gigs. Most times it's a guitarist/singer or just a singer. Very rarely it's a bass player - maybe a dozen times in the last 400 gigs or so.
Mostly it works out pretty well. Guests bring friends and groups in the door to see them and generally help "spread the word", so that's something. Singers give our singing drummer (what a workload, sheesh) a much needed break for a short while which is also a nice thing.
On the rare times when a bass player hops up I'm always happy to let them have a go. They have always been good players known to me who I'm happy to let have my bass for a few songs. I don't hover and usually remove to a separate part of the bar and read my book until I'm called back. I get some reading done, I listen hard and often learn a thing or two (one way or another hehe). And as I always say when asked, I don't get paid by the note so it's all good
Mike
Mostly it works out pretty well. Guests bring friends and groups in the door to see them and generally help "spread the word", so that's something. Singers give our singing drummer (what a workload, sheesh) a much needed break for a short while which is also a nice thing.
On the rare times when a bass player hops up I'm always happy to let them have a go. They have always been good players known to me who I'm happy to let have my bass for a few songs. I don't hover and usually remove to a separate part of the bar and read my book until I'm called back. I get some reading done, I listen hard and often learn a thing or two (one way or another hehe). And as I always say when asked, I don't get paid by the note so it's all good
Mike
First Answer: To an extent, yes. It's a very friendly/supportive scene here. It's not unusual to see someone asked to sit in for a song but it's certainly not something that's guaranteed to happen.
Second Answer: One song and out, unless I'm specifically asked to do more. Unless I'm with my wife, then I politely decline to sit in by yelling "I can't, it's a date night and she'd kill me!".
In Northern New Jersey we are a rather tight community of musicians. If I see someone at a gig, I always offer them a song. Hell, Foo Fighters bring kids & strangers up for a song!
