How Did You Start Out Gigging

[Freight Train]

1967 small town Texas, a couple 8th grade classmates and I have formed a trio, The Pneumatic Implosion (later to be the Concrete Flower), and we're playing our first "teen dance" at the American Legion Hall. A year before I had learned of the existence of the bass guitar. Before that, I was playing bass lines one string at a time on a 2/3 scale acoustic, and then went through 2 different electrics before I discovered there was a bass. There was no one in town to tell us such things, or live music to see. We had finally learned to tune our instruments a few months before the gig. Prior to that we carried them up the street to a guy who somewhat could play the guitar and he would tune them for us. A week before the gig I had traded my horrible Kingston bass and even worse Supro accordion amp for a Kalamazoo KB-1 bass and a Gibson Thor 30 watt tube 2x10 combo. (Man I wish I still had those!). The night of the gig arrives, and our rival band in town, The Mind's Eye, were outside convincing all the kids to not go in unless we lowered admission from a dollar to fifty cents. We were about to bow up and say no way, we're out a' here, when my mom, who was managing the whole shindig, essentially said "F them, let's do it!", and we did and it was a fantastic time!
Later we realized that on most of the songs we "knew" we were only playing the verses, didn't know the choruses.

 

[pepj]

School band and were clueless together but quickly branched out and met other equally clueless people as the few gigs we did were 'lacking'
So I joined a proper working band with proper gigs and then joined an even more popular band where I could keep up musically but lacking proper gigging nous.
Then I studied and continue to study.
As we get older, some things slide, but I feel I'm better than 6 months ago and thats always been a pattern apart from burning out and taking nearly two years out a good while back.
I needed that...but it wasn't without 'cost' and now I'm very careful to avoid burning out again which is why I'm very picky in what I do these days.
I am very defintely not a any gig, any time type these days.

JFDI... imv,

 

[EricOnTheBass]

I started playing bass because a few of my best friends wanted to start a band. I was a drummer, but my bff was too, and he was better than me. So I went out and bought a cheap bass just so I could be in the band!

I doubt I would play very much if I wasn’t in a band playing gigs. That’s really the best part for me.

 

[Pings Bass]

Played my first bar gig in high school. We thought we were prepared, but we were all just kids.

 

[badinage]

I sang Chorus in High School. The Director called me aside one day and said he knew of a band "across town" that needed a bassist that could sing high and loud. "...um you have a bass... right..."?

I suddenly had a steady gig and some new friends. Yes, they were better than me.

 

[socialleper]

Played with my friends in a band until we wrote enough songs to play a 30 minute set and then rented a place to put on a show.

I didn't start playing with strangers until I was in my 30s. I only do original bands. I've never been a hired gun or studio guy, and write or participate in writing everything I play.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I'm old, so I don't have documents or images from 1966. My high school friends needed a bass player. I raised my hand. I didn't know nuthin' about nuthin'. First gig was a bar mitzfah at the long-since-demolished Huntington Town House. (Lon Guyland) I think they gave me $10. Getting paid to have fun? Yeah, I could go for more of that...

 

[devnulljp]

Combo of A & B
Joined a rock band at 17 -- they were all in their 20s and quite seasoned at gigging already. We rehearsed a lot, and then I started gigging.
Took a break.
Joined a jazz band, never played jazz before, bought an upright, never played on before, got a gig after 2 weeks. IN at the deep end with much better and much more exerienced players. Trial by fire, it's been great. I've learned so much.

 

[MCS4]

If it counts as gigging, I started on live bass in a contemporary praise band at my small town church where the youth pastor (main singer/guitarist) taught me the notes on the first handful of frets of the E and A strings and I played many, many performances just playing the roots of the chord changes off lyric sheets in rhythm with the drums. Before that I had only rudimentary practice at home on guitar and some bass focusing on songs I liked from the rock radio of the time.

The time I played my first gig with an independent "band" at a third party venue, I joined an established local band with a full setlist of originals and plenty of gigging experience, and I had played countless times with the praise band, so we hit the ground running pretty easily even though I was the least experienced.

 

[dfp]

B. Bc someone better than me bailed on the gig but he recommended me (classmates in music school). Subbing for the better players at first, generally, worked steadily on getting my skills up, eventually getting asked to join this or that. On a university music school scene, lots of good players back then.

 

[Killing Floor]

My first gigs I’m sure were an assault on the senses. Got better. But I was in no way ready.

 

[2thAche]

1st rock gigs were college, not counting little stuff in high school. I joined a band that was already good. I played orchestra "gigs" since very young tho so it never was a thing that I thought too much about (was just a natural thing to play for people) and yes we were prepared before playing out, organized practice, everyone pulled their weight.

 

[fdeck]

I actually had quite a traditional background, more typical of the classical and jazz scenes. I started on cello as a kid, and it was my main axe through high school, though I was also learning electric bass. So I played in things like recitals, school concerts, and a community orchestra. You were expected to get your stuff together before trying to play out, but recitals and school groups helped gain performance experience such as dealing with nerves. My first paid gigs were in the pit orchestra for a community musical theater, sharing a stand with my cello teacher. We also did the "circuit" of high schools that needed an orchestra for the school musical. It wasn't a lot of money, but it felt cool to be a "pro" in some remote sense.

Some friends and I from the school jazz band formed a rock band and we played some things like a middle school pool party, then we broke up when we all graduated. Meanwhile I was learning to play jazz on bass, and played some low profile gigs with fellow students while in college. When I got to grad school, I played bass in the university orchestra for a year, then gave my card to a guy who had a jazz band, in case he ever needed a sub. My first paid gigs on bass in the town where I now live were all subbing. Remember the rule, "treat every gig as an audition." Other players who were also on those gigs had their own bands, and I started getting calls.

The rest is history. This is a pretty typical pattern, but perhaps the main thing was that I was ready to gig when I started doing so.

 

[pfschim]

Well, for me it was kind of two paths.

Played my first paying gig when I was 12 (in middle school). We got a set in between the singers older brothers band at a Lions Club "teen dance" thing. Very cool and a great way to start. We were more or less prepared, and really pretty much close in skill at the time. So that was the start of that part of my gigging life ... rock/pop music cover bands. I did that for decades (I'm now in my 60's). About 18 years ago, I decided to move away from cover bands and work on original projects and that has worked out pretty well for me.

My Dad was a working pro bass player in Chicago and Detroit from the 40's thru about the early 80's when he decided he'd had enough of it. When I was a sophomore in highschool and had developed some reasonable skills, I started taking some of his 2nd calls for the society type gigs (private parties and hotel gigs) he did in/around the Chicago area. That was definitely jumping in to the deep end of the pool as nearly everyone I played with on those gigs was older and had tons more experience than I did. Serious gigging education for sure, I learned a lot in a hurry, and definitely more than just playing the gig. I saw all kinds of eye opening behavior for a highschool kid

fun times!

 

[Jeff Hughes]

When you start gigging as a teenager, you mostly care about whether you can finish the song. You aren’t always aware of the other kinks…which is good. You don’t fret; you just keep doing it.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Gigging players - How did you start this craziness?

Please let us know which you chose and whether or not you feel you've continued to grow in the gig world or quit for whatever reason.

I suspect there might be a correlation, though I may be way off.

I started playing bass in 1965. Just liked the sound of it and I already played the basic guitar chords including barre chords. So I bought a used green Japanese short scale bass and would bump the back end of it against a closet door to use the door as a sound board so I could at least hear what I was playing. Got together with some other high school kids to start a band. In 1966 I bought a '66 Fender Bassman amp and found out just how bad my bass sounded. Nonetheless we signed up for a Battle of the Bands put on by the local movie theater. We played 3 of the 5-songs we knew and didn't win, but they gave us free movie tickets for 2 for a period of 2-years for participating in it.

After our turn friends of mine who had a gigging high-school band asked me to play for them. The keys player was leaving town and their bass player was taking over on keys. So they asked me to play bass with them. I ended up buying the bass player's bass, which allowed him to buy the former keys player's Farfisa Organ. My new to me 1965 Jazz bass took a minute to get used to the longer scale but it really sounded good!

I played that rig throughout high school and some college. Then in 1971 I got a call from the rhythm guitarist of our high school group who asked me if I'd like to come play my bass and get paid for it. I had 2-weeks vacation coming so I drove about 500-miles up to Fallon, NV to check it out. When I got there, my guitarist buddy, Steve, introduced me to the drummer and the female vocalist. The drummer was the BL and after shaking my hand he asked if I brought my gear with me. I said yes, and he said, "lets get it unloaded and set up on stage." So we set my gear up on stage and an hour later started the night's 4-hour gig. I was familiar with most of the songs and I also played guitar,, so I watched Steve's hands for the changes. He had to make sure I could see his hands but we got through that night as well as the rest of the next 2-weeks.

Suddenly, I was a touring musician. We played 5-nights a week 50-weeks a year for the next 3-years. Went from a 4-piece group to a 5-piece group to a 6-piece group to a 5-piece group. Everyone but the drummer would sing lead on their songs and back up all the others. The drummer would sometimes add some background vocals too. Vera Lynn sang all the female top-40 vocals and also country songs. I sang most of the rock songs except for Creedence Clearwater songs, which our guitarist Steve sang. Fellow who I replaced, Tom, later rejoined the band and was hired back because of his voice and our drummer found some conga drums for him to use. Tom sang Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, and Gary Puckett songs wonderfully well, as well as a number of country songs too.

Most of the country songs back then were 3-chord wonders with really boring and unimaginative bass lines. So on the country songs, I would pass my bass over to Tom to play during the country songs and I would double on either the organ or the piano, whichever the keys player wasn't using. Had a great time and made good money (equivalent to ~$5,000 per week in 2024 dollars). Met my wife while I was touring and we've been married for 52-years now. I still can't believe it - I asked her if she'd like to come on the road with me after our 2-week gig was over and she said yes!

Here's a shot of the group as a 5-piece. There were actually 6 of us there at the time, but the keys player had given his 2-week notice and these were promotional pics so he's not in them. He was set up on the other side of the drummer. Anyhow, that was the start and I've done all kinds of things and played with all sorts of people since. I'm playing my '65 Jazz here and that's my Standel amp hiding behind the Steve and Vera. Unfortunately all my touring gear was stolen in 1976, a couple of years after I stopped touring.

 

[Pocket Dave]

When you start gigging as a teenager, you mostly care about whether you can finish the song. You aren’t always aware of the other kinks…which is good. You don’t fret; you just keep doing it.

Not even sure I cared about finishing the song. I was just thrilled to be doing it.

 

[Dabndug]

In hindsight, a combination of A, B, and C. At the age of 16, I was playing in a garage band playing covers when I was recruited by a better garage band playing covers and originals that managed to get party gigs, eventually graduating to a few pub and fair appearances. We were of similar (in)competence and spent a lot of time refining our material before venturing out. In Sydney back then, the DIY ethos was embraced broadly and some great bands emerged (such as Midnight Oil, INXS and The Church). We were amongst the massive flotsam and jetsam of perpetual unknowns that coexisted with the future stars. In hindsight, our biggest issue was a complete ignorance of management and promotion. This was my A and C phase.

Fast forward a couple of decades following a non music career offshore (with some worship music going on), a friend invited me into a jazz standards band that has experience and ability way above my own. After a few weeks of intensive practice, I was able to play the material at an ok level, and we're off doing private and corporate events and fund raisers. Playing with these fabulous musicians has been a massive challenge and education. This was my B phase.

 

[Das Jugghead]

A combination of A and B.

My best friend got me into playing bass so we could form our own band. Initially, for me, it was a choice between playing keyboards (I was a classically trained pianist for most of my life at that point) or bass - thank God I chose bass. I first started jamming with a group of musicians from my high school that were far better than me for the high school talent show. The first song I learned was "Fade to Black" by Metallica and we rehearsed the snot of of this down to our stage show (this was, of course, the eighties). We were not allowed to sing the words for the talent show so it was strictly instrumental. The second song I learned was "Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison. After that it was a blur of songs learned covering the entire spectrum. The talent show group went on to become a permanent thing and over the course of the summer we learned 5 hours of covers and played whenever and wherever we could. We rehearsed every Friday night/Saturday morning in a warehouse owned by a friend's father who supported the band. He once told us "I'd rather know you guys are making noise in my building than wonder if I'm going to see you on the evening news." After a few years playing covers had run its course and we went our separate paths while remaining friends. I fell into playing original projects and that's all I have done since.

I still play with musicians who are far better than me and I feel very fortunate to find myself situated as such. I don't believe in doing half-prepared shows and those I play with share the same sentiment. I believe you get one shot at making a good impression while a bad reputation follows you relentlessly. The bass is still something new, exciting, and energizing for me each time I pick it up. I am still impressed with every musician I play with and I always learn something from them regardless of their skill level.

Gigging doesn't pay like it used to - it's even harder to make money as an all-original project. I'm less concerned about the money and more interested in playing good music while having a good time. While the times have changed the song remains the same.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I chose "B" from the poll.

My first gig was as a 16 yr old drummer, the other players were older gents (late 40's) who were restarting a band they had once had. Their drummer had moved far away and I got the nod because I worked at a restaurant with the son of one of the guitarists. We played for about a year and half before they decided to retire again.

Got lots of stage anxiety worked out in those early days. And got some confidence in my singing too.