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How many TBers do not gig?

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#141
tb-player said:
I used to gig a lot more than I do now. I’ve toured, recorded, and done the local scene. These days, my life is more about family and running my business. I still take the opportunity to play out a few times a year with a singer/songwriter friend. I also might be good for once-a-year fill-in with a local jam band. I’ll also volunteer at a local church if they need me.

So right now, most of my bass playing is for me. I spend much of my bass time playing along with tracks or just working things out in the shed. And I really enjoy it. It fits my lifestyle.

Curious, how many TBers play their bass regularly, but never (or rarely) gig?
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I rarely gig these days. Maybe once a month (down from 2-3 times a month pre covid), and really the only reason I do so is because thats ALL anyone wants to do and I am at times torn about continuing to even do that because frankly the music being played just isn't all that great at times. It's ok, but not as good as it could be due to no one being interested in rehearsing. Vocals are often off, musical cues and changes are often missed, harder parts of tunes just get jammed through, etc..etc..It sort of suck for me because I will often put in a lot of prep time for these tunes, and I'll show up and realize that no one else did and they are literally just winging it.

I honestly just don't get it. People seem far more interested in "being seen" playing out as opposed to delivering a good musical product.



Ideally I'd much rather have a group that consists of a core group of musicians who meet up to play on a regular basis because they want to play, and gigs would be secondary to that.
 
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#142
The pandemic was the beginning of the end for us. Last gig was this past June, but then life tore us in different directions- drummer moved down south, guitarist had surgery that took him out of the game for a long rehab, vocalist wants to focus on getting ready to retire from his job, etc...

Bunk McNulty said:
...I'm seriously thinking about giving it all up. I love to play, but a lot of the stuff around playing--driving in the middle of the night, hauling gear, etc.--is really starting to get me down. Tonight I'm playing a club in Connecticut, an hour's drive each way, plus an hour and a half for setup and probably an hour to load out, suddenly a 3-set gig becomes a 7-hour day. Just thinking about it makes me tired. Ain't getting any younger, either.
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I hear you... going back and forth with the notion myself for all the reasons you state.
 
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#143
I would love to get back into gigging, but it definitely seems to be more challenging to find players who are dedicated, capable, and available to do it these days.

Found one group that was dedicated and capable, but folks were never available (at least at the same time).

Found another group where the guys were dedicated and available, but they weren’t the most capable players for playing paying gigs.

Oh well.
 
#145
Like many, just returning to gigging after Covid... :)
For the next months, weekly gig with one band, second band re-uniting and auditioning singers, to get back to gigging. Third band - last gig tonight, then the band will disassemble. Much better than during Covid!:bassist:
 
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#147
Well, like many, not much since covid. Had 3 tours on the books for 2019 which all evaporated (just club level stuff with a few festivals but all three were different bands and I liked all three - and the people involved).

Played a ton when I was back in California - particularly in the early 2000s - with three bands that were gigging regularly/a lot plus being in a network where there were also a fair amount of sub gigs as well. High point during those days were the shows with Olatunji The Nigerian drummer who set the beat for US civil rights
I loved playing regularly even if intense with a full time job and a kid (thankfully, a wife who was good with it).

Have since moved to Europe and done quite a few regional tours which has been great. Better money and great audiences - though it just means playing a lot for several weeks and then nothing. There's nothing like the local bar to play every Thursday night kind of thing.

Anxious to see what things might be post-covid (assuming it's not just endemic...). A lot of the clubs were struggling before so enough may be shuttered to make any kind of real touring on that level no longer viable. We'll see... Also, as I'm in the EU and one of the main singer/guitar player/frontperson I was playing with is UK based, Brexit adds yet more complication.

Jon Lars said:
My last gig was at the Berkeley Keystone, opening for the Skeleton Crew /Fred Frith, 6/23/83.
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Very cool. Fred's a good friend and I've played with him (Henry Kaiser, too...) He's currently working on a Skeleton Crew live double CD and is looking for any related photos, flyers, etc if you happen to have any mementos from that.
Trying to remember if I ever saw Pell Mell. Sounds so familiar and went to a lot of Bay Area shows at that time (particularly the Mabuhay and On Broadway).
 
#149
I gig, but am slowly disengaging from it and will soon be out of the game for a while. I enjoyed it for a time, but life and family require my attention. Once things get back to normal and my time becomes a little less constrained I’ll be back out there again.
 
#150
Great topic! I played all the time with a rotation of different friends calling ourselves different bands in high school. Anywhere we could, backyards, people's living rooms, actual cafe and clubs. When I got into college, I started working fulltime while going to school, friends left the area and had a few years off. Then hooked on with a cover band, played 5-10 gigs a month until 2008 happened and gigs turned into just duos/solo artist with the crash of the economy. I struggled to get anything going after that, a gig here and there and then the band collapsed right about the time my son was born. After the kids started coming, took the better part of 10 years off. I was in the spot many here have referred to, having plenty of gear and not gigging. Just this July, a friend of a friend needed a bass player and I hooked on and have done close to 10 shows. After the summer, the schedule slows down but looks like 2-4 gigs a month. I completely get both sides of it, I like playing along with stuff in my basement and out for people.
 
#152
tb-player said:
Sorry. No poll.

My original question was simply inquiring as to who does NOT gig. As is frequently the case on TB, it took on a life of its own and turned into a “how often I gig” thread, which is fine. But it’s not what I was asking. :)
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I agree it’s an interesting question, and also, I hold no judgement over folks who don’t gig. I just think that it would be more efficient to see the split of TB’ers who do and don’t gig as a poll. I think it’s cool how many don’t gig and are fine with that. Interesting thread!
 
#153
i’ve had a very amateur jam with a single other guitarist a few times, but other than that i haven’t. in my high school classes now we do these things where everyone says something about themselves and it turns out i have another bassist in my class!! i asked him what strings he uses, roundwounds or flatwounds, and he didn’t know what i was talking about. so i just asked if they were zingy and he said “yeah” lol.
 
#154
Alexis Duntov said:
I agree it’s an interesting question, and also, I hold no judgement over folks who don’t gig. I just think that it would be more efficient to see the split of TB’ers who do and don’t gig as a poll. I think it’s cool how many don’t gig and are fine with that. Interesting thread!
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True. Had I known the response this would get, I would have phrased it differently and added a poll. Hindsight, 20/20, and all that. ;)
 
#156
For the moment, no gigs here. There aren't a ton of opportunities for original bands in my area anyway, and while I respect the skill and work ethic that goes into being a serious cover band musician it isn't really something that interests me personally. That and COVID, obviously. Maybe that all will change when the pandemic becomes less of an issue, but for now it's solo jams for me.
 
#157
I retired from a regularly gigging band in 2018 for a bunch of reasons. Those reasons started to outweigh the fun factor for me. Don’t miss it for a second.

Prior to pandemic was in one jamming outfit and another recording outfit - both of who did maybe one or two gigs a year - gigs I really didn’t enjoy - but the weekly/biweekly get together were fun!

The jam band has dried up and may not recover as we’ve all got other projects on the go. The recording band has slowed down to a crawl, but we’re still collaborating on new music.

Works for me!
 
#158
J Wilson said:
After 20-odd years at it, I just finally lost the last bit of patience with the whole club scene,

So I hang out in the Ancient Pilots Room here at the old TB, and dispense a curmudgeon's opinion and some hard-won knowledge where I think I may be of some service. I'd love to think I could help our young apprentice pickers SKIP some of the mistakes I made. Because I made EVERY mistake in the book . . . . and damn if they didn't have to start a SECOND book !
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Its a shame man, were probably missing something good.
i always thought getting older it might be easier to find good musicians
 
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