Hey everyone. I used to post here a few years ago as "Trent35", and i've been back lurking lately. I kinda gave up on Talk bass a few years ago over what i precieved as a general lack of respect here for country bass playing, and country music in general. Now granted not all people here are like that at all, but it was enough to make me say "screw it i'm gone" at the time. To my mind making statements like playing country or bluegrass is all 1 5 1 5 is as ignorant as inane as someone saying bass is easy to play cuz it only has 4 strings. I'd like to think that any musician could at the very least have respect for other genres of music, even if it's not their bag. I didn't find that to be the case here in some instances. But enough about that, i still think there's enough good stuff and good people here to make this an enjoyable, entertaining and informative site for me.
But onto what i need advice on now. Let me set up some background here first. I'm currently playing with 4 bands that are all working fairly steadily, plus i hold a part time "rea"(?) jop. The band i played for last night and Friday night i've been doing some jobs for for close to a year. They play wayyyyy too much rock for my tastes, but they are a way above average band, and play decent clubs. I'm sure i'm not their first choice of a bass player either for their style, but i am dependable, professional, and a good faker on stuff i don't know. They're very tight, both with the playing and the harmonies. They're an unusual band in a way as they have a core of three, singer-rhythym-leader, lead guitar, and drummer have been together for like 7 years, and they travel around a circuit and use different bass players, and sometimes a keyboard player, in different states. I joke with them that i'm "first chair" to them for this area.
The last time i played with them in June, the guitar player asked me if i could play for him for a private family party gig he was organizing for August 28th. I told him i could and would do the date. End of story i thought. But oh no. On Friday night the guitar player tells me the singer/leader told him in a phone conversation that i couldn't do that August 28th date, and so he had to hire someone else. I was like why in the Hell would tell you that? He dosen't know my schedule, and this wasn't even one of his jobs. It didn't then, and still dosen't make any sense to me. It's not logical. The guitar guy is like i dunno, that's just what he said. I said well let me tell you something, i agreed to the date, and my word is good. I'm not flakey or disorganized at all, quite the opposite. I told him that on the off chance that i would have had to cancel, i would have let you know the minute it happened. I said why didn't you call me and ask me then? He said i didn't have your number, i said well the singer has it. So his excuse for not contacting me is really weak and unacceptable in my book. Now i should say a few weeks ago the singer called me about an August 21st gig he wanted me on, that i can't do and told him i couldn't, but August 28th never came up in our conversation. It had no reason to. So i confront the singer about it. Before i could even get the words out of my mouth, he says "Hey man i made a mistake". I said but this dosen't even make sense, how can you make statements like that about my schedule? He said again, i made a mistake. But he said it in a really arrogant, and just shut up kind of a way, instead of being sincere and sorry about it, or offering any kind of a plausible explanation for it. So it really rubbed me the wrong way and bugged me alot, and i basically didn't talk to them the rest of the night. I had another job last night i could have done instead, and i fairly strongly considered taking my amp out at the end of the night and saying find someone else for tomorrow.
So last night right before we went on stage the singer said to me "Hey man i'm really sorry about that gig thing". Now i will admit he sounded much more sincere about it than the night before. But then he comes with the excuses. He says he has 10 things going on at once all the time, blah blah blah. I tell him, in a very calm manner, that this wasn't even any of his business in the first place, and it still makes no sense. I said i'm in 4 bands and have a job, and that i'm very careful about my schedule, keeping it straight etc, and that i really don't apprecieate him screwing me up like that, cuz unless i can fill that date in now, he cost me 100$,and that i depend on music income for my livlihood. He then says well it was a long ways to drive for 100 bucks anyhow, like he did me sone favor or something. I then explained to him that it had worked out that the night before, Aug 27th, i had a gig only 75 miles from the Sat Aug 28th gig, and that i had free lodging for both Friday night, and on Saturday night after the 28th gig if i wanted it. He then just shut up at that point and no more was said about it. I'd like to add too that the singer is the kind of a guy that if i did something to him like he did to me he'd hit the roof, maybe to the point of violence. He'd be big time angry if the shoe was on the other foot. So i took his position on it as being pretty hypocritical.
So now the question is, what do you folks think i should do about it? Should i accept more bookings from this band in the future or just not work for them again? I should mention that i have one more booking with this band, this coming Sat Aug 7th. I also have another gig i could do this Sat, so i've been considering cancelling him and doing the other job.
The whole thing does seem fishy to me somehow. I've strongly considered the possibility that the guitar player hired someone else for the August 28th gig, and instead of cancelling me himself, he used the singer as an excuse for it. Like he took the cowards way out or something. It just dosen't add up somehow to me, and i know i never will get the straight story, if there is one. I mean even if he hired someone else, and if he didn't want to tell me that, why not just tell me the gig got cancelled. I would have just said ok man then.
I've got alot of music work right now, but this band works all clubs all year long, so i like the have them in the winter when the summer stuff goes away. I'm open to any comments, advice and suggestions. I know this was very long and probably boring. Thanks for letting me vent. Trent
But onto what i need advice on now. Let me set up some background here first. I'm currently playing with 4 bands that are all working fairly steadily, plus i hold a part time "rea"(?) jop. The band i played for last night and Friday night i've been doing some jobs for for close to a year. They play wayyyyy too much rock for my tastes, but they are a way above average band, and play decent clubs. I'm sure i'm not their first choice of a bass player either for their style, but i am dependable, professional, and a good faker on stuff i don't know. They're very tight, both with the playing and the harmonies. They're an unusual band in a way as they have a core of three, singer-rhythym-leader, lead guitar, and drummer have been together for like 7 years, and they travel around a circuit and use different bass players, and sometimes a keyboard player, in different states. I joke with them that i'm "first chair" to them for this area.
The last time i played with them in June, the guitar player asked me if i could play for him for a private family party gig he was organizing for August 28th. I told him i could and would do the date. End of story i thought. But oh no. On Friday night the guitar player tells me the singer/leader told him in a phone conversation that i couldn't do that August 28th date, and so he had to hire someone else. I was like why in the Hell would tell you that? He dosen't know my schedule, and this wasn't even one of his jobs. It didn't then, and still dosen't make any sense to me. It's not logical. The guitar guy is like i dunno, that's just what he said. I said well let me tell you something, i agreed to the date, and my word is good. I'm not flakey or disorganized at all, quite the opposite. I told him that on the off chance that i would have had to cancel, i would have let you know the minute it happened. I said why didn't you call me and ask me then? He said i didn't have your number, i said well the singer has it. So his excuse for not contacting me is really weak and unacceptable in my book. Now i should say a few weeks ago the singer called me about an August 21st gig he wanted me on, that i can't do and told him i couldn't, but August 28th never came up in our conversation. It had no reason to. So i confront the singer about it. Before i could even get the words out of my mouth, he says "Hey man i made a mistake". I said but this dosen't even make sense, how can you make statements like that about my schedule? He said again, i made a mistake. But he said it in a really arrogant, and just shut up kind of a way, instead of being sincere and sorry about it, or offering any kind of a plausible explanation for it. So it really rubbed me the wrong way and bugged me alot, and i basically didn't talk to them the rest of the night. I had another job last night i could have done instead, and i fairly strongly considered taking my amp out at the end of the night and saying find someone else for tomorrow.
So last night right before we went on stage the singer said to me "Hey man i'm really sorry about that gig thing". Now i will admit he sounded much more sincere about it than the night before. But then he comes with the excuses. He says he has 10 things going on at once all the time, blah blah blah. I tell him, in a very calm manner, that this wasn't even any of his business in the first place, and it still makes no sense. I said i'm in 4 bands and have a job, and that i'm very careful about my schedule, keeping it straight etc, and that i really don't apprecieate him screwing me up like that, cuz unless i can fill that date in now, he cost me 100$,and that i depend on music income for my livlihood. He then says well it was a long ways to drive for 100 bucks anyhow, like he did me sone favor or something. I then explained to him that it had worked out that the night before, Aug 27th, i had a gig only 75 miles from the Sat Aug 28th gig, and that i had free lodging for both Friday night, and on Saturday night after the 28th gig if i wanted it. He then just shut up at that point and no more was said about it. I'd like to add too that the singer is the kind of a guy that if i did something to him like he did to me he'd hit the roof, maybe to the point of violence. He'd be big time angry if the shoe was on the other foot. So i took his position on it as being pretty hypocritical.
So now the question is, what do you folks think i should do about it? Should i accept more bookings from this band in the future or just not work for them again? I should mention that i have one more booking with this band, this coming Sat Aug 7th. I also have another gig i could do this Sat, so i've been considering cancelling him and doing the other job.
The whole thing does seem fishy to me somehow. I've strongly considered the possibility that the guitar player hired someone else for the August 28th gig, and instead of cancelling me himself, he used the singer as an excuse for it. Like he took the cowards way out or something. It just dosen't add up somehow to me, and i know i never will get the straight story, if there is one. I mean even if he hired someone else, and if he didn't want to tell me that, why not just tell me the gig got cancelled. I would have just said ok man then.
I've got alot of music work right now, but this band works all clubs all year long, so i like the have them in the winter when the summer stuff goes away. I'm open to any comments, advice and suggestions. I know this was very long and probably boring. Thanks for letting me vent. Trent
