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Lessons learned from Bands in General

#61
All good points here. IN the 75+ bands I have played in, I have run the gamut of professionalism and have a wealth of good and stupid stories.

A particular point about playing with musicians who play other bands/gigs - the key to making that work is constant, clear communication. I'm the BL in my band - '80's covers, and I look for input about material but reserve the right to make the final call on songs and set lists. Booking is a pain mainly because I can't settle a date immediately - I have to text everyone to make sure they are available, because they are booking themselves at the same time I am booking for the band. Not the worst deal, but it does cause a headache. Luckily, they are good people and great players!
 
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#63
shoot-r said:
I personally try to avoid playing in a working/gigging band with multi-band players.

From experience, sooner or later, (and it's happened evertime), one of those bands is gonna get the short-end of the stick...
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That's why you have to have subs for all positions.

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to sign up for exclusivity unless you put me on salary.
 
#64
brianrost said:
I’ve got a first time get-together coming up with a guitarist/vocalist I know and a drummer and female vocalist neither of us know or have played with before. Hmm, female vocalist and unknown drummer...
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As expected, the first meeting with the drummer was enough for me to tell the guitarist I wasn’t interested.

Now I’ve got a guitarist new to the area looking for someone. He had met my brother at some jam sessions and my bro's verdict was he could really sing but was only adequate on guitar. I called the guy up, told him where I would be playing nearby and asked if he had any gigs I could come see. We’ll see how this one develops :meh:
 
#65
shoot-r said:
I personally try to avoid playing in a working/gigging band with multi-band players.

From experience, sooner or later, (and it's happened evertime), one of those bands is gonna get the short-end of the stick...
Click to expand...
I play in multiple bands and most of the people I play with play in multiple bands. Gigs are accepted on first come, first serve. There is no "the short end of the stick." You have to be upfront when you join a band and set expectations.

The only problem I've ever had was with one band who booked a handful of gigs the entire year, but expected me to be available in case a gig came through. If by "the short end of the stick" you mean guys won't wait around to see if you book a gig, then I'm guilty as charged.
 
#66
shoot-r said:
I personally try to avoid playing in a working/gigging band with multi-band players.

From experience, sooner or later, (and it's happened evertime), one of those bands is gonna get the short-end of the stick...
Click to expand...
If you are in a band with people who have lives, you need to have subs available. It's not just other band commitments, it's families, vacations, illness, etc. But I'd agree that once someone commits to a gig, they can't bail for a "better" gig with another band.
 
#67
turf3 said:
I'm sorry, but I'm not going to sign up for exclusivity
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I've no problem. I'm happy you've found gigs that are willing to book around your schedule.

I'm just sayin', I've been in several groups over the years that has gotten burned ((badly)) by multi-band players, and it's a game I'm no longer willing to play.

The country, country/rock group I'm with plays out more and at better overall pay than any other country'ish band, (that I'm aware of), in our area.
We stay very busy and I've no problem if a player has the time and wants to do outside musical projects as long as their other projects don't interfere with this working band.

If and when we have to hire a new player and they can't commit at their audition that their main focus will be this band, it's rehearsals and jobs, then we'll move on to the next candidate

To me, nothing is more unprofessional than to have a customer call wanting to book and we can't immediately take the job because we've got to see whose schedule will allow them to play and whose won't.
 
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#68
shoot-r said:
I've no problem. I'm happy you've found gigs that are willing to book around your schedule.

I'm just sayin', I've been in several groups over the years that has gotten burned ((badly)) by multi-band players, and it's a game I'm no longer willing to play.

The country, country/rock group I'm with plays out more and at better overall pay than any other country'ish band, (that I'm aware of), in our area.
We stay very busy and I've no problem if a player has the time and wants to do outside musical projects as long as their other projects don't interfere with this working band.

If and when we have to hire a new player and they can't commit at their audition that their main focus will be this band, it's rehearsals and jobs, then we'll move on to the next candidate

To me, nothing is more unprofessional than to have a customer call wanting to book and we can't immediately take the job because we've got to see whose schedule will allow them to play and whose won't.
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Or, you could hire good subs.

But if you are able to secure top players who will agree to those terms more power to you .
 
#70
shoot-r said:
I've no problem. I'm happy you've found gigs that are willing to book around your schedule.

I'm just sayin', I've been in several groups over the years that has gotten burned ((badly)) by multi-band players, and it's a game I'm no longer willing to play.

The country, country/rock group I'm with plays out more and at better overall pay than any other country'ish band, (that I'm aware of), in our area.
We stay very busy and I've no problem if a player has the time and wants to do outside musical projects as long as their other projects don't interfere with this working band.

If and when we have to hire a new player and they can't commit at their audition that their main focus will be this band, it's rehearsals and jobs, then we'll move on to the next candidate

To me, nothing is more unprofessional than to have a customer call wanting to book and we can't immediately take the job because we've got to see whose schedule will allow them to play and whose won't.
Click to expand...

In bands I've been in like that, we (rhythm section) maintained a dep list for musicians who are ready to go. Assuming you guys don't really learn songs at rehearsals...You don't do that, do you?
I've been in a few bands where initially the BL did make something like this known, but after the first show, relented significantly. The key difference was that I always emailed a list of dates I couldn't do. So my dep took those gigs (and got full pay for them). I'm not going to play a peanut-shell, pass-the-bucket-honky-tonk if I'm asked to do JCS or Joseph at community theatre.

It's not unusual for BLs to demand everyone in the rhythm section have a dep available.
 
#71
shoot-r said:
To me, nothing is more unprofessional than to have a customer call wanting to book and we can't immediately take the job because we've got to see whose schedule will allow them to play and whose won't.
Click to expand...
This can be an issue whether people have other bands or just other things to do. Either way a good band calendar should help avoid this issue. I can take a gig on the spot even though more than half my band members have other bands. I look at the calendar, and if people are free, I book it. No back and forth texts or anything like that
 

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