Modular Bands

[BrewsterRooster]

I admittedly do more reading than posting here, but it dawned on me this morning that band member replacement (for personal or professional reasons) seems to be a recurring topic. And as I read other folks' experiences, I'm often inspired to think back through my own.

For whatever reason, I've been part of several different modular bands through the years. I know the musical communities I've lived and gigged in have had a big influence on that - places where demand for musicians outstripped supply. There would be considerable personnel interplay between local acts as many of us were involved with multiple projects simultaneously. A funk/soul/Motown group I used to play with kept four drummers on tap who knew the material, and we'd call in whichever one of them wasn't otherwise booked that night. Substitute horn players were also a norm in that outfit. The only stable core of players were the guitarist, the vocalist, and myself. The same thing occurred in an oldies/rock/blues band I was in. The core turned out to be the front man/sax player, a second horn player, and myself. Drummers rotated in an out, as did guitarists. I was part of that band for close to three years before I moved on, and it got to where I'd never know which combination of players would be present for a given gig. Not that I had any trouble with that - all the folks in the "rotation" were competent players, we were all friends, and no matter who showed up, we were going to have fun and get a great audience reaction. We eventually turned it into a running joke and introduced the rotating players as "featured guests," even though folks that knew that band understood it was just a happy-go-lucky, plug-and-play affair.

Those were just two among several examples. As I've read other threads regarding band member replacement, I've often thought about suggesting modularity. Anybody else have successful modular band experiences? I'm a proponent of the concept, but then again, maybe I've just been lucky to be involved with projects that thrived on that sort of interplay.

 

[RustyAxe]

I find that to be the case with country bands in my area. There's a core of players (dozens) that seem to have played with each others' bands on and off over the years. Works great when you need a sub in a hurry!

 

[two fingers]

I love those kinds of bands. I only do fill in gigs these days. I'm the 3rd or 4th call bass player for pretty much every band around here. Not because of talent levels but because of where I am in my life. If you have enough good players with small enough egos I think modular bands only serve to improve any market.

Not to mention it's rare that you could be caught off guard due to a last minute problem (say your drummer breaks his left big toe in a clam digging accident 18 hours before a gig) because so many players in the area know the material.

I have played a dozen or more gigs that came about because a band canceled. One of the "modular pieces" of another band starts calling pieces of other bands. Boom! We just put together a band for that night. We had never played together as a unit before that night and it came together extremely well. And those gigs we're a BLAST! Many of them lead to projects that would have otherwise never been conceived.

Plus it just keeps things fresh to me.

By the way, the term "modular band" is brilliant. I never thought of it that way but it's perfect.

 

[pcake]

i've never played in that sort of situation, but then i've only been in 1 cover band to date. haven't known any bands that do that, but it's an interesting idea, and could also help keep working bands going - the only cover band i played in died after the original drummer (who i shared singing duty with) left and his replacement just didn't work out.

 

[elgecko]

That's how all the bands I'm in operate. They're all composed of musicians who play in other projects.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

This seems to be a newer model than what the norm was in the past. I recall when a member of a band playing out with another band was like having your girlfriend cheat on you. Bands were a cohesive unit. But, that may be because for most of my musical career, I was in a touring band and we were pretty isolated from everything.
I like this environment. but it is a lot more work because you have to learn a lot more material and stay up on it.

 

[elgecko]

This seems to be a newer model than what the norm was in the past. I recall when a member of a band playing out with another band was like having your girlfriend cheat on you. Bands were a cohesive unit. But, that may be because for most of my musical career, I was in a touring band and we were pretty isolated from everything.
I like this environment. but it is a lot more work because you have to learn a lot more material and stay up on it.

Was it an original band? I suspect modularity is far more common in cover bands.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

That's how the Knoxville scene was when I graduated, or at least that's how it was with the bands I was involved in. It was fun because you could receive a call on any given day and be asked to play a paying gig that same night. Back then, I wouldn't be surprised if the other players and I knew around 500 songs off the top of our heads, plus another 100 or so vamps/jams. It kept you busy!

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Was it an original band? I suspect modularity is far more common in cover bands.

No, it was the old Holiday Inn circuit cover almost anything band. I would agree.
I got to thinking about how my dad gigged. In the 40s and 50s big band era, the name acts (Dorsey, Miller, etc.) had a core group, usually the first chair players and rythmn section that toured. They would make advance arrangements with the local union halls who would hire the musicians and pass out the charts. When the touring group arrived there would be a run through, time permitting, then the show.

 

[elgecko]

No, it was the old Holiday Inn circuit cover almost anything band. I would agree.
I got to thinking about how my dad gigged. In the 40s and 50s big band era, the name acts (Dorsey, Miller, etc.) had a core group, usually the first chair players and rythmn section that toured. They would make advance arrangements with the local union halls who would hire the musicians and pass out the charts. When the touring group arrived there would be a run through, time permitting, then the show.

Ah, I guess musicians playing in a full time touring band would be too busy and far away to play with others.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Ah, I guess musicians playing in a full time touring band would be too busy and far away to play with others.

You would be guessing correctly. Especially when you are doing one-nighters.
||: Jump on the bus, get some sleep, get off the bus, load in, change clothes, play the show, load out, :||

 

[BrewsterRooster]

||: Jump on the bus, get some sleep, get off the bus, load in, change clothes, play the show, load out, :||

Love the creative use of the repeats! Thanks for the laugh.

I live near Chattanooga, and although I've only been part of this area's music scene for a little over two years, it is different from the environments I left behind. In the 80s, I played quite a bit around northern Colorado and throughout the 90s I worked mostly in lower Michigan. When I was active up there, the scene from Ann Arbor to Detroit was fertile for "modularity." That was also a very busy music scene spread over large urban/suburban areas. There were many sub opportunities available, and plenty of pickup bands that consisted of pieces from others.

In this part of Tennessee, though, there's more of a traditional vibe. There are still established acts around here that have been active for decades, and in general local bands do seem to be somewhat more possessive of their talent. I don't know if that's a function of limited local gigging opportunities or just a provincial hiccup, but it's a sense I've picked up on. The jam scene here is a lot of fun, though, and there are enough active players that I actually thought about trying to form a small local collective for the express purpose of creating modular bands. There are folks who tend toward country, others toward classic rock, southern rock, or blues, but there is a large enough core of instrumentalists that I can almost envision folks lining up gigs and then just dipping into the local pool to fill a specific need. Sort of like a musician's union, I suppose, only smaller and less formal. It might be a fun way to get everybody more involved in the play-for-pay scene, but the very concept may also be a hard sell in these parts.

I may still advance the idea to a dozen or so local players and see if everybody will pony up their songlists - if that dozen players came to know all of each others' material well enough (probably a few hundred songs in several different styles), it might kick open a lot of opportunities for everybody. Thinking out loud...

 

[AlembicPlayer]

I'm a stage mercenary, so Ive been in my share of rotating personnel bands. I have played in tribute bands and regional all-star bands, both which have rotating players over the years. This has given me the opportunity to play with players way beyond my caliber. I love this model because the BL's in both my cases had very good business in place. The gig has high market value, so it's a sought after gig. These types of gigs have literally put me on the bus, taken me to venues and places on the map that I've never been able to do with conventional working club bands.