No more gigs. See ya.

[mike.b]

i commiserate with you.on the south coast of england it is a very similar story;too many pubs/clubs closing down with too many bands/acts fighting for what is left.its called the credit crunch but i call it by its proper name;recession.

 

[iplaybasstexas]

darn it, god wants you playing better at church. he made it your only gig.wooo!

 

[dougjwray]

Step One: Move out of North Dakota!
But seriously, good luck... things will pick up again.

 

[Archangel_Bass]

just play pick up a friend of mine does it he knows musicians all over so he emails em a set list then goes town to town and meets up with each musician (musicians) and plays a paid set at the venues he schedules prior to even leaving his house. i suppose it helps that hes also a singer. i know that might be kinda hard for bass players but it works pretty well. aside from gas prices.

 

[Ryan L.]

Step One: Move out of North Dakota!
But seriously, good luck... things will pick up again.

Actually, just 70 miles to the south, in Fargo, the live music scene is doing quite well still. I've been playing this area for 20 years.

And there are PLENTY of gigs to be had if you are willing to travel a little bit to some of the smaller towns outside of Fargo/Moorhead, which usually pay better than the in town ones. Sure, there are a few places around the area that aren't doing live music any longer, but they are mostly the ones that no one wanted to play at anyway.

The last band I was playing in (a 3 piece country/rock variety band) was booked every weekend. I was bringing in $600+ per weekend. I ended up leaving them a little while ago, as it just got to be too much at this point in my life, where I'm gone most of the week for my job. We were playing venues from Walhalla to Fergus Falls, MN, and everywhere in between.

So now I'm playing in a 4 piece classic rock/rock band, playing a couple times a month. Didn't take me long at all to find another band after I left the last one (being a singing bass player really helps, I've found). We stick fairly close to the FM area, so even on weekends when I am gigging, I'm still not compromising time with my family too much.

So the big thing is, if the Grand Forks area is drying up (which, IME, it was never that great anyway for live music), you might have to travel a little bit. Heck, I've got offers on the table right now for 3 different bands that are looking for bass players---two of which are with experienced musicians that are putting new projects together, and another one is a VERY well established full-time road band that's not happy with the current bass player.

So there's work out there. You just have to come and get it, if you want it.

 

[MindSpark]

Haven't gigged for almost 2 years and I am on here frequently, and learning something new every day. So by the day I start gigging again, I'll be kicking !

 

[SteveC]

And there are PLENTY of gigs to be had if you are willing to travel a little bit to some of the smaller towns outside of Fargo/Moorhead, which usually pay better than the in town ones.

We were playing venues from Walhalla to Fergus Falls, MN, and everywhere in between.

We stick fairly close to the FM area, so even on weekends when I am gigging, I'm still not compromising time with my family too much.

So the big thing is, if the Grand Forks area is drying up (which, IME, it was never that great anyway for live music), you might have to travel a little bit.

That's the thing. The balance between playing and being home. A 3 year old, another due in July, I don't want to be gone all the time. We are trying to come up with something to try and play around here. Also working on a demo to try and get some work in Fargo. Thing is, I think we need to rework our set list. The "acoustic rock" thing isn't cutting it any more.

The keyboard guy and I would like to do a Soul/R&B horn band. Dance music. We're looking fo ra singer. We have the rhythm section and can get horns.

 

[Ryan L.]

Believe me, I hear ya on the point of balancing home time and gigging time these days.

The Soul/R&B thing would actually go over very well at places like Spirits Lounge (Holiday Inn) here in town, I think. They don't pay too bad, either. There was a band in town here a couple years ago that was doing that, and they were literally packing venues---mainly because it was something different, cool, and danceable. They were attracting crowds of all ages, too. But, they ended up breaking up when a couple key members moved out of state. So you may be on to something there, at least for this area.

As to the acoustic rock thing, it all depends on your song list. I could probably point you in the right direction as to what bars to check with (if you guys aren't overly familiar with the venues around here), depending on what type of music you're doing.