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Oh how I love Craigslist!!!

bassbully

bassbully

Endorsed by The PHALEX CORN BASS..mmm...corn!
Sep 7, 2006
12,760
6,556
Blimp City USA
#1
So about a month and half ago I tried out for an oldies, blues band in my area. We did about 6 songs when the band said " hey we (band) are going to take a break. Normally it's a kiss of death or an offer. In this case it was an offer and I accepted.

When we got together for the next practice they informed me the two bass player they booked in front of me both were no shows and I was selected since they liked me, my playing and I showed up.
They had others to try but since I was what they liked canceled the others coming out..Yea me.

Well tonight I had the second sit in with my old bandleaders new originals band. I am a friend and also huge fan of his songwriting. Together we both built an originals band that lasted about four years. I has been two years since that band dissolved over schedules , lack of good drummer and health reasons.
So tonight I went out and got the offer which I'm really excited about. After we talked awhile it came out that they never got another bassist off CL to come out and had two no shows that were booked.

So once again CL no shows got me a gig one I'm proud of and so glad to be playing with my friend , the players and his great songs.

I have had good results overall with CL such as the bandleader and old band all found on CL. The oldies band...same story. Now CL no shows got me in two bands. Wait! Should I be ashamed I got the gigs by default?
Naw ...I studied, knew the songs and darn it I'm a dang nice guy to boot.
 
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#5
MrLenny1 said:
Good for you. Sometimes life is good.
Personally I have had no luck with CL.
Click to expand...
I hear this allot of TB and its funny in my area I have had great luck as I just said :laugh: I have met and played with some great people who are very talented and professional all from CL. It might just be the neck of the woods you live in ..who knows.
 
#6
bassbully said:
I hear this allot of TB and its funny in my area I have had great luck as I just said :laugh: I have met and played with some great people who are very talented and professional all from CL. It might just be the neck of the woods you live in ..who knows.
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It's almost always that. In most of the big metro area's or even just close, you should expect to almost see a new "looking for bass player" ad a CL almost every day, if not several. In some markets like that, with the general drought of bass players, you can be very picky about where you spend your time.

Live music especially is almost entirely predicated on a town with some kind of scene. It might be a single bar that actually hires bands then that is your office. Must be very hard to make a career out of it in small town America. :atoz:
 
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#7
Congratulations.
I'm having iffy (as in - nothing good yet) luck with CL.

Went up for a 'jazzy pop' group - I could have nailed the material with some work but they wanted to go gigging 'now.' Near as I can tell they've been through 2 bass players and a keys player since then. If they'd been willing to work with me, I'd have the stuff down cold by now. I doubt they'll ever really coalesce... I called them the "DNA Band" - singer Desperately Needed Autotune...

Went out for a guitar/drum duo who wanted to play blues - but they didn't actually know any, wanted to play Radiohead and U2 in the meanwhile. That went OK but I never heard back. They're still looking...

Went out for a "groove oriented" guitar/keys couple who wanted drums and bass for their 'original' material, which sounded a lot like the stuff you hear behind the weather channel. I called them "Your Current Conditions..." They need a pro jazz bassist who can improvise - and is willing to do it in a spare bedroom for nothing. I wish them well.

Tomorrow night I'm out for another blues project. Blues is what I want so there is hope and potential, and they say they're "rebuilding" over the winter for Spring projects which says to me I'll have time to get fully up to speed on the material. We will see. Maybe I'm failing upward because this seems like exactly like what I'm looking for.

Yes, I know that if I had been good enough -at the time- I would probably have got those earlier projects. Well - maybe not the 30-something blues wannabes - I think they think they're The New Cream and want someone younger... Those earlier projects were OK for my having learned their material the day before. I should be able to nail the blues project, although it's a brand-new jam at a brand-new-to-me place and BL hasn't sent the songlist she promised.
 
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#8
Nice going!

It's funny. Considering I'm still what I'd consider a beginner bassist, the fact that I've been invited to play in a band, asked to play with others on a couple of occasions, and am getting my info passed around as a session bassist people can call for work...it's clear that just showing up is a rare quality, but arguably the most important part of being a musician.

Seems like the order of importance is: 1) Show up. 2) Be easy to work with. 3) Do the homework. 4) Be able to actually play.


I knew a guy who showed up to 2 of the 7 or 8 rehearsals for a friend of mine's show. Late to the gig, we thought he might not show up at all. He had chops for DAYS. Church musician type with a 6 string, and he knew what to do with it. But I would never consider linking him with anyone looking for a bassist, because I don't consider him dependable. It'd be doing THEM a disservice.
 
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#9
Craigslist is a caldron of musicians for sure. I have found solid screening and asking the hard questions before you ever invest one second of your
Real Soon said:
Nice going!

It's funny. Considering I'm still what I'd consider a beginner bassist, the fact that I've been invited to play in a band, asked to play with others on a couple of occasions, and am getting my info passed around as a session bassist people can call for work...it's clear that just showing up is a rare quality, but arguably the most important part of being a musician.

Seems like the order of importance is: 1) Show up. 2) Be easy to work with. 3) Do the homework. 4) Be able to actually play.


I knew a guy who showed up to 2 of the 7 or 8 rehearsals for a friend of mine's show. Late to the gig, we thought he might not show up at all. He had chops for DAYS. Church musician type with a 6 string, and he knew what to do with it. But I would never consider linking him with anyone looking for a bassist, because I don't consider him dependable. It'd be doing THEM a disservice.
Click to expand...

time with a band or person will really pay off in the end. If you get a "gut feeling" with somebody on CL, stick with it.
Real Soon said:
Nice going!

It's funny. Considering I'm still what I'd consider a beginner bassist, the fact that I've been invited to play in a band, asked to play with others on a couple of occasions, and am getting my info passed around as a session bassist people can call for work...it's clear that just showing up is a rare quality, but arguably the most important part of being a musician.

Seems like the order of importance is: 1) Show up. 2) Be easy to work with. 3) Do the homework. 4) Be able to actually play.


I knew a guy who showed up to 2 of the 7 or 8 rehearsals for a friend of mine's show. Late to the gig, we thought he might not show up at all. He had chops for DAYS. Church musician type with a 6 string, and he knew what to do with it. But I would never consider linking him with anyone looking for a bassist, because I don't consider him dependable. It'd be doing THEM a disservice.
Click to expand...

Its so funny how people will set up auditions send email call but then "POOF" vanish the day to audition never to take a call or return an email again.
 
#13
Slough Feg Bass said:
Once in a while it is fun to just respond to some of those, show up and just meet new people, jam, see what is happening out there.
Click to expand...
And worst-case, I've learned a bunch of songs I oughtta know, got contact information for some players I expect I'll never call - but you never know, and got just a little bit better at the jam/audition process each time.

So no regrets and I wasn't expecting instant results, not with less than 2 years in.
Still - I'd like to be able to line up one solid project so I will have some [more] direction to my practice, at least...
 
#15
This past weekend near Knoxville a guitarist and I (on drums) had two (2) local bass players stand us up at the local blues club. The guitarist and I ultimately had to go on as a duo and explain to the audience (and management) why something seemed to be missing.

The poor guitarist/songwriter/leadman had hired me a few days earlier to replace his regular drummer who had bailed on this gig; he decided to pick up a local bassist and email him the songs to learn from. So, I didn't really know the material either, and was reading off lead sheets I wrote from mp3s. He didn't have the guts to call and tell us he was a no-show; he went and found another bass player who called us out of the blue to say he was playing with us that night. He called back an hour or so later to say he was not going to play with us that night.

As a duo we rocked!!!! Of course the bottom was missing, but we threw down on this original blues-rock with conviction and the crowd loved us.

All those two bass players had to do was come in and spend three hours looking for roots and walked out with a fair wad of cash.

That's my craigslist story for this week.
 
#18
I'll admit, I've poached a drummer or two off CL in my travels.
I see an ad that looks good and they call me in to jam and stuff, if the drummer is totally smokin like a freight train, I will do my best Glenn Hughes impersonation and get his number. 2 weeks later we be giggin some fresh new material in front of a decent crowd.
drummers love that stuff.
 
#19
I forgot about my CL story last week. Out of the blue I get a text from a guy asking if I wanted to play bass for his band. I texted back who is this? He replies Scott, I text back Scott who? Here it was from a CL ad I responded to over two years ago. That guy must keep all contact info he receives.
 
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#20
bassbully said:
I forgot about my CL story last week. Out of the blue I get a text from a guy asking if I wanted to play bass for his band. I texted back who is this? He replies Scott, I text back Scott who? Here it was from a CL ad I responded to over two years ago. That guy must keep all contact info he receives.
Click to expand...

This story reminds me of one a sound engineer at a studio here in Los Angeles told me: He was helping to do post-production movie sound, and he needed
to record a mariachi band for some loose, on-screen incidental music for a party scene. He found a player on the street, chatted the guy up, and booked his band to come by the studio, but the mariachis never showed.
Six weeks after the movie is mixed and delivered, the mariachi band randomly arrives at the studio: "We're here."
 
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