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So I'm looking for a 2nd band and...

#61
If it is, I'd bring a sleeping blanket.[/QUOTE]
Spidey2112 said:
An hour tops, for evaluation of each other...

... unless it's prog.

If it is, I'd bring a sleeping blanket.
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nah. it's a nice variety of rock, pop, funk, even a little country. but very very familiar cover songs. I think I've played at least half their list at one point or another.
 
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#62
QORC said:
yes, but they contacted ME, I didn't contact them. If this wasn't a good time to be trying out bassists, that they are too busy to actually do it, why contact me at all?
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If if I had to guess my thoughts would be they were genuine about wanting you, and something came up which delayed it. That something could be almost anything. I guess you will find out if you do end up auditioning with them.
 
#64
LBS-bass said:
It's not a great time for working parents, but who is teaching their kids well into the evening?
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They're catching up on work or chores they couldn't do while the kid was awake.

I'm lucky that my kid's old enough to be reading well and can do a lot of stuff independently. But spare a thought for working parents of kindergartners, some of them have been burning the candle from both ends for months now....

This really does hit different people in very different ways depending on jobs and savings and family situation and lots of other variables.

But, I mean, that's a bit of a digression, and I agree, this could easily be garden-variety flakiness.
 
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#65
Esteban Garcia said:
Two things:
  1. I'm unconditionally cutting everybody slack in the time of covid
  2. musicians can be friggin flakes, some more than others
Sometimes joining a band means showing up and playing gigs without any rehearsals. Sometimes it means one rehearsal before each gig, sometimes one rehearsal then a string of gigs, sometimes it means months of work before playing out. I've done all of those, and as I've gotten older, come to appreciate fewer rehearsals. It's more of a challenge (obvs) to show up and play cold, but unless you're getting paid for rehearsals, it's a much higher hourly rate to just play gigs. On the other hand, my tolerance for flakiness has decreased significantly; your description does have some red flags to be wary of. Proceed with caution!
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Great post!
 
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#66
LBS-bass said:
...

... If music is at all a priority, you schedule things on other nights, not rehearsal night, unless it just can't be helped. Kids' weddings, bar mitzvahs, ya know.. those things you probably need to do. Most other things can wait.

...
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Yes, and these kind of thing are usually known in advance so shouldn't cause a last minute cancellation of rehearsal.
 
#67
wraub said:
It's possible that, because they "only need 6-7 songs" and you suggested "10-15 songs" that they are making the assumption that you are good enough for one gig already, and are letting the rest fall into place as able.

...
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Could also be that they really only know those 6 or 7 songs. Been there, done that.
 
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#68
AND...there it is...just a few minutes ago by email.

drummer says, "there's been a change in direction with the band. my guitarist has decided to focus on solo work given the pandemic. so as of right now there really isn't a "band" to rebuild until the pandemic is completely over. sorry for the delays. i sensed that something was going sideways." I'll reach out if/when this changes."

sigh.....

he seems like a straight shooter but obviously the guitarist is a flake and he was the reason i couldn't try out last week...or the week before...or the week before. He simply didn't want to do it and didn't have the balls to tell the drummer.

to focus on a "solo" career? There's careers in playing solo gigs in crummy bars? And this precludes playing in a full band? I think something else is going on here.

More time wasted
 
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#72
QORC said:
AND...there it is...just a few minutes ago by email.

drummer says, "there's been a change in direction with the band. my guitarist has decided to focus on solo work given the pandemic. so as of right now there really isn't a "band" to rebuild until the pandemic is completely over. sorry for the delays. i sensed that something was going sideways." I'll reach out if/when this changes."

sigh.....

he seems like a straight shooter but obviously the guitarist is a flake and he was the reason i couldn't try out last week...or the week before...or the week before. He simply didn't want to do it and didn't have the balls to tell the drummer.

to focus on a "solo" career? There's careers in playing solo gigs in crummy bars? And this precludes playing in a full band? I think something else is going on here.

More time wasted
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Solo work doesn't necessarily translate to a solo career. Apparently he had other projects he can work on alone and would prefer that over band/gig situations. Plenty of bandcamp/youtube/recording collaborations are going on during the pandemic to make that a viable alternative to those who have the option. In any event, at least you know and can move on.
 
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#74
QORC said:
AND...there it is...just a few minutes ago by email.

drummer says, "there's been a change in direction with the band. my guitarist has decided to focus on solo work given the pandemic. so as of right now there really isn't a "band" to rebuild until the pandemic is completely over. sorry for the delays. i sensed that something was going sideways." I'll reach out if/when this changes."

sigh.....

he seems like a straight shooter but obviously the guitarist is a flake and he was the reason i couldn't try out last week...or the week before...or the week before. He simply didn't want to do it and didn't have the balls to tell the drummer.

to focus on a "solo" career? There's careers in playing solo gigs in crummy bars? And this precludes playing in a full band? I think something else is going on here.

More time wasted
Click to expand...

I wouldn't come down on the guitarist for sitting out the band thing. He may be high risk or think this group of people are a high risk to be around. He should of course been up front about that.
 
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#79
In my younger days when I used to ask girls out (do people still do that?) I always knew when they were going to back out, despite the fact that they confidently said, "Sure!" That happened more times than I care to admit... but my gut was more honest with me than they were.

Me thinks you got the same kind of thing going on here :) .
 
#80
Honestly this is about the worst time possible to be looking to get a band going. First is just the overall risk and anxiety surrounding COVID which is really going to make choosing to meet for a rehearsal a tough decision and a cancellation is in no way surprising. Second, with no gigs on the books it is going to be hard for a group to be motivated to do the work. I'm in the camp that people do need to be cut some slack right now and not held to the uber standard of Talkbass Band Management social interaction. I also would venture to recommend that folks just leave joining a new band off their to-do list for awhile longer.
 
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