I was gonna say maybe the guy that called is more serious and there's someone else that's either flaky, or has legitimate issues (babysitter for kid in the era of Covid) getting in the way. Might work out, they'll get sick of him and get someone else. Sometimes it's a work in progress you're joining. Rare to not have a weak link in a band. They're generally a work in progress until all the right pieces fall into place.
I've had a high tolerance for chaos. It has worked out to my advantage. Or at least led to some interesting stories.
I saw a Clist ad for a band, followed the link to their page, followed the link to the singer, and he was super flaky. Like picture of him shirtless in an Egyptian headdress flaky. OK, I'll skip that C-list ad.
Ran into it for a while, different versions, finally saw one I didn't recognize. Called them up, talked to Flaky's sister, who was normal, sounded interesting. Got to the audition, hmmmm... that guy looks familiar, where've I seen him before... NOOOOOOOO! IT'S HIM!!!!!!
Oh crap. Well, already had my equipment rolled in there. Might as well check it out, now I'm curious. Guy can't sing, some of his originals are particularly cringeworthy, just a hot mess, but 2 good backup singers though. Keys are amazingly horrible. Guitar, drums good. Some fun music here and there. Figure it'll be a good networking opportunity. Maybe can hook up with some of these guys later on another more normal project.
Manager was pretty skilled to get that guy work, have to hand it to him. Everyone finally got sick of Mr Flaky, they quit en masse. We all talked to the manager to say if he heard of anything let me know. He said, everyone else has called me, quit besides of Mr Flaky, why not form a band without him. Voila. Wasn't bad, got regular work at the casino, it's a win.
He eventually wanted to put together an R&B/Funk/Motown act with 2 girl singers he ran into. I'm game, great stuff for bass players. Turns out the 2 girls in question had been backup singers for Bobby Womack, great at harmonizing, one could sing her ass off on Chaka Khan, Aretha and the other was pretty good too. Guitar player was super rhythmic and funky, keyboard player was great. Drummer was very good, but freaking out that we had a gig in a few weeks and hadn't rehearsed enough. He kind of went on a rant about being unprepared. Boop! Singer got rid of him and brought in someone she knew. AWESOME DRUMMER! The chemistry was fantastic, the band grooved incredibly hard, right off the bat, all groove guys, not overplayers, singers were really awesome, best high energy fun band I've ever been in. I was grinning from ear to ear from the first rehearsal.
Our booking agent came out to see us one night and was floored, had no idea what we really sounded like live. Everybody says they're good, right? All of a sudden we got some great gigs here and there. Got to open up for Dwele one time, another time opened shows for Ruben Studdard and Lalah Hathaway. Somehow got Amp Fiddler to play with us at one gig (Parliament Funkadelics alumni), DMX was going through the casino one night, and had to stop and check us out. We were solid. Not like we're pros, but step above local weekend warriors for sure.
Ruben came through with his dry cleaning on the way to his dressing room just as we were about to go on...
I had to take a night off for a function once, so we got a sub. Stopped by after my function to check them out. It's way different on the outside looking in. I was actually amazed. You're kind of in the moment when playing and concentrating on locking with the drummer, listening to the band to adjust to what they're doing, you don't get the full effect of just listening to the band in the PA. I was kind of amazed how they sounded after playing with them for a year or so already.
All based off of sticking with a band that was originally going to be just a networking opportunity for a few of the members, and overall a train wreck from the one singer, but thought it was odd enough that it would make for some hilarious stories while I look for a more stable/reasonable thing. Networking works.
Never hurts to keep an open mind and spend a little time on something experimental, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Randy
