I started a blues band (which has been a dream of mine for about, oh the last 30 years of playing bass) with a guitarist that appeared on the surface to be VERY good.
I started with the concept of playing with a killer drummer that I've played with off and on over the years and always wanted to get something going with him because together we form a very tight, in-the-pocket, groove machine rhythm section. I mean, together, even without other musicians, we can get people moving. We go together like PB&J. We're that into each other's minds.
So, this blues guitarist calls me out of the blue one day and we hit it off. We jam together a couple of times and decide we can really do something special, so I contact the drummer and he's onboard immediately. I've seen this guitarist do his "solo" gigs and the prospect is very intriguing.
I had 40 songs on disc with some of the funkiest, rockin' blues tunes that were anything but the standard I-IV-V fare. Great stuff we were all in agreement to play knowing nobody else does this kind of material around here at all.
The guitarist is a really good and he has a good voice too so he decides and we all agree to have him sing lead and play guitar. We're a three piece progressive blues band.
Here's where things begin to fall apart. We begin rehearsing. We individually learn our parts to the songs. The drummer and I have our parts nailed and we're tight on them ALL. We get together and the lead guitarist can't sing and play at the same time without either the singing or guitar playing suffering...tremendously. Well, anyone who does both knows it can take some time to get new material down, so I'm not panicking here...yet.
I offer to sing some of the leads to lessen his burden. No, he says, he can handle it and wants to do it. OK...we'll get together in a week and go over what he's got down. Next week comes and it's really no further along despite his practicing. Again he insists on doing both. He suggests maybe we should just go over the music and play along to the CD for vocal cues. He feels (and it makes sense) that he needs to get the music down with us first and then at the next practice he'll add the vocals.
Alright. But he's been making comments all along the way that only now are crystal clear to me. He says things like he "needs to play the songs his way". We're fine with that conceptually....you know we all agreed to do these blues covers in our own way. But what he really was saying (reading between the lines in hindsight) wasn't that he just didn't want to cover these songs note for note...he was incapable of doing so.
Rehearsal after rehearsal of sloppy guitar playing, poorly timed vocal lines and an ever growing sense that this guitar player, although very good on his own, just cannot play with other musicians. He says finally that "Some people are born to play the blues and it isn't something you can learn, no matter how hard you try".
Ah, I get it now. He's delusional. He feels that the drummer and I just don't get him because we can't alter the chord structure or timing to fit his "style" of playing. His "style" is nothing more than an inability to stay on time or keep an arranged chord structure. His playing is sloppy, his singing comes in late or early and he continually forgets what key he is in and plays whatever he's "in the mood for" instead of what the song calls for.
So I tell him as a last resort, "Look, we need to find a lead singer to let you just focus on the guitar." He explains that we just don't get it. He needs to sing lead because his guitar playing is based on his vocals. He's played with other singers and he can't play with others singing because they "don't get him". Uh-oh. I explain to him that for the good of the band, it's not an option. We HAVE TO get a lead singer. He totally flips out and calls me a ego maniac who is trying to change him into something else and the reason he can't get the vocal and guitar parts down is because me and the drummer aren't good enough. He was born to play the blues and we're just wannabes who aren't good enough to "jam in his free-form style".
Anyway...he packs up his toys and goes home thinking we're never going to amount to anything without him because he's God's gift to the blues. He was born with this "gift" and no matter how much we practice the drummer and I will never be as good as him. Even though everyone around knows how good the drummer and I are together. He neglects to see how the drummer and I have all of these songs down tight. Totally clueless.
Two days later we picked up a lead singer and a seasoned lead guitarist. One rehearsal later and we're already through half the material whereas with the "born to be a blues star and I'm entitled to be a lazy unprofessional guitar god" we had five rehearsals and couldn't get any of them down tight.
Sorry. Just had to rant. Moral of the story. Don't let first or even second impressions allow you to be blinded to the facts. Some guys may be very good doing there own thing, but for whatever reason just cannot play well with others. Anybody else come across these guys who have talent but lack professionalism? Duh, I know there are a lot out there. First time I've actually had to deal with one first hand.
I started with the concept of playing with a killer drummer that I've played with off and on over the years and always wanted to get something going with him because together we form a very tight, in-the-pocket, groove machine rhythm section. I mean, together, even without other musicians, we can get people moving. We go together like PB&J. We're that into each other's minds.
So, this blues guitarist calls me out of the blue one day and we hit it off. We jam together a couple of times and decide we can really do something special, so I contact the drummer and he's onboard immediately. I've seen this guitarist do his "solo" gigs and the prospect is very intriguing.
I had 40 songs on disc with some of the funkiest, rockin' blues tunes that were anything but the standard I-IV-V fare. Great stuff we were all in agreement to play knowing nobody else does this kind of material around here at all.
The guitarist is a really good and he has a good voice too so he decides and we all agree to have him sing lead and play guitar. We're a three piece progressive blues band.
Here's where things begin to fall apart. We begin rehearsing. We individually learn our parts to the songs. The drummer and I have our parts nailed and we're tight on them ALL. We get together and the lead guitarist can't sing and play at the same time without either the singing or guitar playing suffering...tremendously. Well, anyone who does both knows it can take some time to get new material down, so I'm not panicking here...yet.
I offer to sing some of the leads to lessen his burden. No, he says, he can handle it and wants to do it. OK...we'll get together in a week and go over what he's got down. Next week comes and it's really no further along despite his practicing. Again he insists on doing both. He suggests maybe we should just go over the music and play along to the CD for vocal cues. He feels (and it makes sense) that he needs to get the music down with us first and then at the next practice he'll add the vocals.
Alright. But he's been making comments all along the way that only now are crystal clear to me. He says things like he "needs to play the songs his way". We're fine with that conceptually....you know we all agreed to do these blues covers in our own way. But what he really was saying (reading between the lines in hindsight) wasn't that he just didn't want to cover these songs note for note...he was incapable of doing so.
Rehearsal after rehearsal of sloppy guitar playing, poorly timed vocal lines and an ever growing sense that this guitar player, although very good on his own, just cannot play with other musicians. He says finally that "Some people are born to play the blues and it isn't something you can learn, no matter how hard you try".
Ah, I get it now. He's delusional. He feels that the drummer and I just don't get him because we can't alter the chord structure or timing to fit his "style" of playing. His "style" is nothing more than an inability to stay on time or keep an arranged chord structure. His playing is sloppy, his singing comes in late or early and he continually forgets what key he is in and plays whatever he's "in the mood for" instead of what the song calls for.
So I tell him as a last resort, "Look, we need to find a lead singer to let you just focus on the guitar." He explains that we just don't get it. He needs to sing lead because his guitar playing is based on his vocals. He's played with other singers and he can't play with others singing because they "don't get him". Uh-oh. I explain to him that for the good of the band, it's not an option. We HAVE TO get a lead singer. He totally flips out and calls me a ego maniac who is trying to change him into something else and the reason he can't get the vocal and guitar parts down is because me and the drummer aren't good enough. He was born to play the blues and we're just wannabes who aren't good enough to "jam in his free-form style".
Anyway...he packs up his toys and goes home thinking we're never going to amount to anything without him because he's God's gift to the blues. He was born with this "gift" and no matter how much we practice the drummer and I will never be as good as him. Even though everyone around knows how good the drummer and I are together. He neglects to see how the drummer and I have all of these songs down tight. Totally clueless.
Two days later we picked up a lead singer and a seasoned lead guitarist. One rehearsal later and we're already through half the material whereas with the "born to be a blues star and I'm entitled to be a lazy unprofessional guitar god" we had five rehearsals and couldn't get any of them down tight.
Sorry. Just had to rant. Moral of the story. Don't let first or even second impressions allow you to be blinded to the facts. Some guys may be very good doing there own thing, but for whatever reason just cannot play well with others. Anybody else come across these guys who have talent but lack professionalism? Duh, I know there are a lot out there. First time I've actually had to deal with one first hand.
And that's not to minimize the importance of any other instruments, but it does set us apart from traditional blues bands and that I'm sure played a lot into the guitar player's ego.
