Strictly amateur hour...

[ArtechnikA]

@ArtechnikA ,
I want to thank you for bringing this ad to my attention. It was removed at some point.

It was reposted yesterday, so it seems the opportunity is still out there.

I'm checking the distance this week. The place is in the middle of nowhere.

Yup.

If the distance is tolerable, I will be setting up an audition.

Cool! I hope it works out for you !

He has been playing in the Valley for 40+ years. He and his sister are the lead singers.

OK - the first part I knew, the second part I got wrong; Thanks for the correction / clarification.

I'm only working five days a week now, so I can go back to playing again, so this opportunity fits me well.

I'm glad you have a chance to regain some balance in your life. I did 40+ years in a high-stress field; music is my 'second career.' I hope this opportunity works out for you !

 

[Fuzzbass]

Just a generalised observation / rant. Don't need advice, the issue is closed.
But some of you may find it interesting / informative / amusing / relatable...

I'm about one project shy of having my dance card full. I play with a few but nobody's working yet this year. (Full disclosure - I have 2 gigs coming up...) So I check CL every day just in case that plum is ready to drop.

I see this one. It's not far, it's music I've done a lot of. Red flags abound, of course, and they got bigger, redder, and more plentiful the more I learned. Here's a relevant snippet from the middle of the post:

" we practice every Friday nite from 6:00 to 9:00. We have Local gigs lined up, but won't book until Bass player gets up to par with our Setlist. We play out once a month, sometimes twice during the Summer months. "

So that's instantly troublesome: it takes them 3 hours A WEEK to pull off a 4-set country / blues / classic rock gig once a month. They've "probably" done local shows but have nothing booked now. And they won't START booking until the mythical bass player is "up to speed" which, having seen the setlist, should take 2 rehearsals tops...

Turns out, they're ('they' are a husband/wife team with various others...) not very technically literate. No email, they wanted a phone call. I called and the guy was at work, waited for a callback... Asked for a setlist, got a cellphone camera shot of a handwritten list. The guy says he's had 'dozens' of responses. I Say 'fine, let me know where to show up to play, when to be there, and what you want to hear." He says OK.

Two weeks later I figure I'm never hearing back, but I get a call out of the blue. Wants to have another conversation, evidently he's got around to scheduling rehearsal / audition. I mention that I can do the Friday he wants, because my other band rehearsal (actually a runthrough for a paying gig) isn't until Saturday.

Whereupon he kinda goes off on the idea that I was in another band -- despite my having told him in the first conversation that I'm a working pro... "Oh no - we had a guy who was in another band and there were scheduling issues." They play -once a month.- (The last band I was in that said they did once a month actually did once a year...) They have nothing scheduled now. I told him to give me a call if he needs someone on short notice.

Donno why he didn't like any of the other 'dozens' of players, but he's still running the ad...

So -- red flags are not necessarily disqualifying, and you have to follow through on every lead, because you just don't know. But it turns out that in this case, first impressions were correct.

I'm sure this will be a fine opportunity for a low-key player who doesn't want to work too hard, spend 12 hours a month re-playing the same 60 songs, and maybe do a local gig for not much money. I have no problem with that -- but it's not for me.

Yep, it's perfect to call that amateur hour, but same as you I mean no disrespect to amateurs. "Family bands" like that who demand weekly rehearsal and 100% commitment for just a gig or two per month... bottom line, they will have a difficult time attracting quality players. They might be right for a good player who doesn't want to juggle multiple projects, but good luck to 'em finding one, they will need it.

I know some local pro musicians well, but have never pretended to be one myself. That said, I'm a busy semi-pro at the bar band level, and none of the bands I currently work or sub with has regular rehearsals (hallelujah)... maybe a refresher once/twice a year, tops. Some have no rehearsals at all: these players know how to do homework, and the end result is as good as bands who play those same venues and rehearse regularly. The best bands in my area, whether they rehearse or not, play higher level "showcase clubs" and are paid very well (definitely more than the $100-$150 I get).

 

[Fuzzbass]

I'm with you on all the rest. And while dozens is probably a big exaggeration, I wouldn't be surprised if there were many responses. Easily more than 10. I don't know what it is about the Greater Philadelphia metro area, but we are awash in bass players. I think there's more bass players than any other instrument. I have been to open blues jams where 6 bass players and zero guitarists showed up. It's quite amazing.

Now that's interesting. There's definitely a bass player shortage down in my large metro area -- I mainly base this on the fact that I keep busy despite having a terrible singing voice, but it's also what I've heard from my BLs.

And I usually do keep busy at my local open mic jam: there's never a shortage of guitarists, but on bass it's usually me and one or two others (outside of the host band bassist, whose job is to let others play).

 

[Fuzzbass]

I'll never understand why local groups want exclusivity.

15 years ago I was with a band that had regular rehearsals but only wanted to play 1-2 times a month. I told them up front I was in other bands that played out occasionally, and they were fine with that for quite awhile.... until the first time I told them I was unavailable for a gig they were offered. The BL was like, "these gigs don't fall out of trees", etc etc. Fortunately the BL had experience and connections and was able to find a quality sub for me, but then more conflicts happened and the sub wasn't always available, so they demanded exclusivity. I understood, because my other bands had become a lot busier than when I first joined. End result: I told them I'd be happy to play as many gigs with them as I could until they found a replacement for me and got him up to speed.... which they did, and we then parted ways. It was kind of a bummer because it was a fun band overall, but 1-2 gigs/month was not enough to keep me exclusive.



TL;DR: IME, local bands that have trouble getting gigs demand exclusivity to avoid having to decline offered gigs due to conflicts.

 

[LBS-bass]

The BL was like, "these gigs don't fall out of trees", etc etc.

My answer to BLs who try to guilt me over not being available is to tell them that if they want me they need to be booking three months out and they need to get more than one possible date when they talk to the club owners. Seriously, that is how every effective BL I've worked with has been doing it since 1978. Why people think booking shows a month in advance is a good way to do business escapes me.

For the record, when I tell them this, the ones that take it to heart find that I'm available for a lot more of their dates than I would be otherwise. I have dates booked all the way into October right now, and that's because I work with a few fairly savvy BLs. It would be nice if they would all figure out that the early bird gets the gig, and also their 1st call players. But their inability to work effectively is not my shortcoming and not something I'll allow myself to be berated over.