buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Usually I do as well. This was arranged by a local radio station at a restaurant + I expected better...
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Sub gig coming and no setlists yet!
- Thread starter Stinsok
- Start date
Usually I do as well. This was arranged by a local radio station at a restaurant + I expected better...
If it’s truly Classic Country99% of the is as stated 1-4-5 or 1-5-4 and a waltz beat of various tempos.
I would be much more comfortable walking in cold to this type of gig versus a 80s, or 90s gig.
Classic Country is pretty easy to follow
Good luck
Duke
I would be much more comfortable walking in cold to this type of gig versus a 80s, or 90s gig.
Classic Country is pretty easy to follow
Good luck
Duke
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Had a sub gig for a country/southern rock trio. Guitarist/vocalist/BL, drummer and myself on bass and backup harmony. No one had ever met before soundcheck. Four days notice. Got sent a list of about 60 songs. Was able to play through each one one time at home and compiled a notebook for keys, patterns, vocals and changes. Went to the gig, met everyone and about half of what we played was from that list. Nobody knew we had just met. But, classic country should be in your DNA. (Photo from that gig; no pic, no gig)
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If you need a month (or even a week) to prepare for a sub gig, then maybe you need to re-think accepting sub gigs.
These are the best kinds of gigs: you are pushed as a musician, you don't have to prep anything, there are probably few expectations that you will know any specific parts, and best of all you could always say "Sorry about that one, I didn't know I would have to know it."
Increase your fee every day they don't produce the setlist; say $25 per day. Tell them this is to compensate for the additional stress they'll put you through as you'll have less time to cram.
JazznFunk
Supporting Member
Here's the thing with Country gigs... I've played a bunch of them, as well as 'progressive Bluegrass' and things in between. There are a lot of dismissive comments here about 'oh, it's just I-IV-V and reorganizations of that type of thing', and that's true.... after you've had years on the bandstand and your ears are developed, you can pick things up pretty easily within the genre. BUT - it's very easy to sound VERY BAD as the bassist if you are going one way trying to figure it out, while the tune is going another. True, after a chorus or 2 you should have it figured out.... but it's best to know up front as much of the repertoire to expect as possible. The band should provide this info ASAP for you to prepare. Country bass - by nature of its simplicity - makes mistakes and un-familiarity stick out like a sore thumb. If you're adding fills and 'being creative' to cover up mistakes and wrong chords, it'll show up super fast, and soon you're the jazz guy on a country gig who overplays.
Really, bow out of a classic country gig because of no set list? Why? That wouldn't make any sense. If the band leader is capable of calling a key before the tune, I would think as a capable bassist, you should be able to fit a walk, 2 step, or bass line that will fill in and work well. BTW - I do have a ton of experience doing just that for many country bands and jam bands alike.
"Classic country" has tons of walking lines, and tons of "rules" about approach notes, especially when adding substitutions and V of V bridges etc. Can't already be on the next note, or you will get the look of death. Sure, some of it is the proverbial butt simple, but you still have to understand the basic forms and vocal cues. A lot of people seem to be commenting here with no idea of what the nuances of the genre actually entail.
Maybe you can wing it and do better than just "not sucking", but I would rather do everything I can to serve the songs, and the gig.
That being said, if they can't even give you a couple songs, or at least some of the artists they will be covering 2-3 weeks before the show, I would walk. They can use the time to find somebody else to not provide with material. Have you tried just calling a band member and asking in real time, instead of asking them to compile a repertoire list they may not have ready? Just trying to think of why they would not provide the basics for you.
Maybe you can wing it and do better than just "not sucking", but I would rather do everything I can to serve the songs, and the gig.
That being said, if they can't even give you a couple songs, or at least some of the artists they will be covering 2-3 weeks before the show, I would walk. They can use the time to find somebody else to not provide with material. Have you tried just calling a band member and asking in real time, instead of asking them to compile a repertoire list they may not have ready? Just trying to think of why they would not provide the basics for you.
Learning enough material for a four or five hour night doesn't typically take any longer than this. Ive done such assignments when I knew in advance there is no time due to an emergency. It happens. My experience has been if they don't provide the framework for the gig when you accept the assignment it will either come at the eleventh hour or not at all. If it comes two days before I theoretically have plenty of time...assuming I'm not already booked with material for more responsible people. Sure I can get through it, but I don't like working with people that don't respect my time. The reason they're being flaky is there are plenty of people willing to put up with this nonsense. I'm no longer willing to put up with nonsense, but to each their own.
This isn't normal??? Haha....no seriously I can understand your fears about the gig if your not familiar with a genre of music. As a Nashville honky tonk player and multi-genre bassist I am more use to these type of scenarios so I am always up for the challenge. However, I also know a lot of very talented musicians that are not an on the fly top of player. I will say that classic country is actually pretty straight forward especially with the changes and turn arounds within a song. Spotify Nashville broadway playlists and go over some of the standards and I am sure you could pick them up pretty quick without knowing their specific setlist. I think every bassist is different though and this may be too far out of your comfort zone and that is also very respectable. Good luck on your decision either way.
Just an example of how bad something like this can go:
Once I played at a studio session for a demo tape for an acquaintance. The engineer liked my playing and said his band had a regular gig at a bar in Buckhead (sort of an upscale party area in Atlanta at the time- they've since tamed the party atmosphere in the area) and that their bassist wasn't going to be available for an upcoming show & invited me to fill in.
I asked for songlists, tapes, whatever. He put me off for a while but finally burned me a CD of songs to learn about a week before the gig. I worked my ass off learning those songs & making charts. Night of the show (I think we played from about 10pm to 1 am), they played ONE of the songs from that CD (Plush by STP). I think we played it in the 2nd or 3rd set.
The rest of the night they played jamband crap I'd never heard before. Granted, it may have been really popular jamband crap that they expected me to know, but as I am not from the jamband world, it was all just crap I'd never heard. Not only were they entirely playing material I was unfamiliar with, they seemed to be taking the fact that I was unprepared for this material personally. It was a fairly wide, shallow stage area. I was on one end, the singer/acoustic player in the center, and the guitarist (the only guy I had met) on the other end. So I wasn't able to see the guitarist's hands very well.
Whenever I tried to watch the singer/ acoustic player's hands to figure out what the f**k I was supposed to be playing, he'd either turn his back to me or immediately start vamping way up high on the neck so I couldn't distinguish the chords. This happened often enough that there was no way it wasn't on purpose. He also made fun of what I was wearing over the mic. All this in front of an absolutely packed house. This was the most humiliating night I've ever had in 40 years of playing. Horrible, horrible people.
Once I played at a studio session for a demo tape for an acquaintance. The engineer liked my playing and said his band had a regular gig at a bar in Buckhead (sort of an upscale party area in Atlanta at the time- they've since tamed the party atmosphere in the area) and that their bassist wasn't going to be available for an upcoming show & invited me to fill in.
I asked for songlists, tapes, whatever. He put me off for a while but finally burned me a CD of songs to learn about a week before the gig. I worked my ass off learning those songs & making charts. Night of the show (I think we played from about 10pm to 1 am), they played ONE of the songs from that CD (Plush by STP). I think we played it in the 2nd or 3rd set.
The rest of the night they played jamband crap I'd never heard before. Granted, it may have been really popular jamband crap that they expected me to know, but as I am not from the jamband world, it was all just crap I'd never heard. Not only were they entirely playing material I was unfamiliar with, they seemed to be taking the fact that I was unprepared for this material personally. It was a fairly wide, shallow stage area. I was on one end, the singer/acoustic player in the center, and the guitarist (the only guy I had met) on the other end. So I wasn't able to see the guitarist's hands very well.
Whenever I tried to watch the singer/ acoustic player's hands to figure out what the f**k I was supposed to be playing, he'd either turn his back to me or immediately start vamping way up high on the neck so I couldn't distinguish the chords. This happened often enough that there was no way it wasn't on purpose. He also made fun of what I was wearing over the mic. All this in front of an absolutely packed house. This was the most humiliating night I've ever had in 40 years of playing. Horrible, horrible people.
Hey, thought I would chime in. I do trad country sub gigs here in Nashville all the time and I never get a set list because tunes are just called on the spot. I don’t have a deep repertoire of tunes like I do with bluegrass, but I know enough and have heard enough that when tunes get called I don’t know I do a quick 20 second pow-wow while someone is talking on the mic with one of the guys and ask how the kick off goes, if there’s anything out of the ordinary in the song form, and ask the guitar player to do a few lead around notes to help guide me through the changes the first form through, etc. Then you keep your head up and watch the other players. That’s all you need.
However, you do need to have a solid understanding of the music and be able to hear the changes before they come from using your ear and the melody as your guide.
However, you do need to have a solid understanding of the music and be able to hear the changes before they come from using your ear and the melody as your guide.
I feel for ya, it's more common that ya think. With my band of old I had a cd of our songs at the ready for the poor musician that had to step in. We only went the sub rout to salvage a gig when no other choices were available. Other wise I would never book a gig if all core players were not available.
The travails of a bass sub on a one-off gig could make for a great country song. Band drama, fistfights, drunkenness, unrequited love and, of course, incarceration.
