Thinking about quitting!

[Bunk McNulty]

I've been lucky with bands. I'm leaving my current outfit after 8 years mainly because I want to get out from under the tyranny of the band calendar. I want time to do some traveling. Old friends on the West Coast and in Europe I haven't visited with in years, etc.

 

[Ggaa]

Yep-bands where members are screwing around with another member's spouse, a member involving the audience in his psychotherapy, member gonna be a star, etc. Luckily never incompetent players... Wanted to bonfire my gear, but I didn't. And gigs were slow for a while but things took off for the better. Wait it out, keep at it.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Welcome to the world of flaky musicians. I've been trying to find others to play music with for over 3 years. The very few that actually got together with me were either nuts or unreliable. I guess there are always backing tracks.

 

[MasterG]

Just got back together with a couple of lifelong buddies I've played with over the years. One of them called me up about a month ago and said he met a girl at his church who's a singer and she's pretty good and would like to start up a cover band with her. So we pick some songs and learn them and we all get together and see how it goes. The girl is 30. She can sing...in pitch,time etc.. but....her voice sounds like she's 10. We were doing some Pretenders,Sheryl Crow,Kelly Clarkson,Pink, Meredith Brooks etc. and it just wasn't cutting it for me. Her voice just doesn't fit the music. The other two guys...drummer and bass player...think she's fine and she'll get better. Well as I said her singing voice is that of a 10yr old....thats something thats not gonna change and doesn't do any justice to the rocking female vocal tunes she's trying to pull off. I don't want to keep on with this. We've gotten together 4 times and I don't see anything changing with her. Shes not gonna go from a Disney Princess voice to Janis Joplin. My buddy who introduced us and thought this would workout seems he doesn't haven't have the heart to tell her this probably isn't gonna workout cause he goes to church with her and she sings there and he plays in the band. I'm at a crossroads. I like playing with these guys. Like I said were all good musicians..been playing together off and on for years,get along great,read each others minds when playing etc.. but...I know this girl ain't gonna cut it. Knew it from day one. Oh well. Maybe I'll ride it out for their sake till the wheels fall off.

 

[MuseChaser]

Just got back together with a couple of lifelong buddies I've played with over the years. One of them called me up about a month ago and said he met a girl at his church who's a singer and she's pretty good and would like to start up a cover band with her. So we pick some songs and learn them and we all get together and see how it goes. The girl is 30. She can sing...in pitch,time etc.. but....her voice sounds like she's 10. We were doing some Pretenders,Sheryl Crow,Kelly Clarkson,Pink, Meredith Brooks etc. and it just wasn't cutting it for me. Her voice just doesn't fit the music. The other two guys...drummer and bass player...think she's fine and she'll get better. Well as I said her singing voice is that of a 10yr old....thats something thats not gonna change and doesn't do any justice to the rocking female vocal tunes she's trying to pull off. I don't want to keep on with this. We've gotten together 4 times and I don't see anything changing with her. Shes not gonna go from a Disney Princess voice to Janis Joplin. My buddy who introduced us and thought this would workout seems he doesn't haven't have the heart to tell her this probably isn't gonna workout cause he goes to church with her and she sings there and he plays in the band. I'm at a crossroads. I like playing with these guys. Like I said were all good musicians..been playing together off and on for years,get along great,read each others minds when playing etc.. but...I know this girl ain't gonna cut it. Knew it from day one. Oh well. Maybe I'll ride it out for their sake till the wheels fall off.

Three words. Rickie. Lee. Jones. Good pitch? Good time? She's already better than most singers. Embrace her voice.

 

[thunesBARROW]

I kind of gave up on bands myself too. I either play with whoever is talented around me and wants to play, or whoever pays me. Otherwise, the whole and thing just isn’t worth it for me anymore. I’ve been in a few excellent bands over the years, and a lot of not so excellent bands. It’s just not worth the stress and hassle of dealing with flaky, inexperienced musicians because you “need” somebody.

 

[MasterG]

Three words. Rickie. Lee. Jones. Good pitch? Good time? She's already better than most singers. Embrace her voice.

Embrace this....Minnie Mouse after sucking on a helium balloon singing Celebrity Skin by Hole. Timing,pitch etc ain't gonna help if it sounds like she's two octaves high. Lol!

 

[Spidey2112]

I'm not a psychiatrist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express, last night. I'm almost done with my crossword puzzle, but here's my initial analysis...

I have gone through drummers that hit so light he had to mic his kit just in a basement setting.

Tell him to try drumsticks made of wood, and not leftover soy noodles.

Now she is a tax expert in one year!!!

Probably lost at Four Square on the playground at an early age, and is making up for lost time.

a guitarist that wanted to use his looper pedal to record his solos and play them back live and just do his rhythms and get mad at the rest of us for not being at the right spot when he hits his playback button

Time traveler, with no sense of time. He's a real nowhere, man.

we found a great guitarist and had 2 sets down in 2 practices when he let us know that he sold his house and was moving away

Afraid of commitment, at least when it comes to real estate.

Which one of these prizes do you want me to send the bill to?

 

[Chris Laarman]

Welcome to the world of flaky musicians. I've been trying to find others to play music with for over 3 years. The very few that actually got together with me were either nuts or unreliable. I guess there are always backing tracks.

You remind me of Bob Norton, one of the generous references on Band-in-a-Box (and on wind controllers), who together with his wife relies on backing tracks (which explains his aftermarket styles for BiaB). - But then, rhythm-section musicians may be less served by backing tracks... (No, not all bass players are rhythm-section musicians, vice versa.)

 

[Jefenator]

I've managed to endure in "hired gun" mode. But I seem to be wired for spontaneity & variety like that... YMMV.
Bands almost by definition are a pain in the butt.

 

[Chris Laarman]

but...I know this girl ain't gonna cut it. Knew it from day one. Oh well. Maybe I'll ride it out for their sake till the wheels fall off.

If all of you should bond well, could there be a genre that would fit all of you?

 

[Thumpin6string]

You remind me of Bob Norton, one of the generous references on Band-in-a-Box (and on wind controllers), who together with his wife relies on backing tracks (which explains his aftermarket styles for BiaB). - But then, rhythm-section musicians may be less served by backing tracks... (No, not all bass players are rhythm-section musicians, vice versa.)

I don't do backing tracks, but they are always an option.

 

[Parzival]

I’d just take a break. Wait until you really start missing it. Then go back and give it another go.

 

[VeryTallBassist]

I've helped on a few small projects and some some sessions here and there for a friend that writes commercial jingles, but I basically quit playing in a fully committed band maybe 12 years ago and haven't looked back. This is after gigging at least twice a month for the previous 20 years. I'm happier being a bedroom (or home office) bassist.

 

[Auer]

Alternatively, just find people you like and take it from there.

"Paul Simonon had “borrowed” a bass and Mick Jones had removed the strings and painted the notes on the fretboard with pink nail varnish. When rehearsing songs, Jones and strummer would shout out the notes of the chord changes to the young bass player. Fans in the crowd at early Clash gigs have said the notes on the bass guitar were clearly visible."

 

[kmon]

I have about a 10% success rate so far. It’s just really hard for 100 different reasons.

 

[GreyBeard]

The more players you have the more issues you have to deal with. Think about trio

 

[oysterphish]

I'm in the same boat. At times I just think of picking up my acoustic and just do solo, one man, folksy stuff. I can't find what I'm looking for otherwise. All the other quality musicians are already committed elsewhere.

 

[Discount Bassy]

I struggle to find competent, responsible, like-minded people in general and only a fraction of them are decent musicians.

 

[Chris Laarman]

I've managed to endure in "hired gun" mode. But I seem to be wired for spontaneity & variety like that... YMMV.
Bands almost by definition are a pain in the butt.

(Yes, I seem to be in reminiscence mode today.) - I'm not sure if I remember correctly (after nearly 50 years), but I think that I gave up on even wanting to be a professional musician after attending a Fats Domino concert. I had this thought: "... and in many years from now, at every gig around 10:30pm, I shall be performing [my equivalent of] "Blueberry Hill". Is that what I want?"

Hmm... I must nuance the above. I have joined (and later rejoined) a trad. jazz band (at least the second time on bass!), but even there I lacked the "spontaneity & variety". I'd attribute that to the characters of the members, with to each applying:
"doesn't mind if he doesn't make the scene:
he's got a daytime job he's doing alright."
[the Dire Straits: "Sultans of Swing"]

A beauty of jazz [matter of opinion] is that replacing one member of a group (even jam set) is likely to alter the inspiration considerably. Or even changing roles. I started a rock group with a friend from the jazz sessions. He brought in a friend from his folk trio, I brought in a friend who happened to have a drum kit at his parents' home. So we had our roles per song:
Chris: bass (guitar with bass pedal), rhythm guitar, vocals;
Arjen: rhythm guitar, solo guitar, bass (my pedal), vocals, trombone;
Erik: solo guitar, rhythm guitar, background vocals;
Carlo: drums.
Imagine "Suzie Q" in the CCR version, but with the riff on trombone!
[deleted: the "why we split" matter]