Who else can't find a band?

[Dellers]

People usually say it's easy for bassists to find a band, but I haven't been able to find any yet. All the time I see bands looking for guitarists, but the market for bassists here in Norway seems very small.

 

[MEKer]

Been looking for a year to get an original band together to do a Satriani/Vai/Johnson style of instrumental rock. Everyone here only wants to do covers or blues standards. Been there, done that and thanks, but no. I'll keep looking...

 

[Floyd Eye]

There are many ads here in Missouri every single day for bands looking for bass players. Maybe it would help to get into a band that is as close to your genre as possible and then look for other musicians in the meantime.

 

[R. Laevinus]

I can find lots of bands in my neck of the woods.

I just can't find any good bands.

 

[cassanova]

Since I got laid off from my job about 3 weeks ago I've been looking for a working band situation.

There are quite a few people looking for bassists but they are either not working, have age restrictions, or are in a genre that doesn't pay well.

I do fill in work and have been pointed in the direction of some very talented people (some of which I've worked with) but the drawback is most of them want to play metal/originals because they're sick of doing top-40/pop/funk/dance, stuff with their band that provides them good income.

I've been taking auditions for all of the above solely for the networking opportunities that it can create. You just have to be patient and hang in there.

I also agree with those that said make a PR kit, which is also something I need to do. But that costs money that I cannot afford to spare. So it boils down to being patient and hanging in there until you find the right fit for you. It will eventually happen.

 

[Steve Clark]

Great post. There are some very good questions and points in here. What do you want as a musician is a really good questions to ask.

I'm lucky, or at least have worked for a few years on creating the luck, that I rarely do 2:00 a.m. bar gigs but this winter managed to work very regularly for decent money for the most part and most of my gigs were finishing when the bar gigs start.

I certainly did my share of bar gigs as I worked to get my name out there and would still do them if it was a good band but it's not something I want to do. I'm sure I could work every weekend playing some of the bars but I turn down a lot of that work.

I think if someone only wants to focus on making 'art' and is willing to accept that the gigs may be very thin on the ground that's a good thing. I like to combine the freelance jobbing gigs and meet some artists a long the way and do both.

EDIT: I'd love a great funk/R & B gig locally. That would be a lot of fun.

Since I got laid off from my job about 3 weeks ago I've been looking for a working band situation.

There are quite a few people looking for bassists but they are either not working, have age restrictions, or are in a genre that doesn't pay well.

I do fill in work and have been pointed in the direction of some very talented people (some of which I've worked with) but the drawback is most of them want to play metal/originals because they're sick of doing top-40/pop/funk/dance, stuff with their band that provides them good income.

I've been taking auditions for all of the above solely for the networking opportunities that it can create. You just have to be patient and hang in there.

I also agree with those that said make a PR kit, which is also something I need to do. But that costs money that I cannot afford to spare. So it boils down to being patient and hanging in there until you find the right fit for you. It will eventually happen.