It was the first time I met with them, and it's unreasonable to ask a working musician to learn 20 songs for a gig they may not get. Any legit audition I've done has been, at most, five songs.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Would you have done this audition?
- Thread starter s0c9
- Start date
It was the first time I met with them, and it's unreasonable to ask a working musician to learn 20 songs for a gig they may not get. Any legit audition I've done has been, at most, five songs.
Sounds like the typical way some people operate, regardless of their age. I've dealt with nonsense from people in their 20's up to people into their 50s.
Some people just don't have good communication skills.
I have a friend who is a great Singer and she hates when people go silent and don't respond. She says "They're Ghosting me"...
Some people just don't have good communication skills.
I have a friend who is a great Singer and she hates when people go silent and don't respond. She says "They're Ghosting me"...
Somewhere in the middle of that text conversation I would have done something younginz think is wacko and stalkerish.
I woulda CALLED the guy. (Crazy... I know.)
Most texting is ambiguous nonsene that is incredibly easy to misinterpret. That conversation went nowhere because there weren't enough WORDS involved. One easy way to shore up details and clear the fog is more words. The easiest way to incorporate more words is the use of one's VOICE.
I will never, EVER, go to a place I have never been before to meet someone I have mever met before without actually SPEAKING with them. That's just asking for "It puts the lotion on its skin!" or banjo music! Don't you people watch the news?
Grumble grumble.... kids these days..... make me sound like a freakin old man.... GET A JOB and GET OFF MY LAWN!
Absolutely this. I'm gonna have a bunch of questions answered before I go to any audition. More than can be handled with texting. If a BL can't spare five or ten minutes to do that, I'm not wasting my time going to an audition. Plus, you can get a sense pretty quickly if the person is serious and experienced or a whacko.
Nothing worse than having to pull teeth to get information. Typical Craigslist. Everything is a mystery. When placing an ad, please add band name and links to website, if you have one. Post a song list. I can then let YOU know what I know. Try to have the full band at the audition. Be clear and informative. If we have to keep going back and forth, I get annoyed.
This was the text in the CL ad
"Drummer, fiddle, vocals, lead and rhythm players seeking a reliable counttry bass player ready to go. "
Maybe the spelling of country should have given me a clue?
Bass-ically.. I'm looking for another country band to join. There's plenty of them in my area, but the major ones (like the one I used to be part of) don't have much of a rotation, so the only option there is to sub. Haven't done that since Dec.
So.. the choice are
- Gather some A-tier players to put together a new opportunity (which is what I have been working on for a while now - first practice tomorrow night BTW) OR..
- Go on CL and see what's out there for country bass, and takes your chances
I've actually done pretty well with folks off CL over the years, tho yes.. my OP is not untypical of what one can run into!
I would not normally go for that type of "audition".. but.. one never knows.
As a former band leader (I ran a rock/variety band for 7 yrs back when I played lead guitar), I expect to have a MINIMUM of a phone conversation (one can tell a lot from that), some kind of song list, a FB page or band web site.. BEFORE I agree to show. From that, I can determine whether there's structure and potential or it's a bunch of flakey wannabees.
As I stated elsewhere.. I maybe a mediocre bassist, but I DO HAVE STANDARDS !!
Ha.. I agree. the country band I finished 4 yrs with last Nov had an audition. I expected 5 songs.. We had 23 of their set list in common. We played thru all 23, then went thru 3 originals I had never heard before. That was a Thursday night. They called me Friday night, offered me the position and asked if I could be in the studio Sat am to record
I guess that one went well !! LOL
I know plenty.. but as I alluded to in a prior response.. once you've played the A-tier in local country music venues, opened for national acts (as weekend warriors) you DO KNOW the top tier bands. WE didn't change members (except for the drummer - which is another sad, but lengthy story) in 4 yrs. The other A-bands don't rotate folks much either. They usually just disappear like we did. The gigs are good, pay is relatively good (compared to rock/roll) and lots of band are looking to break into that A venue country scene. You either put an "A" band together, hook up with an existing A band (rare), or try to find one with potential -which is what I did 4+ yrs ago. But, our BL disbanded the band last Nov - for a number of personnel reasons which I won't go into publicly.
If you look at where I live, my band was on the Dallas side of down, but I live on the Ft. Worth side. Most venues are at least a 40 miles drive - one way! Ft. Worth has its own set of country bands, and there's only two I know of that bridge both scenes, and they've been around since the year dot - with the SAME folks.
Meanwhile, my on-again-off-again band is rehearsing tomorrow night with my old BL on guitar, lead vox is another BL from a well-known local band that we tried to restart but couldn't find the right people, me on bass(duh!), a well known regional drummer and a well known local keys player.
Hopefully, this incarnation will work and I can stay off CL !!
Last edited:
+1
I hate the implication that all CL bands are flakes. Musicians in general are flakes; it's not like if you stay off of CL you'll only deal with the cream of the crop. You meet idiots EVERYWHERE. If you have the IQ of a turnip, you can screen out most of the time-wasters. I love these people that show up at the audition without the information they need and then blame CL. No, it's YOUR responsibility to get the answers to your questions or pass on the opportunity.
You should have a list of questions that get answered before you even agree to an audition - including, but not limited to - current instrumentation (including who sings), song list, clubs played, pay, how is the money split, who provides sound & lights, how often practice, where practice, how close to original they intend to play. If you don't have the answers to all of these questions, you don't have enough information to decide if it's worth your time to audition, so don't blame CL that you don't know how to screen.
Now get off of my lawn and go screen some CL bands!
Fair enough, I though it was just a list and you would choose which ones to play during the audition / first meeting. In that situation the bigger the list the better.
For me the big red flag would be no drummer. Don't think I would audition or do the first meeting w/o a drummer.
If they had said “this is our list, learn five” that would be different, but inexperienced me didn’t think to ask. The drummer not showing up was mentioned after I got there.
Last edited:
Check out different forums focused on country musicians. I found a stoner rock forum geez, wellover a decade ago, and found what I needed and seased looking. I had been playing blues, doom and SR since 1990ish and for a LONG TIME there was a small circle of interested players. Now...its differentBass-ically.. I'm looking for another country band to join. There's plenty of them in my area, but the major ones (like the one I used to be part of) don't have much of a rotation, so the only option there is to sub. Haven't done that since Dec.
So.. the choice are
- Gather some A-tier players to put together a new opportunity (which is what I have been working on for a while now - first practice tomorrow night BTW) OR..
- Go on CL and see what's out there for country bass, and takes your chances
I've actually done pretty well with folks off CL over the years, tho yes.. my OP is not untypical of what one can run into!
I would not normally go for that type of "audition".. but.. one never knows.
As a former band leader (I ran a rock/variety band for 7 yrs back when I played lead guitar), I expect to have a MINIMUM of a phone conversation (one can tell a lot from that), some kind of song list, a FB page or band web site.. BEFORE I agree to show. From that, I can determine whether there's structure and potential or it's a bunch of flakey wannabees.
As I stated elsewhere.. I maybe a mediocre bassist, but I DO HAVE STANDARDS !!
Keep throwing rocks at hornets nests eventually everyone gets stung.
Change Mediocre to Raw. We've all been there. Best if luck .
True! I can play bass and drums, but not at the same time.
So.....
Last Monday, while waiting for my on-again-off-again new country band to be "on again", I respond to a CL ad (yeah I know) looking for a "solid" country bassist, with all other pieces (including fiddle) in place. I text the guy...
ME: "Just saw your cl ad for bass auditions..." etc, etc. Give them a link to my bandmix page.. with a "let me know if you have an interest".
Him: " I like what I see man! What does your week look like into next weekend"
ME: "I'm pretty much open - other than Sun am church."
NO RESPONSE.
FOUR days later (Thurs), I send a follow up text... "Hey, ____ Is this audition likely to happen this week?"
NO RESPONSE.
Friday at 16:18pm, I get a text "Can you come and set up your kit with us tonight, at ________. Full band minus drums"
I reply "What time, it's a 30 min drive for me.."
Him: "9:00 Let me know:
ME: "got an address?"
Him: "address of audition" - which is a venue in a warehouse district!!
ME: "Any hints on songs you plan to go thru?"
Him: "Sorry for the confusion, are you a bass player only?"
ME : "Yes..bass. country!"
No further communication at all. So I chew on this a while, and at 18:54, I send..
ME: "Sorry, I'm out. No Drummer, No Setlist. No band name, no other info from you. hope you find someone."
Him: "fair"
Seriously? What kind of BL operates like that? I did some research on the guy and found out that yeah, he's young (mid-20's) lives in the area near the audition location (I assume job location or another band members job location), but there were WAY TOO MANY red flags.. or is this how "young un's" run stuff these days?
I doubt any experienced bassist would have gone. I didn't.
Thoughts?
PS: My on-again band has rehearsal this wed night
My experience with cl for hiring players is , if you want good players write better ads. You can eliminate a lot of crap, and save a lot of time that way by setting clear expectations of not only what you are looking for, but what you bring to the table as well.
As for looking for a gig, my minimum qualifications is if the band is working, when is their next gig so I can see them in action. The reason I need to see them is two fold, one, to hear if they are worth hooking up with, and secondly, find out if I can help or improve what they have.
There is no way I’m interested in wasting time on a start up band that may never start up. Musicians tend to be a fickle sort and will move on at the drop of the hat when there is nothing but an endless series of practices and auditions. Preferably the band you are interested in has gigs booked ahead, and therefore all have a vested interest to continue to show up.
+1. Five songs is plenty for both you and the band to see if there’s a good fit.
Latest posts
-
-
-
The Bartolini BH2: Why Does It Sound So Dark? My EHB1265MS Experiments- Latest: Riff Ranger
-
