blue

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1492205479' post='3278734'] Nice diverse lineup, looks like a great festival. What's the name of your band Blue? [/quote] Maple Road, all those bands listed are "headliners" were a local support act and damn lucky we're able to get in. We've been booked for the past 7 years. Many local bands never get to play Summerfest, it really is a "big deal". And sad and unknown to most local young bands, it's not how good your band is, it's who you know. We have a very high level corporate connection. Still waiting for confirmation of our slot. Rumor has it we have a great slot and date this year. Blue

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1492205451' post='3278733'] To be fair I doubt most Americans would have heard of half the average Glastonbury line up. Probably not most British people either for that matter.. [/quote] It's a 2 week premier fest on beautiful Lake Michigan. At 64 I will have to YouTube most of the acts listed. I only recognize a small fraction of the artists. Blue

Summerfest, world's largest music festival released a partial list of the acts performing. It's overwhelming. We should get our slot soon. http://summerfest.com/2017-lineup/ Blue

The thing I like about Detroit Bass Players is the diversity of styles and skill level. It's not all about the 5 year old Asian female than can blow away "Teen Town". Blue

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1492121806' post='3278189'] I came across this show a while ago. I particularly liked the interview with Kevin Chown - an interesting insight in what it is to be a working pro rock bass player in the modern world... [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fztHkKrSo2U&t=2s"]https://www.youtube....ztHkKrSo2U&t=2s[/url] [/quote] Agreed, Interesting insight.Kevin talks about getting to know people is in terms of getting gigs and that he's never auditioned. Thing is, I have run into a wall trying to get to know even our local heavy hitters. They are a closed bunch. I say , screw them I gig more than most of them anyway. Blue

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1492160689' post='3278331'] We have more than 4 hours of (non original) music. We generally do 3 hour gigs in this group, which I think is way too long. We have only been together a year though, so I think it is pretty reasonable that blues blues band would have a lot! [/quote] The whole 4 hour US bar band gig is not easy, but it's all we know, it's always been this way. I think managing 4 hours of material is more challenging than 2. We play some blues songs, but I doubt a real blues band would consider us a blues band. Again, everything from originals, to Queen, Robin Trower, Ventures,Beatles to Nancy Sinatra. However everything has a 70s hard rock vibe driven by guitar solos, harp and vocals. Blue

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1492169366' post='3278433'] It's a means of attracting interest from people browsing the internet by using enticing and sometimes wholly inappropriate words in a hypertext link just to get "cash for clicks" or search engine ratings. "Clickbait is a pejorative term describing web content that is aimed at generating online advertising revenue, especially at the expense of quality or accuracy, relying on sensationalist headlines to attract click-throughs and to encourage forwarding of the material over online social networks." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I mentioned it because of this recent topic; http://basschat.co.uk/topic/303710-respected-players-using-clickbait-on-youtube/ On reflection it wasn't all that witty, sorry. [/quote] Got it. I'm not sure where I stand in this issue. I'm not sure Detroit Bass Players uses click bait. I didn't notice it. Blue

When you can afford tov quit your traditional job. Blue

[quote name='Rainbass' timestamp='1492079858' post='3277730'] It was Sunday night (not last night) but had a really good gig with the originals Duo. Small club in North Devon, and we had dragged in lots of Muso friends, which helps. Got more than they usually get for a Sunday night at the club, good door money and so everyone happy! CD sales were zero Did a few covers in the set, including Wherever I Lay My Hat, and I offered a free CD to anyone who could name the bass player. No one could. No one knew his name when I told them it was Pino. And this was a mainly musician (but not bass player) audience. We are the unknown warriors of music! [/quote] I don't really know who Pino is. I know he's referenced to on BC a lot, but that's about all I know. Blue

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1492150607' post='3278242'] Has the show been vetted for click bait yet though... Heeheehee. [/quote] What is click bait? Blue

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1492121806' post='3278189'] I came across this show a while ago. I particularly liked the interview with Kevin Chown - an interesting insight in what it is to be a working pro rock bass player in the modern world... [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fztHkKrSo2U&t=2s"]https://www.youtube....ztHkKrSo2U&t=2s[/url] [/quote] Thanks Pete, I'll check it out tonight. Love this honest no frills production. The content is awesome. Blue

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1492076237' post='3277662'] Does that mean you have 4 hours of unique material or do you repeat early sets later in the night for a potentially different audience? [/quote] Yes, it does. We never repeat material. As a matter of fact we have a lot more than 4 hours of unique material. 2 CDs worth of originals material ( we might play 2-3 originals during the 4 hours ) then everything from Robin Trower, Peter Green to Nancy Sinatra. At some gigs a lot of our best stuff never gets called because we run out of time. Keep in mind this is band with 11 years under it's belt. Blue

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1492078638' post='3277708'] Think it depends on what you are looking for when playing with a band. For some the enjoyment is regular well paid gigs and for others its just the fun of playing without the stress of it being an income. I may have mis-interpreted what i meant by not taking seriously. We take playing the songs seriously but not the making money side of it. Majority of our band have other bands that regularly gig and they only got together to enjoy playing the songs they liked and wanted to play for themselves. From the word go when i was asked to join that was made clear to me. As i don't need the income it kinda just suited what i wanted. Hasn't always been that way and i've gone thru the various stages of seeking fame and fortune to regular income to trying to fit in between work commitments and then back to regular gigging again and then getting sick of it all and back to a band that just enjoys playing for the sake of playing together. If people want to hear us then we'll gig. Band is only learning set list at moment and all songs i've never played before or even heard before. (not my usual style of music). We've already done a few private functions for friends and have been asked by local venues to play. We've not gone out looking so quite lucky in that respect that the people who have heard us play have passed on comments to various venues they either play or attend. That's probably a different outlook to others that take the music very seriously as its more a business to them where they need to be good to get the best paying gigs. I totally get that as some of the best musicians or bands i know are function bands. They earn good money because they are good at what they do however they are mainly function bands playing a selection of songs to please their audience. That's the big difference for me. We play songs to please us. We don't have the pressure of seeking out the well paid gigs or playing "the wedding scene" gigs. Its just not what we are looking for from a band. For me personally playing 3-4 gigs a week is more like a job and i would lose interest if all my weekends were taken up with playing in band while friends are out watching bands, enjoying a meal with friends. Not sure that al makes sense but hopefully it does highlight the different levels of commitment and attitude towards bands and what they get from it. Dave [/quote] We're all different and the band experience is different for all of us. I look at my situation as work and a job. However it's truly a job I love and work I love. It's not the drudgery work of what a 9-5 job is for most. I 9-5ed it for 35 years, now that was stressful. I'll never understand this sentiment with some that if your in this as a job and income it's not fun. IMO what I'm doing is more fun than those doing this strictly for fun. Blue

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1492071929' post='3277599'] What about the rest of your band? Even if I were footloose, nobody else is. Our singer and player are married to each other, which does simplify things a bit though. [/quote] Good point, I'm the only member of my band that can come and go as I please. We have 2 husband and wife teams in our band. 1. Band leader/ lead guitarist, lead vocalist and her husband runs sound. 2. Lead guitar ,vocals and harp, wife handles merch and marketing. Definitely simplifies things. Blue

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1492076764' post='3277674'] [font=Helvetica] [font=Helvetica]Nearly every band that I’ [font=Helvetica]My current band is not a band that’s puts our own take on songs, we are a band that plays the songs as per the original, because being a covers band, we feel the punters prefer them that way.[/font][/quote] I have a slightly different take The Brig, if I understand your situation correctly. If the band members haven't learned the 30 songs since January, your really not a band that plays the songs per the original recording. Your a band that hasn't learned half of the songs at all I think this is a "red flag". Especially if the reason you joined the band was to gig. I would have preferred to see you in an established cover band bringing your work ethic in to learn the songs of a cover band already up and running. Blue

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1492071354' post='3277590'] 20 booked between mid-Nov and early-Jan. We ended up cancelling a few, but that's the ballpark. Two a week basically. We could be doing that now, but we're working up new material which is time consuming when you're writing arrangements from scratch. There's only so much free time when everyone has a job and a family. [/quote] No job and no family. Blue

I have 2 MIJ reissue 1951 P basses. Both have Maple fret boards My Gibson Les Paul Gold Top and ES-335 basses have Rosewood fretboards. Blue

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1492070151' post='3277573'] Do you get gigs on weekdays as well as weekends? Most of our bookings are Saturday nights, and's there's only so many Saturdays in a year! This weekend we are playing Saturday and Sunday, and at the end of the month we have a late afternoon gig followed by a night (starts at eleven) slot at a biker rally. That's going to be a long day! Both gigs are 2 x 1 hour slots, but there's a whole lot of packing up, driving to the next venue, unpacking and setting up again between as well. [/quote] No week night gigs. We have a 3 ,and two 2 gig weekends. One is a 3:00-7:00 Sunday gig. All bar gigs in the States are 4 hours with 2 ten minute breaks. Blue

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1492067698' post='3277551'] I've got 6 gigs this month, which is quite a lot for us. It's hard to get that many usually without playing he same places more than once or travelling a long way. I would like to get a gig every week, but even that is not too easy to find round here. [/quote] FinnDave, It's a busy month for us too, 7 gigs. I think only one is new business we hope to win. Blue

[quote name='Kirky' timestamp='1492068822' post='3277563'] Thanks for posting, [/quote] Nothing to it. 😉 Blue

"When you think someone is screwing you out of money." Blue

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1491913178' post='3276384'] That's pretty good stuff. Cheers Blue Dave [/quote] Cool, I wish I could hang in that bass mint. Blue

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1492020912' post='3277298'] One thing to remember is that you can change things from the inside once you're in. So if the ad is close enough to what you would like it's worth a call. If it's something crucial to you that you don't like you may find it difficult. For me "we rehearse every week and gig once or twice a month" would probably stop me persuing it. Les [/quote] I'm with you Les, 1-2 gigs a month is nowhere near what I require from a band. 1-2 gigs a month could mean many gigless months. If it was with the right people,not the right music and they said, "come out with us we're doing 170 shows this year". I'd say "Where's the bus, I'm ready" Blue

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1492013002' post='3277206'] I'm probably the odd one out on this thread as 2-4 gigs a month is about as much as i would ever want to play. No we don't take playing as serious as many bands but that's why we enjoy doing what we do.[/quote] Hi Dave, 64, 3-4 gigs a week is my sweet spot. Interesting comment regarding playing. My band, we take playing seriously and that's why we enjoy what we do. Blue

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1491897692' post='3276160'] Well, it's an original band, and it seems to be the way it goes. Play in a new town and there are not many there, but you win over the ones who are. The next time you play that town, they all come and bring more people, and so on. To put it in money terms, with an original band, you're selling directly to the audience. It's not about how much they drink, it's about whether they will buy merch and follow you to your next shows. It's a totally different game to yours, which is selling a service directly to the landlord ...but yeh, the pay was allright [/quote] 64, been in at least 2 originals bands within the last 10 years and understand the difference. If the pay was acceptable then I'd say it was worth it. Blue