theplumber

True but at 64 I don't think my vocals will get any better! I could have put the work in and yes it could have led to something else,but it had echos of a similar originals project which faded away after a few months of practise and a gig where the punters were the support band and a guy hired to take pictures! Originals are always a hard sell!

So I answered an advert on Facebook from a guy looking to restart his band after a couple of years break. It was a 3 piece doing mostly original songs in a blues/rock style. A bit of Rory Gallagher/Captan Beefheart. type thing. I liked what I heard on ReverbNation as they have about 40 songs. I was given two covers and 5 originals to learn about 2 weeks ago. I set about learning them and as you know it's always a bit harder to remember songs that you have never heard before! Anyway I met the drummer and singer last night in a practise studio and had an hour and a half of a run over the songs. No issues really,nice guys,good players....couple of things put me off. It looks like it's going to remain a 3 piece,ie guitar bass and drums. The drummer doesn't sing so backing vocals are needed from myself. I have done backing in bands before but usually with others pitching in. The journey was a nightmare in the Glasgow rush hour for a 6pm start at the studio. The drummer works so no chance of and early practice and late ones are pretty much a no no as we all get too tired lol! Anyway there was another guy to try out at 7.30 so I left. They asked me if I was up for it and to have a think about things and they would call later...by the time I had reached the car I decide it was not for me. Been down that road too many times before and I could see my interest dropping off as the band had zero gigs lined up,the drummer was in another busy band and my vocals are deffo not up to scratch! I had to try at at least to see if it would work and I hope I did not waste their time. But I really felt after thinking about it that I could not really be bothered! Apathy...guilty!

Wow!!!!! (Wal) Love it!

So I left my last band at start of November. I think my last gig was 2nd Nov. Not picked up or played the bass since then. Took it out the case today and played it for at least 2 minutes! It felt very,very strange! I think I better get back in the saddle!!!

Playing the same old riffs to the same old riff raff.......

I could....the keyboard player can't/won't....

Yes.. Mainly that and after trying out other venues and finding that they are not very well attended. The band spoke in the spring of this year about putting some more songs in the set and even as mentioned trying out two different sets in rotation of our stuff but it was decided that due to the singer being busy with work and having a limited vocal range ie he is struggling a bit with some of the keys and the keyboard player by his own admission not really able nor willing to take on new material due to him having difficulty remembering our current set. Not ideal but not something I can do anything about. I thought long and hard, tried to put it to one side as the guys are great and we go down well in our favourite venues. I just hit the wall during a gig a few months back and realised I was bored to bits with the whole thing. Time for a change. No hard feelings.

Agreed!

Been in a covers band for nearly two and a half years now. Since I joined there has been no new songs added to the set.The songs we play go down well enough but as you might imagine it's getting a bit stale. I can see that if it was a tribute act we would be stuck with more or less the same songs week in week out but it's not! My last gig with the band is this week and the drummer is off as well. So...do you add new songs now and again or stuck with the same set of songs?

64 next year. Yes it's just a number but that means I have been in bands since I was 14. 50 years is a long time to do anything! Maybe I should be a lot better than I am! Gave notice to my current band about 3 months ago and doing the last gig with them this coming weekend. Great bunch of guys and have had a really positive 2 and a half years with them. But recently noticed that I was really bored playing gigs. I learned the set when I joined and over the last couple of years on a positive note the band has become super tight. The downside is there has been zero new songs added to the set. The singer and keys guy feel that there is no need to change the set. There was some sort of attempt to bring new ideas to the table at the start of the year but only if the keys guy approved them or indeed could actually play them...Fair enough! But as it seems no one in the band apart from me are doing anything towards getting gigs,only me and the drummer engage with facebook to promote gigs and a few other things which I won't moan about I thing it's a pretty bum deal not getting to suggest or work on songs to keep things fresh. We are out 3 to 4 times a month on average so it would have been nice to have some new stuff for the punters. I tried and got us some new venues,about 5 in total and more or less all of them turned out to be a bit of a waste of time. Playing to 4 folk at one point was a pretty low point. Most of our other gigs are well attended. Anyway I gave up and now I am on the lookout for something else. But it's pretty hard to find anything never mind anything decent! I will keep looking for the next few months at least but am starting to think about giving it all a miss! Sad to think about it but I have had a decent run over the years and who knows.....something else may turn up!

Harry Nilsson .....Nilsson Schmilsson.