gypsy
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 154
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Post by gypsy on Feb 9, 2008 21:51:41 GMT 1
I'm getting pretty frustrated. I have a years worth of gigs lined up, and now am feeling pretty iffy about my band. Seems that if our mando player can't play (he suffered an injury that is taking a looooooooong time to heal) no one else wants to come. So i am playing solo. Not really sure how to resolve the situation, part of this might hinge on our fiddle player bowing out of being formally part of things,she is over committed. Plays when she can/feels like it with us. Sigh. I am getting ready to just do it as a solo person, and stop trying to work with others. But i have GOT to get them to follow thru with this years committments.........i think. I WILL be rude, and do the guilt thing about the upcoming wedding that i have a deposit for. Sigh. I just don't know how to resolve this issue. Anyone else been there, done that? Any bright ideas out there?
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Post by Dick Glasgow on Feb 10, 2008 12:19:14 GMT 1
Sorry to hear about your problem Gypsy.  I must say, I just can't be bothered with all the hassle of working with other musicians in a full time band set up & having to deal with all their little ego trips & tantrums. Another factor in this is that I am a home bird, so I don't like the touring aspect, which would be tricky to say the least, because I don't fly!  So what I do myself is teach music during the day in local schools, but I'm not tied in with the education system freelance, so I'm actually just working on my own. Then I work a lot as a duo with my wife & sure we have plenty arguments, but they're part of the fun of marriage ( like when we make up again  ) but fortunately we both have the same work ethic. So we always do a Gig we have promised to do, we always arrive on time & we never let anyone down by not turning up, but then of course they're pretty standard ways of behaving that everyone should adopt anyway. I generally find that most professional musicians are like that, so most of the problems I have when getting a hold of other musicians to help us play for concerts, weddings, sessions whatever, are with musicians who have full time jobs & only play for fun. Sadly they don't always seem to take things as seriously as they should & I'm afraid I have no time for those folks who always arrive late or just in time which is just about as bad & I certainly never again use guys who just don't turn up, whatever their excuse is. So our unit is as a duo & we bring other musicians in as & when we need them. OK this can be a hassle, especially when everybody seems to be doing something else the night you need them, but it usually seems to work out fine in the end. So maybe rather than giving up working with anyone else completely, perhaps the duo thing might be worth a try Gypsy? Then you could just bring in other musicians as & when you needed them. I've probably not been any help at all to you, but hey, if I were you, I'd just forget all your troubles today & just have a wonderful Sunday ...... tomorrow's another day & you'll have plenty of time to worry - next week. I do hope you manage to sort it all out though. GOOD LUCK. Cheers Dick |
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dulcimike
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 155
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Post by dulcimike on Feb 11, 2008 1:40:51 GMT 1
Yeah, I've been solo for several years for that same reason. I love playing with other people. I prefer it, but I've never been able to get a band together, and the one I was in, the others weren't nearly as serious about it as I was - and it wasn't even my band, i.e., I didn't start it. I finally got tired of that and quit. Afterwards, I did get to play with one fiddler who was very busy, but asked me to play some gigs with her, and we played locally several gigs. I also had the privilege of playing with a local English Country Dance group, but it wasn't a paying gig.
My biggest problem is feeling people don't want to hire a solo HD player, and it seems to be a problem for those who hire acts into coffee shops, etc. I would love to have one other person with whom to play regularly, with whom I could practice tunes and get gigs. I'd feel more confident about that, and it would provide some variety and on-stage banter (one hopes).
Working with others who are way more busy than they need to be is hard. If I know that's the situation, I tend to shy away from them.
Hope you can work something out, gypsy.
Thanks, Ptarm, for your comments. They help me get a perspective on a slightly different situation with which I'm dealing here.
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Post by Nikita on Feb 11, 2008 7:51:22 GMT 1
Wow Gypsy, that's a bad experience  For me, I'm like Ptarm : I feel that when somone accepts to play for a gig, paid or not paid, the person takes a moral engagement (it might not be the good english word : I mean he or she feels morally obliged to go) to come and takes the responsibility to rehearse, come on time, and so on. If someone doesn't do this, like isn't there on time, or worse doesn't show up without a good reason, I'd just kick that one out and never play with him again. I have no room for diva attitude in my playing... But it seems I've been quite lucky - or maybe it's one of the good aspects of swiss mentality - I think I encountered what happened to Gypsy only once in 30 years of playing. Even when we where very angry, we managed to play together (painfully !)and honor the contract. And a few times when the band split, we'd take means to be replaced by another group... I do think this is the normal attitude : if you're playing music, you're playing not only for yourself, but to gives emotions to an audience, and the simplest respect is to be there... So, Gypsy, in your place, I'd definitely be rude and do the guilt thing ! Here in Switzerland, with a paid gig, if you don't have a good reason (accident, sickness....) the artist who's not coming to a gig has to pay the organiser the same amount he'd get if he where playing... and if the gig's not paid, people talk, and a bad reputation is easily spread, and you'd quickly not get anymore gigs... I do hope your band will come back to "normal" feelings... all the best ! |
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docterry
Dulci-Tambourin (10 - 20 Posts)
Posts: 14
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Post by docterry on Feb 22, 2008 6:16:50 GMT 1
Gypsy,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I have been lucky enough to be with the same 4 guys for over 20 years. And even though we have lost members of the Ramblers through the years, two in their passing,( including original founding member Bill Bowes this past May), we have picked up a couple more through the years. We now have a "core group" of four and five others we can call on to fill in.
And it works great, provided that we do two things...practice with the fill in member at least twice before the gig, AND let the fill in member play a few of their tunes. Heck it's a fun way to learn new music. And it keeps you playing with friends, and allows others to miss gigs.
Three of these fill ins have become a great part of the band. And they came from jam sessions at festivals.
Good Luck, Gypsy!
Docterry
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Post by Dick Glasgow on Feb 22, 2008 19:23:27 GMT 1
Docterry wrote:Hey Docterry, of course musical Mormons are also welcome on this forum! ;D Cheers Dick
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) but fortunately we both have the same work ethic. So we always do a Gig we have promised to do, we always arrive on time & we never let anyone down by not turning up, but then of course they're pretty standard ways of behaving that everyone should adopt anyway.
