Do (or did you) you play in a band?
Let's share our bands here!
My current band is called Blue Maverick, here's the logo:
We play mostly classic rock, 60s and 70s stuff with some indie and 90s grunge thrown in. We also compose one or two songs on occasion. We play mostly bar gigs, but sometimes we play in bigger venues.
Our website: www.bluemaverick.com.br
Last edited by S. Cane; 10-31-2017 at 09:38 AM. Reason: Included the site URL
I was in a band 39 years ago, when I crashed my motorcycle the afternoon before our first ever paying gig, and broke two bones in my left hand with no medical insurance to cover it. Obviously I didn't play that night, ended up selling the bike, my car, all my band gear but for my ibanez lp and princeton reverb. That began a very dark period of my life.
I'm in 1.5 bands - a country cover band that gigs regularly and a roots rock originals band that gigs sporadically - we're in the process of writing some stuff for a third album.
Country Band - https://www.facebook.com/derringerscountry/
Roots Rock band - https://www.facebook.com/leebowieband/
Nope. I have never even played in public. Ever. I guess you could call it a major case of uncancelled stage fright.
I was recorded and aired on the U S Armed Forces Network playing solo 12-string (with over dubs) when I was in college. This came about because an AFN engineer happened to hear me and some of my college buds jamming one night.
I've done some solo stuff in publc = mostly TFF Jams and open-mics. I had a "band" in college - me and another guy. We had a band name - "Tiers".
Here is us in 1974...
I have a vision of a band named "Hartford". Even have an albums worth of material and the logo designed... alas, it will probably never happen...
"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain
I was in a bunch back in the 70's. Got into the country-rock scene by the mid seventies and at one time our band was warmup for some pretty big names. We had solo bar gigs very often around college towns. It was tough back then because disco was killing live music. So I became a DJ to make ends meet (I always considered myself more of a "showman" than a musician so the change was simple). Sadly spinning disco as well on the side...After a few years of that I sold TONS of gear I had accumulated to buy an engagement ring and begin my current 38 years of servitude to the Princessa. Then at the mid 80's mark I picked up my current 59 LP Jr for $400 (with amp!). After moving to Tejas in the 90's I picked up my Nashville 345. Sometime in 2013 the Princessa gasped and pointed at my R9 and declared it "so pretty". That began 3 years of pretty serious spending and trying to get my fingers back. I am still trying.
I tried to play with local guys when I started playing - about the time I joined this forum....... give or take a year or two. They wouldn't give me time of day.........
and then I had a few opportunities present themselfs......some I handled well some not as much.
I say all that to say this......
November is the 10 year anniversary of Bad JuJu - a very cool blues band - MY first band. I was part of two other bands prior to this - and they were just shitty to me. I learned a lot about how NOT to treat people - especially band members in those.
This band is my favorite project I have ever been part of and we really have a LOT of fun, sound good, play tight and have all kinds of friends sit in, fill in, etc......NEVER have drama if someone can't make it - maybe some stress to cover the gig with the right person - but never animosity.
We used to have a website - but My friend who hosted it and did the webwork for me quit doing it. We don't take ourselfs too serious, so we just have the facebook page now. https://www.facebook.com/badjuju.blues
I think in 10 years - we have rehearsed 6-7 times - just because everyone is so spread out. The lineup has changed but the name has stayed the same.
Bad JuJu - Its good for your soul!
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
Some friends and I jsut started a funk band. Three of us have been in a band together, the bass player is an old friend and and the drummer is a friend of his. We imagine adding a few more members. The first rehearsal sounded good.
Two bands and doing some writing/recording. Band one is six-piece classic rock, band two is jazz/fusion.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
I'm in a couple bands that play once or twice a year. Both are R&B/Soul/Funk in nature. I also play with a jazz trio several times a year that doesn't really have a name, but it's just an offshoot of my main band, which is:
Scarlet Fever Band.
Almost exclusively weddings & private parties now; only a few club dates per year, which we use as showcases for brides/grooms with whom we're in contract.
Names? Pics? Let's share our stuff!Originally Posted by Offshore Angler
I like the clean style!
Thanks! Can't take credit for the site, as that's done by the band "owners" (bassist and drummer), but I do write the blog section.I like the clean style!
I've had three long-term bands 3-5 years. Mostly 60s-00s music. My second long term band was called Uncle Torchy's Yank Time Band, based in Bayreuth, Germany. It included me (American), a Brit, a Welshman, a Greek, and a German. We played 6 hours straight with no repeats. That was from about 94-99, and it's my fave band that I was in. We were all good, not virtuosi, but really good. We were popular because we had a blast, and the audience always felt that. But 6 hours was a hard bit of work--by the 5th hour, my arm and hand would start to cramp and would draw up. I'd get someone to massage it, and then I'd carry on. I'm still in close contact with the Brit, who is like a brother to me.
The first time I played live was in 1977. I was 15 and played bass for an Elvis cover band, either shortly before of shortly after Elvis died. I was proud because I learned 30 songs in about a week, had one rehearsal, and had a great gig. I was filling in for their bassist.
I'm really missing playing in a live band, so I'm trying to get one started. I've got a good lead player and maybe a drummer. I'm switching back to bass and really looking forward to doing that again after all these years. I think it will help me to find pleasure in playing again.
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
Gratious goodness, Willie, 6 hours?? Talk about a lot of sets! I will never be able to play that long
We worked hard, a little too hard. Toward the end, it stopped being fun. But by that time, two of our original members had been replaced, among them, my best friend. We pulled in a couple of hot sessions players, and although the level of musicianship got better, we lost the magic we'd had with the two guys who left. Still, my best gig memories happened in the early days of the band. We played a city festival once, and at first, we had about 5 people in the audience, but an hour in, the other bands in town lost their audiences to us. We were playing in an old cobblestone part of the town, and people packed the area. After the streets were so packed that one couldn't even move, folks stood on roofs and others crammed in the windows of surrounding buildings. We were stoked and played like we'd never played before.Gratious goodness, Willie, 6 hours?? Talk about a lot of sets! I will never be able to play that long
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
I'm in a couple bands right now: my trio, the Zanti Misfits, plays sporadically in the south end of King County for the most part. The other band I play with is a folk/country/rock outfit called the Ryders. We call the style "blurgrass", & if you find the band's website there are a ton of photos & videos out there of varying quality.
The project I am most excited about right now is a reformation of a regionally popular blues rock band I was in in the '90s called the Alley Cats. We only recently reconnected musically at a couple memorial "ruckuses" for a local luminary known as Fat James. James was a good friend to all of us so it was requested that we make an appearance to pay our respects. We had such a great time & good chemistry that we are planning some shows for 2018.
I will post some images from those recent recent events
Last edited by Cogs; 11-08-2017 at 02:43 AM.
Me playing my homemade Strat at the Wild Buffalo in Bellingham, WA, with the keyboardist & bassist from the Fat James Band. You can see an image of James being projected on a screen behind the stage:
A closeup:
From the first Fat James Memorial Ruckus at Capps Club in Bothell, WA:
The Band, LtoR: Billy Spaulding, keys; myself on guitar & vox; Matt Williams, drums; Clint "Seattle Slim" on gtr & vox; Lissa Ramaglia, bass gtr
Trading 4s w/Slim:
Last edited by Cogs; 11-08-2017 at 02:54 AM.
I've been in too many bands to count. One nearly cost me a security clearance when I was in the Air Force (warning: do not include the stage name George Metesky under various aliases when applying for a crypto clearance). My first band in 1964 was one of the thousands of "We, the People" bands across the country. I played with a couple pro bands, one had three top 40 records (before I played with them for a few weeks). I became a band leader my senior year in high school with a rock band which, like the Blues Project, was not just blues based, but played folk rock and psychedelic and pop stuff, too.
I was in three bands in college (not including the school lab band) and one played the Matrix, Fillmore Auditorium, Winterland, and a few other venues, always as an opening act for major bands and stars. When the third fell apart, I laid out of playing gigs for more than fifteen years.
After I married the second time, my new wife got me another (a replacement) Fender bass. I still had my '67 Gibson SG Special, but I was a bassist at heart.
I joined a classic rock band and found I had little affinity for either the music of the seventies nor the people who would only play that era of music.
I joined a newly forming instrumental surf band in 1996. Our lead guitarist would not learn more than 13 songs, so we never had a second set, or even a substitute tune to play two gigs without repeating every single tune we knew. We replaced him with another lead guitarist and worked up four sets, one where the rhythm guitarist played my bass and I played lead guitar. We added a sax player for a year, but he was terrible, so we fired him.
The lead guitarist's wife had family and property in Germany, and its caretaker was old and ill, so every summer, they would spend in Germany (they were both school teachers with free summers). We tried a substitute guitarist, but he was closer to heavy metal than our early-sixties' retro surf sound.
We became a trio after never finding a keyboard player or another guitarist who either could play well enough or who didn't want us to become his/her backup group, playing their songs and not the music we had played for a decade.
So, here it is, 21 years after our first gig, one CD and inclusion on an international 2-disc CD set of surf music, and we still gig four or five times a year, making less money than I did in the mid 1960s. Check us out on Facebook under The VibroCounts.
I also play a U-Bass with a church ukulele group, more focused on singing Hawaiian songs (I cannot and will not sing). That gets more gigs than the surf band these years.
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. -- Pete Seeger
Vibro, indeed. Gigging is becoming harder each day for straight forward rock bands.
Vibro, I'll fly out and do surf gigs with ya'! I haven't done any surf since Mikey passed but there's three sets worth of pent up stuff in my head. Would be fun to let it out.
Dick Dale, The Pyramids, The Markets, the Chanteys, The Lonely Ones, The Belairs...it's great stuff play out! Add a beach and some bikinis and I'll do it for free!
Chuck
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
If I lived in the US I’d certainly join the pack
I started playing in my first band as a sax player while I was in junior high school. On a couple of tunes our bass player wanted to sing only and not play so I learned those few tunes on bass and found I really enjoyed playing bass. I picked up a used Fender Jazz bass and spent a few months learning all I could about the instrument.
My first gig as a bass player was during high school when I played six nights (and a Sunday afternoon matinee) in a nightclub/lounge group each week for the first 18 weeks of my senior year. It was a little rough at school, but there aren't too many students who have a full time job that pays as much as their parents are making. By the end of my senior year I was in my first four piece rock band.
Since those days there have been many bands that have come and gone with the longest time (7 or 8 years) being spent in this group. The band did four CDs with me being on the first two.
I was old enough to be the father of everyone else in this band and am the guy with glasses at the top of the photo.
I left the group because they wanted to travel more (while I was with them we covered 6 upper midwest states) and, with a family to support, I had no desire to give up my fulltime job.
At 71 years old I'm still playing and host a weekly jam session at a local pub.
Very cool, Laker. Wish I could join you on one of those jam nights!
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
That would be very cool!
Incidentally, the guy on the far right of the photo was the guitar player in the group; I took him to my friend's music store to purchase his first good electric guitar, a 335 Gibson. The guy to the immediate left of me in the photo was our drummer; he graduated from high school with my son.
The guy in front with glasses is currently playing sax, clarinet and keys in the band Miles Nielsen (Rick Nielsen's son) and the Rusted Hearts.
There are several masters degrees and at least one PhD in music with the horn guys in the group so me being the old soul player made me the real oddball of the lot.
Road Trip! Is there a general aviation airport near you? I'll come jam with ya!
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Btw we played a small gig last Saturday night in a pretty cool place, a late 1910s building...
I love playing guitar at such cool old places that nowadays are somewhat forgotten and host punk rockers, graffiti artists, junkies... That CBGB atnosphere, you know?
I’ll post more pics as soon as I can upload them.
Here’s me jamming with our bass player:
Another (very lousy) shot from the audience
OK, I have to ask. Why did you set the kit in the corner stage left? Stage-craft 101 says put the kit stage center. A white wall behind a skinny guy with a tambourine isn't cutting it. You need Bam-Bam with the the lights reflecting off his hardware (ever wonder why they chrome it and metal-flake drums are so popular?) with his elbows up to create the atmosphere.
You need to remember that we evaluate bands differently than the average audience member. The average audience member is as much into the visuals as the music.
You're not there to play music - you're there to put on a show!
As long as I'm in cranky old fart mode I'll also add that unless you're the Rolling Stones, don't use any more stage than you need to. You want to squeeze the players together as much as possible to create the image of a tight band and not isolated pockets of musicians. The Beatles were masters of this. They could play a stadium but used less stage than the average $50/guy local bar band. Blocking is important, and also helps your band develop a consistent sound from venue to venue.
LOL, I feel better now.
Last edited by Offshore Angler; 11-18-2017 at 06:30 AM.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Thing is, we don't always get to set the stage as we please. Some of the bars we play at have the stage prearranged for all bands, and it's kind of impossible (or too much trouble) to rearrange everything in a perfect setting.
But you are right in every point. When we are the main event (we were opening acts in both occasions I posted here) we do set the stage differently, the drum kit in the center, our banner behind, and so on.
I thought I'd add a cut from our second CD from around 2001. I always liked the sound of our guitar player's MIM Strat. I was surprised at the sound he pulled out of that guitar.
Groove Hogs "Tall and Proud"
Last edited by Laker; 11-19-2017 at 06:49 PM.
wow - some really great stuff here! You guys have the Moves!!! Cogs - I like the setup
This is just a typical clip from a typical gig at a typical bar, with a small PA setup and no stage, one set of lights, and some of the best bus to play with that I have ever had the opportunity to do so with!
If it doesn't show, friend me on FB to see it.
Thanks- Ken
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
Kenny,
I'm not sure if I told you this before but a friend of mine, Jimmy, who played bass for Savoy Brown during the time they spent as the opener for the Van Halen tour has a band named Bad JuJu too!
Small world!
Chuck
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Sometimes when you have the luxury of space, you want to use it all! And also keep the drummer in a cage!
And sometimes you just don't have the luxury!
Savoy Brown! I have a number of their early albums: Looking In, Raw Sienna, Street Corner Talking, Hellbound Train...
Now, back to the thread, already in progress...
Sometimes its tough coming up with a band name that has never been used......and isn't AFU sounding
In know this - Today is the ten year anniversary of this band, with about 30 people who have been in, or still sometimes perform with the band.
I can't think of a more fun group of guys to play with - I have been really lucky. NO drama, and it makes a HUGE difference.
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
YES!!!! YOU sir.....Nailed that!Sometimes when you have the luxury of space, you want to use it all! And also keep the drummer in a cage!
And sometimes you just don't have the luxury!
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
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