Grateful Dead Music Forum

Ok, Looking for ideas. Here is my problem. The bunch of guys I play with for the last four years do so at the other guitar players house in the basement. That worked pretty good for the first couple years, until he had a child. Now we can only play when the child is out of the house.

I live kinda far away and my house does not lend itself to a full band setup. So even though my kids are out of the house now, no go there. The others live in townhouses.

Another bunch of guys I have played with a few times play in the room under a bank barn at the drummers Mom's property. Which is really cool but it is currently unheated. So their jam/practice time is limited by seasons and temp extremes.

In either case, playing time for an entire band is limited by facilities or lack thereof. This is part of the reason that I have not played out. My wife and I toss around ideas like rent a house somewhere relatively near the various musicians just for jamming. Seems excessive and somewhat risky.

So what does everyone else do? All thoughts/suggestions appreciated.

Dave

you could rent a storage space maybe?

i'd suggest just going to the barn with some heavy clothes and battery powered space heaters because playing in a barn is pretty great

Battery powered space heaters??? How about a patio propane heater? Coleman makes these little propane camping heaters that are safe enough to bring into a tent.

Next to finding the right musicians, finding a place to play/practice is always a challenge.

In the past I have rented a warehouse in an industrial area with 2 other bands. I managed the space and had to collect rent on a monthly basis. At the time there was about 14 of us and we each payed $40 a month.

Worked out pretty well for a couple years. It was heated and had a shower and toilet.

We used the space to park a bus and a couple motorcycles. We also equiped it with a fridge and electric stove. There were a couple times when one or two of the guys were between places to live, they became the 'night watchmen'.

We had to give the space up because the police started dropping by too frequently.

Dave ,if you got the bread and the wifes blessing ,rent a house to jam in!!!!!
Dude I'm there!
You dont like jamming in my small attic jam room any more?
Dave the guy who sold me my house has a band that practices in a house no one lives in.He had some kind of connection and worked himself a fine deal.
I love the jamming in the barn thing too.
Unfortunately ,with none of the band members living on the barns property anymore,theres no one to pre warm the thing.The whole "safety" thing. The wuss bags.
We used to heat the room with a wood burning stove and even with it ripping the room had some cold spots in Jan/Feb.
Plus its unheated most of the time so I dont like leaving the equipment in the cold all the time.
Its only like 5 months to spring

Used to be a problem til I bought a house with a room in the basement that is my jam room. I even bought a cheap set of drums, which I can't play and don't even want to, but leave set up to make jams easier. Some ideas:

1. Try Craigslist. Put an ad for jam space. Never know until you ask

2. Call Parks and Rec and see if they have space they rent. It's often heated, large and cheap.

3. Call the schools. Often they have something you can rent and they're rarely there at night or weekends.

4. Find where others jam and see about sharing the space.

5. Kick someone out of the band and replace them with someone who has space to play.

We practice in the basement of a house shared by our drummer and keyboardist(whose two rigs are biggest P'sITA to move!) This is pretty much ideal in terms of minimum loading... I leave my amp rig there most of the time as well- I can just make one trip with my guitar and FX case (for living room use I have an '84 Fender Super Champ, an incredible little 18w tube reverb amp.) The other guitarist has his guitar and combo, and the bassist just brings his bass and a POD. We have the keyboardist's Mackie PA, a homemade floor wedge and a couple of JBL straight cabs, a few decent mics, ready to go. Let's make the most of our 4-5 hours together a month!

Oh yeah- and we all live within 15 minutes of practice

We're pretty lucky, we have a jamspot we rent for $300/month, heated & a/c, parking, and only 5 minutes from my house, if that, and nobody in the band is more than 10-15 minutes away. I love it, wouldn't give it up for the world. We all leave our gear there, and I can down at any hour day or night to jam w/ the band, friends, or just to mess around by myself.

On a side note, the new house we just bought has a partially finished attic and for a while I've thought about outfitting it w/ some foam.& carpet & what not, but it's old and I wonder about the ceiling below, which is made of plaster and not to mention right below is the master bedroom. Gotta figure this one out. I think it'd be perfect for a jamspot (not to mention FREE), but I worry about the heavy pounding from the drums/speakers and the possibility of the plaster below loosening and dropping off the ceiling. I almost had a plaster ceiling fall on me once before and that shit weighs a ton, could defintely put you in the hospital if a good chunk hit you in the head.

Thats what they call bringing the house down,my man!

in my former life i would regularly rent out large industrial/warehouse type units. I was renting them in Providence, RI which oddly enough has remarkably high rents and real estate prices.

Anyway, for about $500month here you could obtain something 1,500sq./ft.+, heat, bathroom, many even had 3 phase electricity.

w/out question enough room for 2 bands set up and even a lil lounge area.. the possibilities are endless. Like someone mentioned 4-500+heat, split between 2 bands is a steal for a dedicated spot.

I have converted my old 3 car garage( house and detached garage built in 1901) into a 1 car garage with the other the other 2/3 into my music room...there is a wall between them. I completly insulated all the walls including the interior walls and ceiling, drywalled and finished and painted both the garage and music room side. there is a bathroom, a real bathroom, in there that is walled off also. Me and my main jammin buddy(lead guitar) call ourselves the Knuckleheads. We have a rotating bunch of friends that come and play...harmonica and flute, me playing rhytmn and learning to sing and one drummer/keys ,another shredder guitar player who likes playing drums more than guitar....you never know whats going to happen....sounds kinda familiar if you know what I mean... I have a Yamaha keyboard and a decent set of drums that my friend left and set up and a couple of microphones..........one problem is that you can still hear it in the house so I keep the old lady up sometimes but its better than being in the house.... so thats my room....
do I need to worry about the temperature in the winter??? this is central CA and we hit the high 20's and low 30's upon occasion...highs in summer could be 105 +.....when I have enough $$$ I am going to put in a decent a/c heater unit but still won't run it unless I am out there....
Do I have to worry about hurting my guitars,,, a PRS and an Ovation..my amps... an old Music Man 410 or Crate....the keyboards...???
I appreciate the input and if any of yall are in the neighborhood give me a call ...
Thanks, George

I am able to keep our drum kit @ my work so we practice there. We are only open M-F 8:30-5:30 so it works out quite nicely. And there is heat and a/c....bonus.

Check into rather there is a local Musicians Union and if so join pay the dues, which are cheap, and they usually have rehearsal space available for members, thats what we do ... that is on the very very very rare occasion a rehearsal takes place ... we usually just pick around the fire

we usually just pick around the fire

Now that sounds like my kind of rehearsal hall! I can picture the "critters" sitting just outside of the firelight, doing what my kids call the dead dance....
PPH

Thanks for the responses! It gives me a feel for what is done and there are some good ideas to consider. appreciate the input.

Tennessee -

Dude, I love playing in your room up there. It has character and that always enhances a playing situation . Even the stairs don't bother an aging guy like me. Makes me feel young ! We can keep doing that, Tom. No problem.

For a full band practice space is where it is at. So I'll see what is feasible here in the PA countryside. Good stuff, RUKINDers.

Peace,

Dave