Grateful Dead Music Forum

Just need to vent. They are all a bunch of great guys but we had 2 guys quit this past week.

One was because we weren't playing enough. The other was because we played too much!

WTF!!!

jackr wrote:Just need to vent. They are all a bunch of great guys but we had 2 guys quit this past week.

One was because we weren't playing enough. The other was because we played too much!

WTF!!!

......and you, Goldilocks, thought the amount you were playing was juuuuuussssstttttt riiiiigggghhhhtttt.

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm sure it will all work bro, hang in there.

That's a real bummer! I cant seem to grasp what "playing too much" is, but i hope I never catch it.

Gil

I feel your pain dude!

We have a very good lead singer but she is in it for the money and the big break and she is also involved with 4-5 different projects so she has put herself on a "come to practice every other time" and "let me know when you book a gig and I'll see if I'm available" type deal.

So what are the four of us doing? We are plugging along and learning songs without her. Songs that are not that vocally challenging (this girl can SING) and instrumentals. When the time comes she'll most likely split and we'll find another player like us (in their 40's, able to commit to one practice per week and one to two gigs per month). Patience and persistence are the keys to having a solid band.

Hang in there and good luck will come to you. If you're ever in the Philly area let me know and we'll get a Dead jam at my spot or across the street at my drummer's house (it was his lucky day 8 years ago when I, a Deadhead bass player, moved in right across the street) and we've been playing ever since.

Dave

ebick wrote:
......and you, Goldilocks, thought the amount you were playing was juuuuuussssstttttt riiiiigggghhhhtttt.

Now that is funny. Actually, I was on the side of not playing enough. But not to the point of quitting. We only get together once every 10 days or so and gig once every month or two. I was even thinking of hooking up with another band if one came along and doing both. I surely have enough time to do both.

I am GNV. Wish I was closer, man. I am suddenly cast into a point in my life where I am going to have lots of free time (every other weekend ).

It's a difficult balance and it's hard to attract/keep the better players unless your band is working a lot.

The cover band I play in has two full time musos and two including myself with day jobs. The full timers would work every night if they could and the part timers want to work one-two nights a week tops. I have found another bass player who can dep for me when the gig roster gets out of hand and we also have a couple of dep drummers who fill in when our full time muso drummer is not available. The band leader is the other guy with a day job and he just works his ass off keeping the full timers happy.

There always seems to be a tension between those who either want to play all the time or to hit the big time and those who just want to play and have fun or have more realistic expectations from the music game. It's a bummer when it disintegrates your band - but people have to follow their own muse. Don't hold it against them, the best you can do is to see it coming and prepare for the fallout.

Good luck!

tcsned wrote:There always seems to be a tension between those who either want to play all the time or to hit the big time and those who just want to play and have fun or have more realistic expectations from the music game. It's a bummer when it disintegrates your band - but people have to follow their own muse. Don't hold it against them, the best you can do is to see it coming and prepare for the fallout.

Good luck!

Truer words never spoken. There is a grand plan, and you will be happy again, soon enough. A band is like a marriage, the sooner you get everyone positive again the sooner you will arrive at a better place. I am in the camp of wanting to play a lot, we practice 3x a week and gig as much as possible. If we gig, then we count it as a practice. That way, its 3x a week for music, sometimes 4, always. But I like to think that I work a job so I can play music in this life we all live, and when I can do it for a living, at least 800 a week steady, I have arrived at my CEO position in life. I have come to realize I don't need lots of money to be happy. The recession helped me see that. I can't believe I worked soooo much at something I hated to make EXTRA money. I still lived the same (house,car,clothes,food) when I made lots of money, just had more junk, and was more unhappy and lived less for me. I know a break up is bad, but you guys will get something going again,,, try an acoustic thing?

I'm experiencing the same awful shit with the band I play in. No one feels like practicing, the only time the drummer "drums" is when we're practicing. This past week I actually took a week off from guitar playing because I was feeling so negative about it all.

dleonard wrote:I'm experiencing the same awful shit with the band I play in. No one feels like practicing, the only time the drummer "drums" is when we're practicing. This past week I actually took a week off from guitar playing because I was feeling so negative about it all.

My band had practice last night. What concerns me is our collective short attention span at practice. When certain parts of new songs need detailed attention (a rythmic change, harmony, counting measures/beats, intros, bridges, choruses, endings, etc.) instead of smoothing it out by repetition we get this need to move on without everyone on the same page for the next time we do the song. This makes for practicing a large quantity of songs but the quality is lacking. I am constantly asking the band to smooth out the rough spots and I don't want to be a dick about it.

HoweverI feel all musicians in a band should be concerned about getting the song's parts integrated fully before doing them live and not rely on mind reading or mental telepathy to somehow get through the tune in a live situation. On the up side we are a new band and I think they appreciate my attention to detail especially when a tune is ready to be performed.

A word of advice: please don't make skipping weeks of practice a habit. Practice stuff you love to do and be ready when an opportunity comes to play with better players who are more in tune with you and your attitude.

When I get negative I go sit with the dog on the back porch with the acoustic, some frosties, and pick some John Prine tunes.

Practicing three times a week? Man, I'd quit your band, too! No offense meant, but that is way too much IMHO. How do you find time to learn the songs on your own?


GDad... sounds like you need to lead the practice. It's not about being a dick, it's about getting things done so the music sounds better. If that's not everyone's goal, then that's a different issue. Phil was often the taskmaster for the Dead, so you have some moral authority there. Edit... Ok, I see your additions now... looks like you already are.

I play with a band where the band mates call Minglewood " born in a desert" and Franklins "roll away the dew'. We have played Get out my Life for years and they still have to ask what key the song is in. I think the key to band practice is knowing the music. For 7 years I have been trying to shape this band into something and until just recently I realized it’s time to move on. No matter how many times we practiced (so F-N boring) it never came out right. What it boiled down to was these guys didn't know the music. I don't mean know the music to simply re-produce a song but, know the music to take it to the next level and put your spin on it. That’s only happened to me a couple times and each time was sitting in with another band. If the band doesn’t know the music there’s a strong possibility it won’t work.

Just my 2 cents.

Yeah dude in my band they just roll their eyes when I suggest a dead song. I've been trying to move on, but trying to get people's schedules together off of craigslist is a MAJOR pain in the ass

This thread screams for the RUkind campout and jam! I wish I could even get enough people around my town to jam at all. I hear all of what you guys are saying about band practice. The last good Dead band I was in smoked! Some of the best I have heard. The other band members felt that a cover band was embarrasing even though we were playing real gigs for good money and had a great time and good turnouts. We disbanded several years ago and now today they play covers in bars. Just not dead tunes and nobody goes!