Grateful Dead Music Forum

As i embark on another run at this, i figured i would ask the question here. What do you guys think makes a successful jam band. Take bands like moe. or umphreys for instance. What pushed them from out of the bar and onto the bigger stages. Hell, what bars even want jam bands anymore? There arent alot in NYC thats for sure. I am interested to hear your thoughts.

Cowbell?

Cowbell + drunk chicks = bar brings you back ?

That's a huge and interesting question.

I'd say off the top of my head:

Cool sound, both harmonically and tonally
Quality musicianship - no sloppy hacks allowed, the jam crowd is sophisticated enough to notice
Interesting, well-written tunes (or well-chosen covers)
Good ability to jam and stretch boundaries, with at least one interesting lead soloist

And of course some degree of both luck and persistence.

Good musicians plus hundred gigs is the start then add in some good songs and hit clubs in a 100 mile radius for another hundred gigs.

Seems like this is the way many do it. Others do weekly gigs.

It all depends on how you define success - being a good band or being commercially successful? Not sure I know how to be either . . .

Have some variety of influence among band members - not too much that you can't come together - it adds texture and makes tunes more interesting even to covers.

Variety.

Play a lot.

oh year, cowbell doesn't hurt either

I find that alot has to do with who you know. Many bands from Boulder (where Im from) like YMSB, SCI, GA Taxi, Leftover these bands all were successful because they were very good and they had alot of friends in their scene. Imagine a band that can play to 2000 people anyday of the week with little or no publicity. Well if you have 5 guys in the band and they all are popular you can do this. Im not saying its the only way but I know alot of musicians that are very good that live in and around Boulder that will never be famous. It is a business and if you sell a good product you will make it.

Start by distancing yourself from the term "Jamband". It's a terrible cliche' that makes most club owners take a pass on your outfit. You play rock and roll, leave it at that. How you go about playing that RnR is up to you. My band is just a bar band not looking to blow up huge or anything and we have the term "jamband" on our myspace/facebook pages and it makes me crazy.

On top of just being good and having good songs - a lot of it has to do with marketing and general exposure. You get out and you play CONSTANTLY. Take Moe for example - they had regular weekly (weekday) gigs all over NY state. they used to play every Monday at Broadway Joes in Buffalo - a weekday slot that no local band would touch - but they did. They were probably playing almost every day of the week in different parts of the state. They ended up over time generating a large following.

If you only stick to one area then your pool of people to draw from is relatively small. If you spread out then you increase that pool.

And don't forget marketing - it's about getting the word out. There's an infinite amount of varying tactics for marketing. But - flyers, ads, facebook... all of it needs to be done continuously. And as far as flyers - they need to be put up in places that your crowd will be at (at least 2 weeks in advance of your show) - hippie shops, head shops, colleges - it's an enormous amount of work and money but it has to be done to get a crowd. Word of mouth will eventually help out a lot too - but you first have to get the word out to begin with.

It takes a lot of time, work and money to get it off the ground.

And you are right - the jamband scene at bars is shrinking. Boston is awful for jambands. All of the clubs go for hard rock formats with 4 - 5 bands a night. They charge $5 cover, bands play for 45 minutes with no sound check - and nobody makes any money except the bar. It sucks. But - once you've established a good following, then the bars will listen. If you can prove that you can bring in 150 - 200 people then they'll give you a night. After you get in and show them what you can do - they love it. It's easier for them to handle one band's set-up and the jamband crowd is usually a whole lot easier to deal with that a metal crowd.

All good advice thanks guys. I dont really care about making money from any of this or have those delusions. Honestly i would just like to play some killer music for some packed houses and do some festivals... oh yeah and i will take the cowbell girl too.

Good topic,

Im in a original "jamband" (i hate that term also). Were have been gigging for a year now. Have managed to get a lil bit of a following. So far we have acquired a top of the line PA system (A&H GL2400-32,JBL Prx 625/618xlf,quality cabling , mics etc) and have hired good lighting guys for shows that require them. We work as much as we can and have been looking for a weekly gig from the get go. Opening for other bands can help gain you a following but if your good then you usually dont get asked back so that can be hit or miss. Networking within your scene is important. We play a 50-75 mile radius which includes Chicago which has been tough for us. We have played good clubs on weeknights as the 2nd band etc and done fine but its hard to get a good slot. Theres alot of good bands in the city as there are alot of bands who work for free. Hard business. We basically fund these kinda shows with our good paying local gigs and just figure the numbers as breaking even i suppose. The cost of expanding your area i guess. Everything takes time and being consistent as well as putting on good shows will get ya there. At least thats what i (we) tell myself ( ourselves).

http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song ... linthefarm