What Does Your Group or Band Wear?

[Steve Alcott]

I remember reading somewhere recently to always dress"better than the audience". Seems sensible.

[Charles Davidson]

Dave,there is an answer,And I gave it to you,EVERY ONE has an absolute right to dress the way THEY want to on stage,Some chose to take PRIDE in the way they present themselves in a professional manner,Some chose to look like a derelict,age or the generation gap has nothing to do with it,eighteen or eighty eight,A person can display self respect and professionalism ,or they can show up at a gig looking like they just crawled out of a dumpster,I think anyone that gets paid to play music[if it's a hundred bucks a night,or ten grand a night]They are a pro musicion,why not act like one,If I ever went into my,bankers,doctors,or dentists office and they were wearing dirty jeans,tank tops and flip flops,think I would get the hell out of there,don't you know.

[Mike Winter]

If I was going to a Doctor or Dentist, I'd be more concerned about whether or not they could do the job to my satisfaction. Ho hum...

[Jody Sanders]

What Charles said. When I first hired in to the Lonely Road band, the guys were pretty slouchy. I always wear starched jeans, pearl buttoned starched shirt, and hat. I carry a western tailored jacket to some gigs. In the last few months, the guys are dressing better and have started looking good on stage and the lead singer is wearing a hat. I guess I rubbed off on them a little. Jody.

[Louis Vallee]

Playing with a band does not, except in specific circumstances, require "business dress" either.

Also i agree 100% with Steve Stallings.

"Bowling team uniforms" makes a band look really amateurish. I won't play in that situation.

[Jim Sliff]

"Pride" is not the issue, and not wearing starched matching uniforms doesn't mean
you're a derelict. Playing with a band does not, except in specific circumstances, require "business dress" either.

The Burritos Nudie Suits were a fun thing - they were over-the-top weird, not creases and starched collars.

IMO you dress for the gig. An outdoor festival or bar gig is a little different from a big-band job or a formal wedding...but each player has to choose what they will and will not do. After auditioning for a bluegrass festival gig in the 70's...and honestly blowing most of the "matching shirt" and or "matching outfit/peppy family band" competition out of the water musically...we were told we would not be playing because we were not wearing all the same shirts.

I told the promoter where to put his microphone and swore never to kowtow to that kind of lame attitude, ever. Does that mean I would have turned down an offer from Bill Monroe?

Yep.

[Calvin Walley]

i think some of you are forgetting that people come to SEE a show and not just to listen to music
i don't give a rats a-- how great a musican you think you are, if as some one said, you look like you just craweled out of a dumpster. you are disrespecting your audence
its called a show for a reason

[Steve Norman]

Amen Calvin,,People expect you to look the part. Difference between dressing for a show and uniforms. Gotta play to the crowd, I will sometimes not even give a band a chance if they look like shmoos. If dressing like a thug is part of the music your playing then it makes since to, It becomes a costume. The bands I play in are different enough from each other that I have to dress differently for each one. I think upstaging the crowd slightly works in Seattle, if everyone that comes to the show is wearing western gear, then mine should be a little more over the top. If everyone in the crowd is in black t-shirts and tight pants then the western shirt will look silly and out of place. My black shirt should be a little more insidery...Some out of state bar t-shirt that fits well trumps the crowd then.
For older bands playing classic country, I really like to see the suits w boots. One band up here that crosses the age gaps with the crowds (they 40's to early 60's, playing to 20 somethings in a hipster bar)in my opinion crossed the line by dressing down. They really had the crowds at shows where they were in black suits looking real dignified. The last show I saw they decided to look more "hip" and it didnt work. They looked like they where in the wrong club. Just my loudmouth opinions....

[Dave Stagner]

Yeah, dress appropriately for the gig. If that means uniforms, it means uniforms. If it means a certain level of formality, do that.

I wouldn't dress in a t-shirt and ratty jeans for a Felahi show. I wouldn't dress in black dress pants and black dress shirt for a Stagner-Lovan-Scherr gig. And if I play a wedding (only for friends), I wear a suit or even a tux. Different gigs, different dress codes.

[Darrell Urbien]

I dress for comfort.

[Charles Davidson]

I stand by every word I have said on this issue,Jim I hope you know I have a lot of respect for you[for many reasons]but I think PRIDE has a lot to do with it,I can only speak for myself,but I'm proud of the fact that I have the pride and self respect for myself,as well as having respect for the person that buys a ticket to SEE me perform as well as hear me.Some times I do look just like some of the top entertainers of today,[when I'm mowing my lawn,washing my dog,working in my garden,or on the river fishing]but I will NEVER,NEVER,NEVER, go to a gig looking like that,and have NO respect for ANYONE that does,for anyone that don't get it,just keep on disgracing your self,don't you know.

[Charles Davidson]

By the way Mike,I DID WALK OUT of a dentist office once because he and his office did'nt look pro enough for me,no way he was getting me in his chair,don't you know.

[Stephen Gambrell]

We gotta go through this, AGAIN???
The band oughta dress for the gig. In that Dale Watson video, everybody I saw looked like they'd just walked in off the street, except Dale. Marty Stuart wears the Manuel stuff cause he's into it---Doesn't make his show any better.
And back in my bluegrass days, you HAD to get up Sunday morning at a festival, put on a coat and tie, and do a gospel set---no matter how hung-over you were.
ZZ Top did a tour wearing Nudie suits, with animals all over the stage---and it was cool, 'cause like the Burritos, everybody got it.
Do you listen to the radio, or CD's? Ever wonder what the singers and pickers wore when they were recording?? If you wanna see a SHOW, they tell me that Kenny Chesney puts on a good 'un. Big and Rich? THERE'S you a show! I hear that Garth Brooks is gonna tour again---well-dressed, band all in place and dressed up---AND MAYBE YOU'LL GET TO SEE HIM SMASH A GUITAR!!! Boy howdy, that's a show!

[Stephen Silver]

Back in the 70s I was playing in a band with Jerry Hayes. We wore Matching polyester leisure suits (hey I needed the gig and Jerry was great to play with). So, on Halloween we were supposed to dress in costume and I wore one of the leisure suits with the Groucho Nose and glasses...

Starched jeans? Wow, I have never starched jeans and I am not about to begin to. I think wearng cowboy hats is appropriate when in Texas maybe, but I am certainly no cowboy, don't own a cowboy hat, don't even wear cowboy boots.

I don't really care what you wear to a gig as long as it is 'gig' appropriate, but really, matching clothes is so 50s/60s....it doesn't have to do with pride, it has to do with being stuck in some time warp frame of reference.

Glad to be living west of I-5 where things of that nature have no relevance.

[Russ Tkac]

Red shirts with lime green vests.

[Calvin Walley]

many here make a point that they want to dress anyway they damn well please (freedom of expression)
and say we are living in the 50s/60s
....wellll kiddies do a little checking, it was us old fogies that kinda invented freedom of expression during the 50s/60s. we also remember our state of mind and level of maturity back then. the way we dressed was a sign of rebellion pure and simple.
and the truth is we did not respect much of anything during those young years. but when we saw a band on stage they were well dressed and very professional looking. thats what we expected them to look like because they were working
the statment they were making was
" i am good enough at this that i get paid for doing it"
just like a mechanic wore coveralls to identify himself as a professonal mechanic
in other words it was a way of letting the world know they were not amatures

[Gene Jones]

Another definition not previously mentioned:

For musicians filing tax returns as a self-employed contract musician, the IRS accepted tax-deductible professional wear is clothing worn on stage ONLY and inappropriate for street wear

[Larry Strawn]

I wear more of a uniform in my every day real life job than I do on stage. Being a welder by trade I always wear blue jeans and denem shirt, always! [not a fashion statement, just practicle purposes].

I'm not hung up on matching uniforms for bands, however, for my self when I step on the bandstand I want to look nice. I may be wearing blue jeans, but unlike my work jeans these won't have sewn patches or rips or holes, and will be startched and ironed. these along with a nice shirt, [for me the more flashy the better!] And always a hat, I feel good about myself and I'm ready to play music!

To each his own, but this is the way I was raised, when you're going someplace, dress nice. MHO

Larry

[Dave Mudgett]

Dave,there is an answer,And I gave it to you...

Charlie - that answer is only applicable for you and people who see it your way. Rest assured - there are plenty of people who see it very differently. IMO, dress is an extremely superficial way to judge people and especially music. Comments like "no pride", "derelict", and "just crawled out of a dumpster" are pure invective and simply reflect your values and opinion. I reiterate my argument that there is no definitive answer to this kind of thing - people have a right to view it their own way, and will.

"Professionals" in many fields dress differently. That includes doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, college professors, and business people. Many of the most brilliant and professional people I have ever known and worked with come to work in jeans, t-shirts, cutoffs, sandals, sneakers, torn or not, when they deem that appropriate. If you worked with them, you would instantly recognize their stature. If you showed them disrespect, you would quickly be shown the door - they were the boss. Your stereotypes just don't fit everything or everybody.

In the music world, there are and have been many offbeat personalities, who saw and did things their way. Frankly, they couldn't care less what any of us think or say about how they dress or carry themselves. You have a right to your opinion, but not to autocratically stomp over everyone else's. I know you take pride in hardneadedness - but I think you'll find many of these folks just as hardheaded as you.

... in other words it was a way of letting the world know they were not amatures

In my world, dress is not the standard for separating amateurs from professionals. You either have the goods or you don't. If you have the goods, nobody cares how you dress. If you don't, a 3-piece Brooks Brothers suit with Bostonian wing-tips isn't gonna fake anybody out.

I agree that there are times when others put restrictions on what we can wear in a work situation. I've done gigs in everything from a jazz-club tux to punk-club torn jeans and roughed-up t-shirts, and would have had problems if I had reversed the two. "When in Rome" should be fairly obvious.

I think it's a good idea to throw some of these preconceptions away. Do what you want, and if you don't like what someone else does, don't go to their shows. But otherwise, I think live-and-let-live without this type of invective is the best policy.

On the IRS tax thing, my accountant's advice is that taking stage clothes as a tax deduction is risky, and that there is a very high standard for what constitutes clothing that cannot be worn on the street. I think it essentially has to be a uniform. I'm not even clear that a Nudie suit qualifies, unless one can show how it's surgically separated from "street wear". She laughed when I suggested that the tux I bought specifically for jazz gigs was deductible. But that doesn't mean that a tux isn't appropriate for a jazz gig. I honestly doubt that most musicians wear legitimately tax-deductible clothes on stage.

All my opinions, of course.

[Calvin Walley]

i guess it just comes down to one thing:

we know a "bum" when we see one

and yes many bums can play an instrument...but that does not make them any less a bum...now does it??

[Marc Jenkins]

I'm sure relieved to know that freedom of expression remains in good hands.

And how are we to know if someone is a professional or not? Just look at them. All you need to discern if someone is worth your time or not is plainly detectable by their attire. No one in a suit ever ripped anyone off or gave a poor performance or wrote a crappy song, THAT is for sure.

Ban the bums! They never do anything good anyway!

[Calvin Walley]

whether anyone likes it or not , we are judged by how we look...always have been, always will be

case in point: you see a young man in his early 20s wearing baggy pants (the kind the seat hangs down to about his knees) with a shirt thats 3 sizes to big.
we all assocate him with gangs or with rap music
right ??
now that that same young man:
put him in a pair of tight fitting jeans and a western shirt and we assocate him with cowboys

the old saying still holds true.you don't get a 2nd chance to make a good 1st impression

[Glenn Suchan]

Dressing for a gig is a mentally subjective thing for me. I dress to make ME feel good at a gig....

Sometimes a western shirt, Stetson, bolo and Jeans.
Sometimes a t-shirt, straw Stetson and jeans.
Sometimes an Hawaiian shirt, shorts and a gimme cap.
One time I wore a belly-dancer costume (Boy! Did that bring the sassy ladies outta the woodwork!!! )
A coupl'a times I wore nothing at at all: (At gigs for a nudist colony. You know what they say... "When in Rome...." )

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

[Steve Stallings]

This thread is one of those things that just makes me laugh.

I have to admit that the Pedal Steel Guitar really seems to have the market cornered when it comes to attracting the contrarian geezer market.

.... I have seen the geezer and he is I!

[Mike Ester]

Dressing for a gig is a mentally subjective thing for me. I dress to make ME feel good at a gig....

Sometimes a western shirt, Stetson, bolo and Jeans.
Sometimes a t-shirt, straw Stetson and jeans.
Sometimes an Hawaiian shirt, shorts and a gimme cap.
One time I wore a belly-dancer costume (Boy! Did that bring the sassy ladies outta the woodwork!!! )
A coupl'a times I wore nothing at at all: (At gigs for a nudist colony. You know what they say... "When in Rome...." )

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

When did they start having live music at Hippie Hollow?