Musical Morons

Quesney Gibbs · Post by **Quesney Gibbs** » 21 Jan 2007 8:49 am

At this time I am stuck doing a small gig on Monday nights in Heflin, Alabama with some of the worst players I have ever been around.

Sharps and flats are unknown; minor chords are not in our ability to play, and being in tune and time are options. What I will do for a small amount of money is disgraceful.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

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Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 21 Jan 2007 8:53 am

so what would compel you to keep this gig ?

t

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 21 Jan 2007 8:59 am

I think he just said why - for that '... small amount of money...'

I can sympathise.

RR

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jan 2007 9:16 am

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

Yes, a couple of times back when I played for a living and I Had to take the gig. It's very frustrating. What drives me nuts is "wrong chords" in classic songs that all players should know. I won't play in that kind of a situation anymore.

Here's what I look for nowadays:

An FUN gig... enjoyment is top priority.

Good People in the band, not just good musicians, but good, honest people, easy to work with.

Good players. Not necessarily the hottest pickers in the area, but players with good ears and good chops, who play the tunes CORRECTLY, and are open to learning new things.

Money is not a big issue anymore. I played full time for 20 years and most of my bands were excellent. But in 'down times' I had to take whatever gig was available. I put up with a few bad situations (either bad music, low pay, or dirtbag musicians and bandleaders) because I Had to for the money. Nowadays I can pick and choose who I play with, and I pick Good People first. Often they are great musicians too.

Quesney, my advice to you is... quit that band. It will kill your spirit. It's not worth it.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 21 Jan 2007 9:45 am

I did the same thing a few years back. A girl singer who told me she had a "golden throat" also gave me the evil eye and said don't play those types of chords..we don't knwo them.
This was on some old classic Patsy CLine tunes.. no augs or dims..they could barely play a 2 chord.. every song she did was 3 chords..
btw... she could not sing!

Willis Vanderberg · Post by **Willis Vanderberg** » 21 Jan 2007 9:52 am

If. on your drive home you are wondering why do i do this ?...give it up.
I play at an RV park for fun, three rhythm players, two capos and strumming with their thumbs. I guess they can feel what they are playing but the rest of us sure can't hear any input from them. I learned my lesson of trying to help folks like this. they been playing this way for forty years and haven't progressed one bit. It sure don't work when the lead instruments have to drive the rhythm section..
What amazes me is the audience, for the most part thinks, they are just great...go figure...

Larry Robbins · Post by **Larry Robbins** » 21 Jan 2007 9:56 am

Oh yes. Been there done that, wont do it again ( famous last words

) Sometimes the things we do when we need the money can just about drive you nutz! I once played in a house band for six months with a chick singer who couldn't hear sharp from flat if you hit her in the air head with it!!
But she was the club owners girlfriend....deal with it or dont work here, I was told by the band leader! It really brought me down mentally and spiritually......kind of like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer....feels a lot better when you quit!!!!
If you need the money, you need the money but, I would advise you to use all of your resources to find a better gig before you get branded as one of the same losers as the rest of them. You'll thank yourself after. Good luck.

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 21 Jan 2007 10:09 am

In the 80's I played with a top-draw touring band all over the world, the Fiddle player/bandleader could not hear the difference between major and minor thirds in a melody. And there was no teaching him... so we would play quite a few songs with a different chord under his solos than under the rest of the tune. Other musicians would comment on our "innovative arrangements". I did have a lot of fun in that band.

Good People in the band, not just good musicians, but good, honest people, easy to work with.

That's the whole ball of wax, there.

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 21 Jan 2007 10:11 am

QT.

Having done a mixture of both good and bad, I've got a lot of experience.

If you are a welder, you don't quit welding when you have to hang over a muddy piece of metal and make a bird#hit weld. Or after a week of it.

Monday nights? I dunno, you might be able to look at it as "therapy"... (What Larry R said is right though.) I don't mind dong "therapy gigs" but they've got to be in out of the way places..)

At least you know they suck.

EJL

Mark Edwards · Post by **Mark Edwards** » 21 Jan 2007 10:39 am

My first gig with a band, not the brightest crayons in the box. The lead singer dad's was a great musician and singer, and so this guy thinks he's got it in the genes also. Sorry to say he did not. Picture this, this guy is overweight, long stringy hair, wears muscle shirts to show off his (what he thinks is buff) flabby arms, and could not carry a tune in a bucket, riding off his dad's name. He thinks he is the man that all (and I mean all) women want, and sings through his nose. The bass player thinks he is a recording executive, and knows everything there is to know about playing/recording/mixing music etc... and really doesn't know squat, this opinion comes from other musicians as well. The drummer well let's say we couldn't keep a drummer, in the short time I was with this band I met 4 different drummers. Lead guitar player was decent, but he couldn't carry the whole band by himself.

In defense of the band overall, I myself was not the greatest steel guitar player, had only been playing for about 8 months when I got hired on. This band played pretty much very loud progressive country/rock & roll. I did however learn quite a bit from this short lived gig. I did learn how to kick off a good rock & roll song, I could ad-lib in other hard rock stuff, and I had to learn what I did not know by being put on the spot. I really hated being in this band because of the type music they played, but I was told by an old pro, to play wherever and whenever you get a chance, because it's a chance to learn especially being a rookie steel player

Something else I learned is that I never want to play with a band where everyone thinks they are the chief and there are no boundaries as far as music or the way they play goes. I am a better steel player because of this experience, and now I know what to look for when I'm looking to play a gig.

For you guys that have been at this for awhile I can just imagine what ya'll are going through having to sit in with a bunch of want to be's. For me it was just part of the experience I had to go through that makes us all better musicians.

George Plemons · Post by **George Plemons** » 21 Jan 2007 10:54 am

Remember the best part of that is this, in a few years a couple of those people will be where you are. With a little good luck you will get to play with them then too.

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 21 Jan 2007 10:56 am

Quesney.Know EXACTLY where you're coming from,been in that situation before[in fact am at the moment]I turn a negative into a positive by gritting my teeth,ignoring what's going on around me by working on my chops,learning new licks,if I screw up,NO ONE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE.Some times something good can come from a bad situation.Try it.There is absolutely NOTHING you can do to improve these types,but you can improve yourself for better times ahead.

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 21 Jan 2007 10:59 am

ALL of the above!!!!
The best one was when I went in to set up, the [guitar player?]had a Silvertone[Sears] amp withan 8" speaker, I thought it was a monitor til he remarked about my rig being strait out of Naaashviiile.D12 MSA, Fender Super Reverb back then,Shouda left then. That is why I started going in,,and looking around before I unload my stuff, unless I know who I'm working with.

Herbie Meeks · Post by **Herbie Meeks** » 21 Jan 2007 10:59 am

Just wondering, how many of us was in that catagory
of (Sucks,) as I think back, I do not understand how any 3 chord, out of tune, Tempo, wannabe bands. really Put up with me, Glad they did not record any of the commotion,and asked me back for more.

What amazed me,,,,the audience never complained.
I think those were the days, when music and dancing
was just having fun, and most of these people were super nice folks.
Still more amazing, some of these wannabes went on to the top. and I am still just a Sideman.
But at least, I usually have a choice where I play now.
I never gave up, ( that was also most of my eating money back when)

Herbie

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 21 Jan 2007 11:02 am

P.S. Quesney,I take it upon myself to TUNE all the instruments ahead of time,at least we play in tune,that's my BIGGEST pet peeve,playing out of tune,that's where I draw the line.

Jim Bob Sedgwick · Post by **Jim Bob Sedgwick** » 21 Jan 2007 11:27 am

Ohh, the good old days. I played with a gang (didn't qualify as a band) that played Nightlife with D, G, and A progression. Sort of reminded me of the Geezinslaw brothers renditions of classic tunes.

Seriously My pet peeve is musicians who do not want to progress musically. They just want to get drunk and get paid. I refuse to play these type of gigs any longer. If you are not progessing musically, you are dying!!!! It's a long road with no final destination in mind.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jan 2007 11:34 am

that's my BIGGEST pet peeve,playing out of tune,that's where I draw the line.

Me too. Many times I have handed my little KORG tuner to the guitarist or the bass player between songs and asked him to check his tuning. Believe it or not, some "musicians" don't know when the band is out of tune and they need to be told.

Trying to play steel guitar with an out of tune band is an absolute nightmare. It won't work. Also, harmony singers who sing their parts out of tune will make a steel player's job impossible.

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 21 Jan 2007 12:10 pm

Doug you're right,playing out of tune IS a nightmare[at least for me it is]I start off by being nice about it,saying something to say the guitar player[hey man let me try my tuner out on your guitar]Now every one brings their instruments for me to tune,which makes me VERY happy.Sometimes a little Andy Griffith diplomacy can turn a bad situation into a good one.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 21 Jan 2007 12:31 pm

These kind of bands really hurt country music. They are an embarasment to good musicians who put their time in to play competently.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 21 Jan 2007 1:03 pm

Sharps and flats are unknown; minor chords are not in our ability to play, and being in tune and time are options. What I will do for a small amount of money is disgraceful.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

I used to be in those kinds of bands all the time. Why did I do it?

They were better than I was at the time.

Herbie Meeks · Post by **Herbie Meeks** » 21 Jan 2007 1:06 pm

George Plemons wrote:Remember the best part of that is this, in a few years a couple of those people will be where you are. With a little good luck you will get to play with them then too.

GEORGE PLEMONS
You pegged Me. And that luck of picking with them now keeps
evading Me, But I am glad to have been part of their learning experience.

Herbie

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 21 Jan 2007 1:28 pm

Actually I did a less than perfect casual in early 81 with a couple young fellers. One was Mike Kearsey, the other was Chris Miller. They were just starting the band Rockin Razorbacks and didn't really have the "country thing" down yet.....

Also I played a few times with a "Hauntingly Horrible" band called "Chinook" fronted by a nice young imperfect bass player who apon leaving Portland for Nashville in 90 or so, I did a "demo" in a remade chickenhouse for. I figgered he'd get eaten by the dogs in Nashville, as nice and green as he was. Gary Bennett of BR549.

No, you just never know.

Sometimes it's Heaven, like Waylon said.

EJL

Herbie Meeks · Post by **Herbie Meeks** » 21 Jan 2007 1:50 pm

ERIC,,,,You jist never know

A few years back , while pickin a weekly sit down job
at Wister,Oklahoma, The Buckaroo Club, I was there 2 1/2 years
This Kid named, Brooks, and His Keyboard man used to stop by, sit up one of those ,portable Pianos, with strings in it,
Brooks had One of his first recording singles He was promoting,
Like most sit ins, I was not particularly impressed. but he did ok for a new Kid on the scene,

Yep You just Never Know, His first name was (Garth, )

Herbie

Papa Joe Pollick · Post by **Papa Joe Pollick** » 21 Jan 2007 4:22 pm

Uh huh! Been there, done that.
Sat in on a fill in for one night only with a bass player{?} that said there were no minors or 7th on a bass.
A rhythm player that said my chords were piano chords and are not supposed to be played in country music.
A steel player that converted from lead guitar that played behind the frets[loud].Every one got thier pitch from him so when I took a lead it would sound like I was the one out of tune.
A fretless bass player that did the same thing.
They wre all one nighters.

Sure glad I don't need the money any more.

PJ
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Ken Williams · Post by **Ken Williams** » 21 Jan 2007 4:42 pm

Years ago, hungrey to play all I could, I went to a couple of stranger's house to pick a little. There was just a bass player, acoustic guitar player and me. At the start of the night, I knew I was in trouble when the guy playing acoustic guitar turned to the bass player and said "Give me an E". Never seen anyone try to tune the little E on the guitar to the low E on the bass guitar.

It went downhill from there.

Ken