The Steel Guitar Forum

You guys really flattened me!

Theresa Galbraith wrote: I understand that, rather than lying I sure would say something positive. I would never be rude or lie.

Saying something positive about my playing would be a lie

Band Leader: Good evening Mr Bernard Shaw. What would you like us to play?

George Bernard Shaw: Cricket!

I heard you were great - and I mean that - cause see,I don't stroke nobody in this town. This quote is all the more insincere and mo funnier because it was actually said to me by an agent who was supposed to catch my set at the Palomino but was late and missed it.

When playing with other bands when another player says "You guys sounded great" with no enthusiasm he is basically saying "You guys stunk and we are better."

I ignore the mind games with other bands and players.

What musicians think of you doesn't matter nearly so much as what the audience thinks of you.

Of all the comments we get, I think the ones that are the "emptiest' and least inspiring are the ones about our gear.

This always makes me picture someone walking up to Michelangelo right after he finished painting the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel and saying "Many that's really a nice brush you have there!"

Criticising a musician on the same nght after the gig, even 'though it's justified, is the worst and most insensitive thing one can do, in my opinion.

I just caught up with this thread - I noticed that Mr. Legg was referring to his stint in a gospel group? I must say, I have actually been knocked numb with astonishment by the combination of the Lord coming right through somebody, and that somebody having all the musical sensibility of a sheet metal ripsaw. I think it's great that the spirit can move them so, but, maybe... well, couldn't it just move them somewhere else? They might have to put another Commandment in there or something. Do "melisma" and "miasma" share a common root?

Amen!

In the words of the great Russ Hicks:
"I enjoyed hearing you try to play steel on that song"


Hey Bo, can't say that any of the guys i work with around here are afraid to say good or bad. The bass player and drummer i sit in with around Columbia are brothers and i have played with them off and on for 30 years.
We can take a break and the bass player has said "where the hell did that lead come from"? Didn't fit the song! Go home and learn it!
Or he will say "i like what you played at the end when you quit playing"

Your true friends and or band members that really care will tell you the truth. A couple of Nashville pickers that are close friends tell me when i play something that sucks! They also tell me the fix! True band memebers and friends will do this!

It's the only way to improve i figure!

As Theresa says, i never try to be rude but i will tell the truth if asked.
Ok, i know better than to get in one of these threads so i suck i know!

What musicians think of you doesn't matter nearly so much as what the audience thinks of you.

That's true only if the audience isn't hiring.

If you're working with someone for the first time and they don't say anything positive, then that's a bad sign unless they're an egomaniac who only listens to themselves, in which case you don't really care what they think and you can hopefully find someone less annoying to work with. The challenge is to play something so cool that guys you've been working with for a long time take notice, and you should know if they're sincere or not.

I do my best to please the guys I am picking with. I do not believe that most of the audience knows the difference. A good night is when everything is "clicking" and the whole band gets really into it. Truth be known those nights are whats keeps me picking.