The Steel Guitar Forum

I resently Quit one of the best steel jobs in Ohio
due to the fact they started having Karoakie singers at half time.Karoakie singers have no buisiness singing at a venue that is useing a band that night.
To me that is showing an uncoof appreciation for your band members.There is a place for Karoakie,and there are places for bands ,and I am gona be where the good home brewed music comes down,even if it,s just a jam session.

Bob,

I'm with ya on that one!

I'd drive a hundred miles and jam for free for the fun and enjoyment before I'd spend 30 minutes in a kareoke bar!

Larry

What difference does it make if they're not interfering with your set or takin money outta your pocket?

What Andy said.

You have a gig. Why complain? Lots of folks would be happy to take it.

Who gives a hoot what happens during "break"? If it puts the crowd in a good mood, all the better for YOUR set.

Besides - it can be pretty darned funny to watch karaoke "singers" that are total train wrecks...

Wish I could agree, considering the last wedding reception I attended which offered Karaoke.

I despise political correctness so I tell it like I see it,If someone likes it,that's fine,if they don't that's fine to.The disco craze was bad enough and hurt a lot of pickers,at least SOME good music came from it,[Bee Gee's etc]Kareoke is completely different,because of this absolute s&^% There are thousands of good pickers that need and want to work that can't find a job because of this crud.I also worked in a club that would have this crap on between sets.UNBELIEVEABLE,I have NEVER seen one kareoke singer,NOT ONE that could sing.Yet thousands of REAL musicians can't find work.IMO Kareoke SUCKS,Kareoke singers SUCK,also ANY ONE that supports or condons it SUCKS also.

I agree with not having kareoke during a live gig. Excuse me, but every drunk in the world thinks they can sing. It's bad enough when someone comes up during a gig and wants to sing with the band. At least we can say no. I don't play if they want kareoke along with the band.

However, I don't see kareoke as the problem. In my neck of the woods, the people who pay the bills get what they want. And they want kareoke or a DJ. And not just the under thirty crowd either. I can't stand the stuff myself, but kareoke and DJ's pack most of the places around here. I believe it's a lack of music appreciation. Most kids don't take music lessons, music is not taught as a requirement in school anymore. In most familes grandma or great aunt Lulu is te piano player, and they don't play Beck, or Bjork, so out comes the IPOD. You don't even have to tune a radio anymore, just push a button. Most anything can pass for good music/entertainment anymore. The end result is that most musicians don't work nearly as much as they want to.

Sometimes it's fun.

Besides it might just get the lead singer in the band tuned in to more than one verse of those Buck Owens and Merle songs..

Or not.



EJL

I think karaoke may have spawned the instant celebrity obsessed wannabe shows. They have sung in the local pub, their drunken friends tell them how wonderful they are and it goes to their head.
Check this eejit. She is clearly deluded, but can't accept it. This clip was only posted yesterday and has attracted almost 85,000 views and over 1000 comments. Which tells a lot about the number of people who watch this type of show. I watched it because the early auditions are the ones which are funniest.....Honest!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IXQ2ScrsGqs

Arch

Arch,that's not bad for a kareoke singer,seen a lot that were worse.

Charles Davidson wrote:There are thousands of good pickers that need and want to work that can't find a job because of this crud..

WHAT????. THOUSANDS??? CANT FIND A JOB BECAUSE OF KARAOKE???????

Thats like saying theres thousands of major-league worthy ballplayers who cant find a job because of softball players.

So many angry folks around here. Just chill out. Lighten up. Play music. Have fun. Don't worry about what other people do.

Sing-a-longs go back a long, long way. Before jukeboxes, pub patrons would sing tunes en masse as a form of self-entertainment. This is still prevalent some places.

The point of having professional entertainment in a bar or club is to attract patrons. If it provides a venue for entertainers, great - but that is not the reason they're hired, in most cases. To me, there is nothing intrinsically right or wrong about self-entertainment, including karaoke. I don't understand why so many musicians are so venomous about this. Why does it bother some of you if a bunch of people want to get together and sing along with some tunes? Is this not a free country?

Now - with this said, I personally wouldn't want to have karaoke concurrently in a place where I was playing. But the reason has nothing to do with whether or not I like it. It is my considered opinion that such activities - including karaoke or singalongs of any type, organized line dancing, bingo, or other games - are a big turnoff for the people who are into the music the people I work with play, and we are protective of our audience. So to me, it's a simple artistic and business decision. We would try to talk management out of it, but short of that, there's nothing to do but find another place to play.

Bob - good luck finding another situation.

All my opinions, of course.

Joe,I'm not backing down from that figure at all,Maybe you are lucky and have not been affected by the kareoke plague spread across music land.

I've been too busy to notice myself.





EJL

I recently played an outdoor gig in Phoenix. Two non-competing radio stations had karaoke going on at either side of the stage before we played...at the same time. I was tuning up as this was going on. I believe what I experienced was sensory overload purgatory...

I agree with Bob on this one. I played at church for years and we had pretty good music for a church. People would come in and pop in a tape and sing when we knew the song they were singing. I took it as an insult. We have people at our church that are members that will sing with a track with the church musicians looking on. I remember one night a preacher came in to sing and the tape machine would not work. We had a visiting preacher who was a fabulous piano player. He asked the singer what he was singing and said I know that one and just started playing it. I personally thought it was humorous. It is poor taste when you have a band hired and someone pops in a tape to sing with. That just bugs the daylight out of me and I have no use for such people who feel like the house band is not good enough to play behind them. The cases I have seen, the singers were not good enough to have such a high opinion of their singing.

Yep, it's even on Lower Broadway in N'ville. Heck, we were up last weekend to move my son to school and ther wasn't a steel player antwhere on Broadway at 8:30 pm. If there was, we just overlooked it. There was a recent thread addressing this subject; rock'n roll, not country. Yes, "times, they are a changin'".

Whatever. You can all simmer in your anger and venom and made-up bull****

I've got plenty of gigs. Played with two bands this weekend, and just got back from a studio session. I'm gigging more now than ever before. I get gigs because I network myself. I made it happen. ME.
If you want gigs, go get them. They are there for the taking.
Dont blame karaoke.

Thinking that somehow people want to hear karaoke as an alternative to live music is ridiculous. The point of karaoke is that people get drunk and make fools of themselves and everyone has a laugh. The point of live bands is exactly the opposite. You go see a band because they are tight, solid and talented.

Next thing your gonna hear is someone whining that miniature golf is ruining the PGA.

Bless you Joe,glad you'r doing so great,keep on trucking.

I don't like this medium of entertainment either, insult? Yes.
However I have made a lot of money recording Karoakie tracks for some of these companies, so if you ever hear steel guitar on a sing along track, just think of me, try to listen and forget the singer. They forget about us,,,,,,,,

I say so what...

Do the karaoke singers sound better than the singers in your band?

If they are only singing on breaks... whats he big deal? You have a gig playing steel. You should feel fortunate.

I would hate to loose a gig playing steel as a result of a club going with 100% karaoke.

Not writing this with a harsh tone... I am just suprised that what goes on during the breaks would drive one to quit the gig.

Best of Luck...

spelling corrected

The attraction of karoke to most is the embarassment factor. They don't watch to see a good singer. They
love to watch someone bomb. It's the same with the
early rounds of American Idol and America's Got
Talent. You know the producers are just drooling
when they get some of these clueless losers. The
Gong Show was on to something.

Hey Mr.Bob Cox, Don't blame the Kari-O-Kie singers for quiting your GIG!,It's the Owner or Owners who call the shots & ,you don't get it? This is why our night Club Music Business is so messed up,Because most of you are Professional Amateurs anyway like myself. Soone or later the tears from heaven will quit running. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons

Well, I agree with Joe that miniature golf has ruined the PGA.