|
Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Bummed.. a sad day for me.
Bummed.. a sad day for me.
Page:
1
Randy G. Blues
67 posts
Aug 20, 2009
2:26 PM
|
Got the E-mail I was dreading this AM.. our group has broken up. Our guitar player is in financial straights, and without going into details, he is going to have to relocate, and the if and when of it all means that I am currently no longer in a group. Man, I am bummed. We had been together for 10 months. He lived about 100 miles round-trip from my place, and in the last 8 months I have spent about $240 in gas, and it was all worth it. Our last rehearsal was about two hours of playing, and about 90% of the songs we had never played before. We were really working together- the little nods, winks and looks got us hitting all the breaks, changes, and endings and it was like we had ESP communication. I suppose that there might be a VERY slim chance he stays in the area, and even slimmer chance that he gets to a place where we can rehearse..
So I got a post on Craig's list and will be putting up a notice at the local music stores, etc...
It's like the break up of a marriage... worse, really... My wife can't play guitar. ;-)
But it points to the delicate nature of putting a group together. It's difficult enough to find three or four or five folks that can be together and work together, and make great music together. But then all the rest of life has to be in sync as well. It certainly is (or can be) a thin, delicate thread that holds it all together.
It's not the day the music died, but it does have the flu at the present time.
|
jonsparrow
825 posts
Aug 20, 2009
2:30 PM
|
sorry to hear that. iv been in bands before but none that i realy cared much about like that. i wish i could find people like that.
|
congaron
69 posts
Aug 20, 2009
3:09 PM
|
sorry, man. Where are You? My experience has been finding a drummer really makes it tough. Finding a guitarist/musician like yours is something I've not had to deal with. Guitar players a re a dime a dozen, but true musician/artists are harder to find. Good luck with that...do you play guitar? Maybe you can do both for awhile if the rest of the band is willing.
|
Randy G. Blues
69 posts
Aug 20, 2009
4:15 PM
|
I am in Northern California. Small towns in the area mostly, with the two larger 'cities' being Chico which is a college town, and Paradise which has a number of musicians living there (including some guy named Norton Buffalo! Ever hear of him? ;-).
I have often been asked, "Do you sing... Play guitar? Play sax?" I say, "No. I just play harmonica. I have enough trouble being bad on one instrument at a time. No sense throwing another one into the mix!" I can't afford a sax otherwise I would pick one up and learn some backup stuff, and my small motor skills are such that guitar would be a strain on the brain.
Our guitar player had a real sense not only for music but people as well. He read me real well right from the start- knew what motivated me (and what would piss me off) and gave me a number of little musical tips and hits along the way that helped me develop. Some of them were stupid little things mostly, like "Watch your dynamics." Things that most of us usually take for granted, but can be forgotten (or lost in all the other head noise) in new situations, like when joining a real group for the first time, when the nerves get the best of you.
I wouldn't mind just teaming up with just a guitar player/singer to do some old timey acoustic blues stuff (a la "Ball and Sultan" or Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Twice I have recently crossed paths with talented guitar players, and I got the same reply, "I use to tour and play [etc.] but I am done with that now and just not interested in doing anything serious any more." Understandable.
off to an open mic blues jam tonight and am going to try to blow some of these blues away.
Last Edited by on Aug 20, 2009 5:20 PM
|
jbone
126 posts
Aug 20, 2009
6:28 PM
|
hey randy, a couple of points:
1) been there man, i have seen a few bands dissolve around me. one lasted 15 months, one 18 months, one about 2 years. things in peoples' lives change and that changes the band thing. life messing with art i guess you could say. i know it can suck and i recommend that you keep moving forward, but don't deny the grief aspect here. it IS like a marriage, we have to be intimately familiar with some other folks in some ways and we have to fit ourselves to sometimes foreign and difficult situations, we have to first off find people whose vision matches our own, and even then sometimes we get to change where we're headed to a degree for the good of the most. what i have learned is to acknowledge the reality, whatever it is in the situation, and just go through the process. anything we invest our soul in deserves an examination after the fact, and we owe it to ourselves to identify what was good, what was bad, what we can maybe do differently next time. sometimes that's nothing and that's ok too.
2) getting out to jams whenever possible is good on several fronts. esp after losing a band or partner, it gives you the opportunity to keep learning out live. you may meet your next band mate or music partner at a jam. you stay visible to others who may be looking for a harp guy.
3) know when i really began getting deep into the music thing? i was in my second band, and the "good" singer left. he was also the "good" guitarist. we had dates booked and there was no turning back unless we wanted to look like idiots, so i stepped up and began to learn vocals on the fly. 2 rehearsals and i was singing half of the night. and getting my voice blown totally out. i got some vocal lessons and kept going forward and vocals is a strong point these days. we got another guitarist and the original guy did come out and sit in from time to time until we got over the hump. but my point is, ability to sing equals double the attractiveness of a harp guy. think about it.
4) acoustic duo can be a great thing. much less pressure in one way and much more in another. less because you have to worry about one mate and not 2, 3, 4, or more. but more in that each partner of a duo has more responsibility to fill up a given song. my wife stepped up because she wanted to see me stay interested in music after a pretty nasty band catastrophe, and she brought a guitar home one day and asked me to teach her what i knew about blues. that was 5 years ago. she went in fits and starts for 2 years or so, and 3 years ago she got stone serious about it, and we've been a duo ever since. as we learned more and more songs, i convinced her to start singing too. took a lot of pressure off me since my voice would stress out after a couple of sets usually. we are having a great time with this! we cut a cd 2 years ago and are about to polish up some new stuff and record #2 soon. we play on the street, coffee houses, bars, wherever, and we have a great time doing blues and roots. we write songs ans work them up so we can do what i consider the heart of music, real original personal material.
i partnered with a couple of different people over some years, and every situation is different. there is always good and not so good in these things. but i learned a long time ago, never lie to a partner. if the music isn't working for me i have to speak up and we then can work out what needs to change. and sometimes it's something i need to change and not my partner!
this has been such a journey for me. i have made some big mistakes along the way, and i've had to really look at my own motives and attitudes and sometimes eat some crow and fall into line, but it has been a real growth medium for me too.
there is nothing like live music. hard sometimes to keep the faith but it does keep me out of trouble!
Last Edited by on Aug 20, 2009 6:29 PM
|
Randy G. Blues
71 posts
Aug 20, 2009
11:02 PM
|
jbone,
Thank you for all the kind words, support and guidance. I am 58, and shortly will be one more than that. I have been married for over 38 years, so I am pretty well grounded and able to get along with most folks without difficulty... with everyone except my wife, that is. ;-)
Musically, my attitude has always been if it's the blues just tell me the key. I take playing music seriously, but I play to have fun, and have fun while being serious about it.. if any of that makes sense.
Just got back from the open mic jam. I was in on the first set (rhythm guitar, bass, drummer, and me), and there were no lead guitarists and no singers, so I played lead on the harp for 45 minutes and sang.. just a little. I left all my lyric sheets at home and since I haven't sung in the past I don't have anything memorized. I did one verse of a song I wrote which I just threw into a 12 bar we were doing, and I sang two verses of Little Red Rooster. Got applause both times and after all the songs really, and no one threw any beer bottles... so far, so good.
It felt really good to wail a few tunes, pull a few big bends, and I played one tune just chuck full of vibrato and soulful bends like I was crying through my harp. Sure felt good when I was done. I think we have all said it at one time or another- I don't just want to play- I HAVE to play- I NEED to play.
During the set I was talking with the guitar player, and the bass player said, "We gonna talk or we gonna play?"
I jokingly replied, "Let's talk," and he proceeded to take his strap off and walk off stage. I stopped him and said, "Come on.. I was kidding. Name a tune and a key and let's go." He settled back in. I was thinking, 'Dude... lighten up. It's a jam.. let's have some fun.' There were maybe 10 people inside at the time, and only about 4 of those were really listening.
Outside I was talking to his buddy who was playing bass during the set. He mentioned that they were trying to put a group together, hinting at whether I would be interested, and he mentioned that the bass player was in. I asked, "Is he always like that?" He confirmed that he was, and I told him that it would never work out between us.
So yes, I understand about the group dynamic and such, and I also have a pretty good feel for my own ability to tolerate people.
And I told everyone I talked to that I was looking for a group again, and explained that the group broke up not because of any personality or musical issues. I have too much invested in time, heart, and cash and I love playing the blues too much to stop now.
And just heard this evening that Lazy Lester lives in the area as well! Seems like all the good musicians up here play harp... Great minds think alike!
Thanks again.
|
jbone
127 posts
Aug 21, 2009
4:10 AM
|
sounds like we're more or less on the same page randy! i'm 54 and got a somewhat late start in actually playing live blues with bands- i was in my mid 30's before i got it together enough to do that.
i live in the dallas area for many years and that's where i really developed as a player. in early '01 i had a "her" asking me to move here to arkansas and live with her and be a family, which seemed like the thing to do at the time. i left 2 big and 1 small projects behind as it was a 6 hour drive each way. and i had thought it would be easy to establish my bona fides here after recent successes in north texas. whole nother story. point being, i was the one who made changes happen due to life changes.
one of my great old friends from there kept in touch, in fact after i'd been here a few years he made a point to come visit and we ultimately decided to do a project, distance be damned. and we worked together for something over 2 years, he'd book there and hire rhythm guys and i'd do the same here. ultimately the logistics were just too much and we did begin growing in different directions also.
this is a more insular musical community, and effects like the economy and local perceptions of what is desirable music have played a big part in my involvement with the music community here. there are some fine players and i am welcome on some stages almost any time i walk in, but as far as a steady group to work with and really define a sound and move in the direction i hope to, the opportunities are much less than i had hoped they would be.
this duo thing with wife was more a lark or an educational opportunity than any serious undertaking, at least until she expressed a desire for it to be more. life does intrude into our desire to work on stuff and play out live. but we do that when we can. tomorrow looks like a good day to go set up and play total acoustic the the big farmers market across the river. usually a good time regardless of how many tips we end up with!
locally in this smaller city where we live, we're looking at a couple of ideas to get some musicians and fans to come together. nobody else is doing that here really and it seems like good clean fun to us. we're hoping to host an all-acoustic jam once or twice a month on say a saturday morning while the weather is nice. no $$ involved at least to start, but we want to see who's who in the music community here and just have a good time once in a while. next year a smaller farmers market is in the works here in town, which i think we'll see about playing at when we can.
if we remain sensitive to new opportunities we can definitely stay busy with music. and sometimes we have to make our own opportunities.
we are kicking the idea around of playing at say retirement homes locally just to give something to the community. and recently we played at the new library in town and got the attention of a city official or two who want to jam with us! we're about to be invited to his place for mixer with some musicians we have never met.
so even if things look bleak, if you stay sensitive to new opportunities, you can stay busy and happy with music. best wishes to you!!
|
XHarp
130 posts
Aug 21, 2009
8:47 AM
|
Randy, Sponsor me. I'll get my green card and I'll move to Northern California and play guitar and back you up on Harp. ;-)
Really though, we also have just been given bad news, our drummer is calling it quits for similar reasons. Rest of us are in our 50's too (well except for the young one at 35). Now, This will be the second drummer we've had to replace the last 2 years and we were just getting to the same point with him. Intros, changes, runs and fills and now we gotta start all over again.
The rest of us are still jamming every week though and using a drum machine to fill in until we figure out what's happening.
The good thing is that there are a lot of good guitar players around. You should have a short search.
For now, jam with others or open mic's.
----------
"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
|
congaron
73 posts
Aug 21, 2009
9:23 AM
|
wow, I was in a Christian Rock band until January..I am 52. Sudddenly the 45 year-old guitar player tells me he thinks we are on different pages musically. Aasking what he means, i find out he wants to play metal...yep, he's right. So off I go into no band's land. I was picked up almost immediately by the blues band i now play in. They had already approached me and we had actually worked together in the past with me on percussion and vocals. Our dynamic is so cool, the lead guitar player actually wants to split the solos right down the middle with me. I resist that to try and preserve some of their original sound since they were so good before me. Now there's a silly argument to be having in your band. That's the way ours is..I am really blessed. I hope you can find something similar to and even better than your first one this time around. Maybe right around the corner is a combo just waiting to come together!
|
Randy G. Blues
72 posts
Aug 21, 2009
11:33 AM
|
Well.... They say good things happen to good people, and evidently to me as well.. ;-)
Just talked to our bass player- he is in a group along with our drummer and a few other guys, and they do covers (the usual stuff), playing for weddings, parties, open markets, etc.. They evidently want me to join ("I wouldn't join any group that would have me as a member" -G.M.). It's a part-time sort of thing, but it sounds like a fun group, will keep me off the streets some of the time, and there is a bit of cash involved. And as others have hinted, if nothing else the networking can lead to all sorts of things and will help me build a reputation... err... a better one that I already have, anyway.
Seems that (in the past, at least) one of the blues jam guys has told lots of folks that I play over other players... long story, but he doesn't believe that the harp should play at any time that others are playing or singing.. PERIOD. The other side of that is that he plays guitar and is a mediocre musician on a good day.
XHarp - Sponsor YOU to get you in!? I'm lucky the country hasn't thrown ME out, and I was BORN HERE! ;-)
Feeling much better this AM... Playing music is better than therapy.
A story you never hear: "He played blues harmonica.. I don't know why he killed all those people.. he was always so quiet."
|
jbone
129 posts
Aug 21, 2009
6:51 PM
|
hey- music IS therapy!
as for the bad mouther at the jam, it takes all kinds to fill the stages and musicians are some of the most insecure and hypercritical of the bunch. in some cases anyway. i've run across that dude's cousin several places between texas and arkansas. funny how a self-assured and well-mannered musician who has chops and taste can be seen as a toe-stepper by others who are not so secure.
to me a stage is a place for musicians to have a conversation with their i8nstruments. we are polite, we have lively discourse, everyone gets to speak, we don't interrupt or shout, and a good time is had by all. in a perfect world.
i say let the detractors detract, the proof of how and who i am is on the stage at a given place. every time out i remember to mind my manners and if someone else is over the top, so be it. that behavior gets noticed and ultimately catches up to the one who engages in it. i could tell some stories but you already know them i suspect!
cool you have new opportunities already!
|
Post a Message
|
