Band Issues

[Timbofood]

Well said Chuck! As long as it’s fun it’s worth a few headaches, when the headache exceeds fun, cut bait!
Have I missed the location of the OP?

[Teak]

Timely thread for me.

Tis time for " airing of grievances".

Musically, My joy is grassing up pop rock covers, longer breaks, some attention getting arranging. And singing, and musical conversations with other instrumentalists.

Ehtyl recently decreed , too many non bg covers,(she being culpable) we're not playing enough bluegrass, and its a "problem" for her marketing us as product.

I am struggling with quitting.

Better the devil you know?, or the simple joys of playing alone or with others that have verve and playfulness.

I saw THE video stevedenver; I know what you're talking about.

Have you guys considered going non-BG? I mean, with an accordian, there are so many other cool music styles to default too, and you wouldn't have to sell yourselves as a BG group that doesn't really play BG. That would solve the marketing issue. Tell people you play FUN music.

Dixieland? Ragtime? Swing? Cajun? Show tunes?

These styles allow for greater leeway in both instrumentation and "tightness". For example, ragtime came from the phrase "ragged time"; you don't need 220 bps tunes with 4-part harmony.

[Ivan Kelsall]

We all have to accept that for some folk,simply being able to play to an ''able ,but non-pro.'' level is all that they want,& i suspect that they ''maybe'' in the majority. For others,inc. myself, we've adopted a professional approach to our playing - by that i mean,we're striving to reach the technical & musical abilities of the best players out there. I'll pick a tune to play by say John Reischman / Adam steffey etc. & i'm not satisfied until i can play it exactly like they do = hours of listening & trying things out. When i can do that,i'll usually know the tune well enough to slot my own bits 'n pieces into it,but i'll use the original as a 'standard' to reach for. It's simply for each of us to go for what 'we' want - not everybody wants to be a 'pro.' musician,but if the chance came along,you'd better be good enough !,
Ivan

[mr ken]

Go with 2-3 . Some worthy others may find you add as you can.

[Rob Meldrum]

I agree with the many who suggested you begin by discussing each person's goals for the band. I play in a Saturday-morning 8-person jam band. We play one or two concerts a year at our yacht club. A couple of us are good enough to play open mic or Wednesday night bar band gigs, the rest not so much.

We had the chat, and three guys really wanted us to be a quality bar band. All of us are over 50 and moderately to very successful (business-wise and financially), and the thought of leaving our spouses to play a gig on a Saturday night to net a couple of hundred dollars per person was not appealing at all. So the three guys started their own band. Ironically they were three of the four weakest players in the band. None of them could sing well, the drummer thinks he is a click track but actually cannot keep a steady beat, and the rhythm guitar player literally loses a beat at random times in most songs. Their project didn't work...

The problem playing music with friends is that music comes from a deep place within us all. When you speak openly and honestly about skill and talent issues, it is very easy to hurt feelings. In a perfect world three of us would play together two times a week and play the occasional gig for our own pleasure. But in this world the eight of us get together and make the best music eight people of varying skills can make. And we manage to stay friends.