Upcoming changes to the band

Kerry Brown

Kerry Brown

Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
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Our band, The New Variants, is going through some inevitable changes. I'm pretty excited and little nervous. One of our guitar player/singers has told us he is going to be away for four months this summer. We were planning on steady gigging for the summer. By mutual agreement we decided to audition a temp replacement that could fill in for him. One of the better players in town is coming to our practice tomorrow. He plays guitar, bass, keys, drums, and sings. I've jammed with him a couple of times. I'm nervous about playing with such a good musician but hopefully he will up our game if he decides on playing with us. I've been telling the guys for a while that we need some keys and a female voice in the mix. Our other guitar /singer has done a couple of open mic's with a female keyboard player. He's invited her to our practice tomorrow. It will be crowded in our practice space but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
 
Kerry Brown said:
Our band, The New Variants, is going through some inevitable changes. I'm pretty excited and little nervous. One of our guitar player/singers has told us he is going to be away for four months this summer. We were planning on steady gigging for the summer. By mutual agreement we decided to audition a temp replacement that could fill in for him. One of the better players in town is coming to our practice tomorrow. He plays guitar, bass, keys, drums, and sings. I've jammed with him a couple of times. I'm nervous about playing with such a good musician but hopefully he will up our game if he decides on playing with us. I've been telling the guys for a while that we need some keys and a female voice in the mix. Our other guitar /singer has done a couple of open mic's with a female keyboard player. He's invited her to our practice tomorrow. It will be crowded in our practice space but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
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Kerry,

I totally agree. Keys add a lot to a band, even if you're doing songs that may not have had keys as originally recorded. They really fill out a sound. I also really agree with the idea of having female vocals. Our band is female-fronted and I think she does great. I realize you're not necessarily looking for a female front person, but I get the idea.
 
smitty_p said:
Kerry,

I totally agree. Keys add a lot to a band, even if you're doing songs that may not have had keys as originally recorded. They really fill out a sound. I also really agree with the idea of having female vocals. Our band is female-fronted and I think she does great. I realize you're not necessarily looking for a female front person, but I get the idea.
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Our two singers currently trade off lead vocals and sing harmony when the other is leading. Our hope is they can do a three way trade off and back each other up. I don’t think the keyboard player has experience playing in a band. It may take her a while to get used to leaving some space. I find playing with a good keyboard player makes playing easier. I can relax and play simpler because the mix is fuller.
 
Sounds exciting for you! Should be fun.
I honestly find 2 guitars to be plenty full for me. Depends on music type too. We do mostly 70s 80s with a way harder edge. Keys would, in some ways, soften it up for us. I am used to playing in a 3 piece for years where you are always playing. The second guitar gives me breathing room.
I still enjoy the challenge of being the only guitar and with a thick enough sound it doesn't seem lacking to me.

Let us know how things go!!
 
Just home from the practice with the new people. It was awesome. They are both really good and had at least looked st most of the songs on our set list. The band started out as a three piece, then quickly four, now six, bass, drums, three guitars, and keys. The new guitar player is an awesome slide player. Three of them sing and the harmonies sound great already. I’m excited. We have our first gig booked at a hotel in Whistler at the end of March. We may do a one set gig at a local bistro to get our feet wet.
 
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Kerry Brown said:
Just home from the practice with the new people. It was awesome. They are both really good and had at least looked st most of the songs on our set list. The band started out as a three piece, then quickly four, now six, bass, drums, three guitars, and keys. He new guitar player is an awesome slide player. Three of them sing and the harmonies sound great already. I’m excited. We have our first gig booked at a hotel in Whistler at the end of March. We may do a one set gig at a local bistro to get our feet wet.
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Here's what our band did to get its feet wet. This was actually before I joined the band.

Everybody in the band sent out notices via Facebook mentioning the upcoming, invitation-only gig in the band leader's back yard. So, everyone's Facebook friends saw the post. There was a link to request an invitation. She did this because she provided food and she needed a headcount.

The band did a full, four-hour gig with breaks between sets, just like the real thing.

The turnout was pretty good and it allowed the band to play before a supportive audience and solicit friendly, constructive criticism before launching out on the real thing. It also allowed the band to identify songs that went well and others that didn't work out as nicely.

Obviously, this only works if you have access to a large area where the neighbors won't complain and y'all will need a pretty good Facebook presence, as a whole.

Though I wasn't in the band at the time, I already knew most members of the band and I did go to this "ice-breaker".

Just an idea...
 
smitty_p said:
Here's what our band did to get its feet wet. This was actually before I joined the band.

Everybody in the band sent out notices via Facebook mentioning the upcoming, invitation-only gig in the band leader's back yard. So, everyone's Facebook friends saw the post. There was a link to request an invitation. She did this because she provided food and she needed a headcount.

The band did a full, four-hour gig with breaks between sets, just like the real thing.

The turnout was pretty good and it allowed the band to play before a supportive audience and solicit friendly, constructive criticism before launching out on the real thing. It also allowed the band to identify songs that went well and others that didn't work out as nicely.

Obviously, this only works if you have access to a large area where the neighbors won't complain and y'all will need a pretty good Facebook presence, as a whole.

Though I wasn't in the band at the time, I already knew most members of the band and I did go to this "ice-breaker".

Just an idea...
Click to expand...
We had a full season of gigging last year as a four piece band. We are comfortable as a four piece. Whistler, 45 minute drive away, is a huge year round resort wth many already established acts. The gig will establish us in a lucrative market so we want to make sure we have our live sound down before we play there. The new keyboard player lives in Whistler and has played in bands there so she has contacts with the local venues. The new guitar player can play bass or drums if needed. I am excited where this is going. Having six people in the band will allow us to play if someone is sick or away. We lost a couple of gigs last year due to band members being sick. I had COVID for one gig we had to cancel. We had to cancel another because one of the singer/guitar players had an unexpected business trip he couldn't get out of.
 
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