Have you ever considered playing in other people's bands until you can put together your own band for gigs? I know it sucks having to play for someone else when you want to do your own thing. But you get the experience of playing live, you get the extra cash, and most importantly, you meet a lot of people in the local music comminity and get the connections that makes it easier to put together your own band. Its also good to get in with guys who frequent local jam sessions. That is a good way to meet people looking to get in on a band.

My best friend is in 3 bands and he does a lot of solo sets. He started off doing accoustic sets anywhere he could get a gig. Then he ended up in a band that didn't really work out. Then he met some guys who were starting to get big in the area and got on with them as their lead guitar player. Then he started his own band and got some gigs here an there, but nothing really big. Then some old guys saw him play and they started talking and they asked him if he could play in their band too. They do a lot of old country.

He has all of this going on at once. He makes enough from gigs that he doesn't need to get a real job. Now he has a demo for his band which is starting to get more attention. This also helps with demand for your album. Before, he didn't really need a demo other than because he wanted one. Nobody really knew him. Now that he plays all over the area, people started asking when he was going to put a cd out. Now he has one and the demand.

Sorry. I'm not trying to tell you how to do it. I'm sure you know more about it than I do. Its just some ideas to help you make some more money using your talent. I know at one time my friend sort of felt like he was at a standstill and didn't have a job or any money. So while I've never been in that exact situation, I'm familier with it.

If you want, you can check out my friend's stuff. You'd probably get along great with him. He is like a fucking music guru. Music is pretty much his entire life. You actually remind me of him quite a bit.

This is his band's myspace page. His band is called Down N Out. He is the lead singer and lead guitar.
http://www.myspace.com/downnout81

This is the band that he started off with that really got people looking at him. They are called Eric Lane and the Doghouse Band. He plays lead guitar.
http://www.myspace.com/thedoghouseband17

This is the country band he plays for. They are called Timberline. He also plays lead guitar with them as well. They only have one song on their page and I don't know if he plays on it or not.
http://www.myspace.com/thetimberlineband

ross_rifle113 wrote:

I have considered it actually. I saw a want ad for a guitarist for some girl who wants to play stuff like Carrie Underwood (puke) and CCR (awesome). So I dunno. There's two big problems for me. The first is that people think I'm a joke. I think it's because ironically, I take music very seriously, whereas most everyone else just goes up and goofs off. The local scene is also heavily based around ska and hardcore punk, which I'm not into a lot. My other problem is that I have a live band, but I'm teaching my cousin to drum from scratch. He's getting good, but it takes time and dedication. Looking at it this way though, my only source of income right now is my cds. The thought of that kinda floors me. Like, I'm actually a professional musician. A less-than-minimum-wage,can't-afford-shit professional musician, but a musician nonetheless. So I think I'm going to do what I can to keep this as a job. I'm gonna do acoustic shows for a bit. I think what I need to do is focus my time in Abbotsford, which is the town next door. People actually do respect me there...I have people I don't know wanting to buy my stuff, and I have like a following. So I'll see what I can do about bands there. And shows too. There's a highly popular and influential coffee shop downtown, so hopefully I can get in there.

Well, part of the problem is that in your town, people know, or at least they think they do, and so they have preconceived notions about you. I guess it makes it hard for jackasses to look past it and take you seriously.

My friend had the same problems when he was getting started. His audience was the people who we went to school with in a town of 8,000. They knew him his whole life pretty much had the idea that he wasn't anybody special up to know, so they didn't know why they should take him seriously know.

Really how he started to get popular was playing ot of town and then in town with a band that was starting to get popular already. Out of town, nobody has some idea about who you already are. For all they know, where you come from, you could be a big loser or the most popular guy in town. There is no preconceived notion.

He is a lot more popular than he used to be in town. But out of town he is a lot more popular. They play at the Jasper Tavern in Jasper, MO (Jasper, MO like on Roadhouse. They should have called it Double Deuce) He is like a rock god there. So going next door might not be a bad idea.

ross_rifle113 wrote:

I wonder if all bands who come back for the mighty hometown show actually feel like this? Like if secretly they're like 'these people never liked us or took us seriously the dumb fucks, now look at em!' I hope so hahaha.

I dunno. Probably. With my friend, its hard to tell. He is very self concious, but at the same time, doesn't care what most people think. He is usually just more critical of himself. His band, Down N Out was playing at this show with local bands that a church was putting on and he played Sympathy for the Devil. Then, after Katrina, he put on a benefit concert and actually donated the money to charity. But he played shit like Rock Me Like a Hurricane and other songs of that theme. Some people realized he was doing a good thing, but other people were pissed because they though he was being disrespectful. So he still is able to piss people off in town which doesn't always help his image with them. But like I said, he usually doesn't care what people think.