Brian Krashpad
September 15th, 2007, 04:08 PM
So anyhow, some commercial touring rock/country band was short a bassist. They advertised on our local band website. Some guy (who from all appearances online is a total a-hole) told them he'd play the gig, then backed out at noon Friday.
So I called them up, said if they could get me cheats or at least put me so I could see the guitarist's hands and shout out a key I would try to muddle through if they were desperate and didn't want to be a man short. But I made clear I was not from a commercial background and would not actually know how to play any of these songs from memory/past experience, and also that whatever I played it would definitely NOT be whatever was on the record of the original. They said they didn't play anything like the records anyhow (which is just as well since I'm a clean slate).
So I shows up with my bass rig and talk to Dean the lead singer/lead guitarist/bandleader. He says the guy who flaked has promised a replacement who's "been in Blackfoot." (If you don't follow southern rock, Blackfoot was a pretty big band from this area of Florida.)
So I says I'll be happy to bow out to anybody with more experience with this stuff than me, but Dean says hang out and let's see if the guy shows. He offers me money just for coming out, but I say it's not necessary. He gets a call and it appears the replacement guy is on his way. Dean says, do you play guitar too? I say yeah, I got guitars and rigs back at the office, 10 minutes away. He says, go get a guitar rig and we'll give you $50 to sit in on guitar.
Now, they didn't really need a second guitarist, he was just being nice. But I figured it'd be fun so I say I'll go run and get rigged up for guitar, but I won't takle the bass rig out of the van in case we need it.
So I run by my office. Unfortunately both of my LP's are at the house, so I grab a couple Teles instead, and my Schecter Tempest Special. For my amp I grab my 60's Sunn 200S head and my little DIY 2x12 openback cab, and run back to the frat house.
I get back and the bassist has arrived. As it so happens he mentions nothing about having been in Blackfoot, but he has been in bands locally I knew, some of which did covers, so I knew he'd do a better job than I, and figured I'd just have fun playing guitar and make $50. Sure it was a 1/3 pay cut, but they didn't really need a second guitarist and were just being nice, they'd sound better with the other guy on bass than with me, so it was a win-win.
We go and set up in the frat "party room," on the lower level in the back. Unfortunately the bandleader sets up stage right, so I can't see his guitar neck, even though I asked to be put on that side of the stage for that very reason.
Here's the stage setup, stage right with PA head sitting atop Dean's Peavey ValveKing 1x12 being adjusted by the drummer:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4058/00101zn4.jpg
Here's stage left, with my rig on the outside edge:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8665/00202sb7.jpg
More story and pics to come. Feel free to comment on my poseritude in advance.
So I called them up, said if they could get me cheats or at least put me so I could see the guitarist's hands and shout out a key I would try to muddle through if they were desperate and didn't want to be a man short. But I made clear I was not from a commercial background and would not actually know how to play any of these songs from memory/past experience, and also that whatever I played it would definitely NOT be whatever was on the record of the original. They said they didn't play anything like the records anyhow (which is just as well since I'm a clean slate).
So I shows up with my bass rig and talk to Dean the lead singer/lead guitarist/bandleader. He says the guy who flaked has promised a replacement who's "been in Blackfoot." (If you don't follow southern rock, Blackfoot was a pretty big band from this area of Florida.)
So I says I'll be happy to bow out to anybody with more experience with this stuff than me, but Dean says hang out and let's see if the guy shows. He offers me money just for coming out, but I say it's not necessary. He gets a call and it appears the replacement guy is on his way. Dean says, do you play guitar too? I say yeah, I got guitars and rigs back at the office, 10 minutes away. He says, go get a guitar rig and we'll give you $50 to sit in on guitar.
Now, they didn't really need a second guitarist, he was just being nice. But I figured it'd be fun so I say I'll go run and get rigged up for guitar, but I won't takle the bass rig out of the van in case we need it.
So I run by my office. Unfortunately both of my LP's are at the house, so I grab a couple Teles instead, and my Schecter Tempest Special. For my amp I grab my 60's Sunn 200S head and my little DIY 2x12 openback cab, and run back to the frat house.
I get back and the bassist has arrived. As it so happens he mentions nothing about having been in Blackfoot, but he has been in bands locally I knew, some of which did covers, so I knew he'd do a better job than I, and figured I'd just have fun playing guitar and make $50. Sure it was a 1/3 pay cut, but they didn't really need a second guitarist and were just being nice, they'd sound better with the other guy on bass than with me, so it was a win-win.
We go and set up in the frat "party room," on the lower level in the back. Unfortunately the bandleader sets up stage right, so I can't see his guitar neck, even though I asked to be put on that side of the stage for that very reason.
Here's the stage setup, stage right with PA head sitting atop Dean's Peavey ValveKing 1x12 being adjusted by the drummer:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4058/00101zn4.jpg
Here's stage left, with my rig on the outside edge:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8665/00202sb7.jpg
More story and pics to come. Feel free to comment on my poseritude in advance.