The band I'm currantly in has gone thru so many personell changes in the 6 years of being around. We've on our second Bass player, and get this-our 8th drummer! It seems the trouble with drummers is that when we hire them, and try them out at an audition, they are open minded, will play anything, willing to practice, etc. Most of the drummers say they can play it all, but most of them were basic rock drummers. That don't go well with a George Strait two step. Some of them had drinking and drug issues that didn't surface until they had played out a couple of times, some had a meddling wife or girlfriend, some would never want to practice, and it goes on and on. Only the singer and me,( the guitarist), have been the mainstay. We do everything from AC/DC to Conway Twitty, and we play out at least 5 times a month. I guess an all around drummer is tough to find.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

It's tough to get and keep everyone on the same page. I sat with band mates to make sure that we all agree in the direction we want to go. first was to have fun. agree on set list, vote on tunes that would please crowd, as well as ourselves. try to be responsible, and keep semi-professional up on stage. things happen and come up, but try to make set time for practice. I think if everyone knows the main goals and direction of the band, up front, it helps to minimize problems later. unfortunitely, there are always bumps along the way. I'm sure you guys will find someone that clicks with the band soon. good luck, dutch.

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2012 American Vintage Telecaster 1958
09 Fender american deluxe strat.
97 Gibson les paul special P90's double-cut
65 Princeton reverb re-issue
2010 Guild Gad-F40e

Drummers are musician's best friends, but they come and go like the seasons.

Maybe some day they will invent a gig-quality drum machine. If they do, I garrantee that some chick will take it home while you are tearing down your guitar rig.

Sometimes it's just that way, and it all depends on the individual. The drummer and I have been playing together for 17+ years, and our current lineup is drums/bass/guitar/singer. During that time there have been 7 other people that have been through the group, some with a couple years in and one guitarist with only 3 months.

Our current lead player was once in as a rythm player, and was asked to leave after about a year due to his drinking issues. During the couple years he was out he cleaned up and practiced, now he's been our lead player for the last 5 years. So wierd things can happen.

If you find the right people, they stay, if they aren't the right people than neither you or them should waste their time. There's musicians all over, you just got to find them.

I am in a "for fun" band. We try to do one event per year, but we all have full-time jobs. Some of travel, others have a chalet for ski during winter, etc, so its tough for us to get regular practices (meaning at least once every three weeks). Our drummer lives in another city two hours away, but has family near where we pratice, so he usually makes it out no problem. However, one problem I see for drummers is the hastle of carrying all their equipment, especially if they only have one drum (like our drummer) so that they can practice at home...

My brother is in a similar level band but they practice 1-2 times a week, and have had the same drummer for years. Does not seem to be a problem for him. I guess it depends of the person.

Like folks said before, it might be difficult to get someone versatile enough to play different styles of music. Maybe it helps if you have someone from the same background as you, in our case friends from way back...

Dan

The band I'm in now has been a merry'go'round for its first year. Understandable really. Were out in the sticks and its hard just to find people that want to play the same stuff. Anyway were well settled now and have been since November. We've been through all the usual conveyor belt of jaded revolutionaries, alcoholic's (thirsty friends), Ed Gein's. A vocalist who kept spitting his false teeth out whilst trying to sing and even a one eyed double bassist who was like a cross between the blair witch and long john silver.

The previous band I was in went through its own list of disaster area's too. Neo nazi skinheads, heroin addicts. I was a replacement of the first guitarist in that band.


All you can do is smile, put up with em through their audition, try and learn a bit from them. And find some humour in the situation to stop yourself going crazy. Its hard work, it always has been, it always will be.
It wouldnt be worth doing if it was easy.

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No no and no

I freelance and work with a core of groups. I do agree that consistency is good for a cohesive unit.

Otherwise, sometimes there is subs in any group situation.

I know what you mean, our bassist has come and gone about 3 times, and we've only been together for about 3 months. The singer/guitarist (me) and the drummer are the only ones commited to being in a band.

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riley

Totally dude. Commitment being the key word. So many #$@*&!% pricks out there want to be in the band for the chicks and the partying and really dont care about the music. It sucks, big time because it slows us all down and unfortunately never ends.



CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

Yer your right, our bassist is a good friend of ours, unfortuanetly he likes hip hop and rap and stuff, and our band is a grunge band. Two totally diffrent genres. I could easily tell he was just in it to look cool and stuff

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riley

Sadly thats how it rolls dude. Just keep sticking ad's all over the place and you will eventually grab a drummer for your type of stuff. Dave Grohl the 2nd may just be out there!



CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

I once made a list of everyone I could remember that I played with while trying to get a band together--let alone having a band--it was over 80 people.

But mostly the same drummer throughout--and two other guitarists kept popping up.

But no regular bassist or keyboards or singer (mostly singing was done by someone who could play an instrument.)
(Mostly keyboards would be doubled by one of the guitarists.)

In one case I auditioned with a trio looking to add another guitarist. A singer I hadn't previously met also auditioned.
They played stuff as a trio, and while it was fun playing with them, they were better off as a trio, and I told them that.

So lots of stuff like that happened as well.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.