DetroitBlues, please don't feel uneasy about it, stuff happens, next time you may have to tell some one no. Play on Bro

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I have been lucky and never been rejected. I did however have the bad fortune of having been in 2 different bands who were signed to major labels...recorded the album and right as we were getting ready to tour...both bands broke up...so I did the other thing I love just as much..joined the Army and have never looked back.. Once I retire I will join CC's band..
ABS

I never got turned down or fired by a band, but I did quit a few. The bands I left were undisciplined and were just interested in jamming and not polishing their material. I play better when I don't have to worry about if the guy next to me knows what he is doing. My wife says I take it all to seiously and I am a perfectionist snob , but I prefer to play with someone who comes to practice prepared. Don't sweat it if you got turned down, there is probably something better on the horizon for you. Good luck.

If anyone listens to SRV, there is a guy who teaches that style of blues. I asked him for some advice about the same time I began this post. He thought it was an interesting subject and posted a video response on youtube. There is a link on his website;

[url]http://www.steviesnacks.com/free-lessons/dealing-with-rejection.html

I think its worth checking out for anyone who went through what I did.

_________________
"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

So here it is two months later. I've tried out with a couple different bands. I practiced again with the original band I tried out with about three weeks ago. Once again, it went back and forth and was basically a "no" without being said. Then last Sunday I got a call around 10pm asking me to go to practice on Tuesday and gig on Saturday. After another day of yes than no, at the last minute they asked me to practice. I did well at their practice and I gigged with them last night. I wasn't pleased with the way the song list was sent only hours before showtime with songs I didn't know. But I got on stage, I was heard and they want to keep me... So here I am, now in a band, sort of.

_________________
"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

I wish that was the end of the story, but there is so much more that has occured in the last two months...

So here it goes!

After six weeks and six or seven rehersals, I'm finally had enough. Now that I know I gave it my best shot, I have nothing left to prove. I realize now I was just set up for failure. I don't think I really had a chance after all. I was finally able to play a solo, just a short 12 bar blues solo, but it felt great. But man, was it crazy working with them. So after all this, I should of left it alone by leaving it be at thanks but no thanks back in October. Can't help but slam them a little bit in this post. Here it goes.

The Setup:
The harp player has a PA system in his basement with a few vocal mic's set up. No mic's for the amps, so the guitar amps have to fight each other for volume on the recordings. Needless to say, those amps are behind the vocals and the volume war begins. Monitors can't be heard and when everyone's in the groove, it gets down right loud. Plus it smells worse than a stale bar. I think I can lick my guitar for a nicatine buzz.

The Members:
Drummer/Manager (mid-50's): Knows what he wants, doesn't know how to get it. Nice guy, but spineless sometimes and has no clue how to run a band.
Bass Player (late 30's): Knows what he is doing, likes the music, and really trys to help hold things together. Too much responisbility for the poor guy.
Singer (late 40's): Vocals are solid but not much range. Thinks the instruments shouldn't be any louder than her car stereo so she can hear herself in the PA. Ever heard of studio headphones? From what I noticed, last to arrive, first to leave, and does nothing to help. She can lead a band in a song, but needs to get man. Too much frustration built up in her.
Lead Guitarist (late 50's): Knows how to play, knows what to play, limited on what he can sing (doens't stop him from singing more though). Buys all sorts of gear so he can be loud and thinks everyone is wrong but him. Short fuse and bad temper, he is a heart attack waiting to happen. All the talent in the world doesn't mean anything if you can't get along with band members.
Harp Player (early 50's): Can play the harp like there is no tomorrow. Can do much better than this group, but for some reason he lets it all fly. Very passive to a fault. Nice enough, but gets pushed around. Doesn't know the band is nothing without him.

As for me: Trying to be everything to everyone only sets me up for failure. I gave it my best shot, learned a lot from them, but in the end I feel like hanging up my guitar for awhile. They sapped all the fun out of the music. Maybe my comments are off color, unjustified, or otherwise just not right, but that's why they call them opinions. Best of luck to them, hopefully one day I'll get bitten again to be in a band and they'll end up watching me tear it up for some other band....


To add a little fuel to the fire, it appears the band is no more. As luck, fate, karma, or whatever you'd call it, would have it, the band disbanded. The lead guitarist was fed up being told he was too loud. He quit and since it was his band, they are no more. So I think I walked away from a situation in which no one was winning. My insight to the lead guitarist was right. Hot headed to a fault. He threw it all away because everyone was wrong except him. If anyone in the S.E. Michigan area is looking to be the lead guitarist in a blues band, I can let the drummer know. Good news is the practice space is in the basement of the Harmonica players house....

_________________
"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

Female vocalists ...... urgh.
Well no, not all female vocalists. Just the karaoke, backing track singalong for working man clubs types.
The worst thing to ever hit the music scene. I quit my last band through one particularly malicious, pernicious, maignant, manipulative cow.
Real singers, male or female are a very different affair.

I've really no problem being a background instrument at all. Infact I crave it. Theres far too much guitar in modern music. To the point of losing music for the sake of guitar.
Also I've just been turned down by a band I really wanted to play for. After speaking to the bassist, it's entirely due to my lack of vocal ability for backing vocals. Full marks on everything else, including knowing when to be loud and when to be quiet.
So what do I do? Well I'm getting a bit of voice training. Time to bite the bullet.

Also I'm very fed up with the constant bickering within my current band. Dunno whether to quit that or just use it to help train my voice.
I'll not lose out for something as simple as a bit of singing again, thats for sure.

_________________
No no and no

And are these people who you have mentioned so much,pros,or weekend warriors or neither? sound like wannabees to me.
Many musicians take themselves way too seriously,and the guys and girl in that now defunct band sound like they do.

They were gigging musicians with skill. Weekend warriors mostly. But they did take themselves way to serious....

_________________
"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC