What?!
No late night/early morning,smoky beer joint,drunks wanting Free Bird....cheap PBR tall boys....red eyed,sweaty,wish I could go lay down but the ringing in my ears is killing me,gigs???
That's my Sat.night/Sun.am playing....not for the faint of heart.

I hate smoky bars,it saturates everything,I come home and unload stuff and air it out the best I can,and take a shower or I can't stand it when trying to sleep.
I'm only playing with my son's band right now,he's 26 and I started him out jamming when he was about 10 years old.....he has a three piece band and I carry a lot of backing rythym,lead fills and we swap leads quite a bit...he's an awesome player,and we've been jamming on a lot of stuff you don't hear around here....the crowds like it.
But yeah,my morning practices when I'm have gotten some sleep are more creative and productive....it's a good time to write music or come up with new material.

I play better when I am drunk, or at least I think I do

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We're playing stuff like "High Falls" and "Whippin' Post" by the Allman Brothers,and "Franklin's Tower" by the Grateful Dead,among others....we're playing to alot of younger people who like the jam bands like Phish and Widespread Panic,and we usually will stretch out and play extended improv jams on the songs like Whippin' Post,both of us have played these songs since he was a kid,and we're also doing Hendrix,Pink Floyd,Pearl Jam and lots of other stuff...we don't have a set list,he will just think of something and away we go...it's alot of fun.

At exactly the same level of drunk at which you don't care how well you play?

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Rated "M" for meaty.

I might also add....that we're smack dab in the middle of a redneck county where most bands try the country or golden oldies/classic soft rock for their set lists....we do the stuff that most of them don't have the chops to try....and I'm not braggin' either,most bands around here are not very advanced in their playing and it shows.
A few miles up the road in Nashville you have everybody,mostly country or headbangin' to the opposite ends of the spectrum....we play our stuff in some clubs there and it goes over well....there's a lot of people who don't get to hear what they want to...and if you find your spot it can pay off....we just happen to like something that most people don't or can't play.

not sure, I don't really remember those nights but deep down I know I was awesome

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The Pearl Jam songs we play are Jeremy and Even Flow....they don't sound much like the pop teen queens you mentioned.

stop trying to impersonate cobain. i garuntee you, you've only heard atleast 2 of there songs and haven't even bothered to check out there stuff thats not on 'ten'
i fail to see how this is pop,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPStZIJaOzU

and this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtcZq7ic4sc

and this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf5ZP9nJ_tY

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former user radio_friendly_unit_shifter

I worked yesterday, played the Mirage til 1:30 am, got 2-hrs sleep, worked again, sleep 1-hr, play the Hard Rock tonight.

Nap time.. Show should be interesting.

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It is insane, and it can't be healthy at all. That is how my Thursdays and Fridays have been for the past 2-months. We played our last Mirage show for the season last Thursday night. So at least that part of it is over. We did a 7-month contract there.

The show last night wasn't very good. I tried my best, but I was on autopilot and just felt like a zombie. I had a couple hiccups in some solos, missed some rhythm changes, but nothing too bad.

What irked me the most is the sound guys just couldn't run the monitors right. I sang 2-songs with absolutely NO vocals coming through the monitors. They kept trying to tell me "oh, no you're running through the monitors". But the whole band was saying, "actually he's not, there's nothing", but they made us just get the show started and play anyway. Very unprofessional on the part of the Hard Rock crew. I could hear instruments loud and clear through it. During one of my solos, someone pushed a button up there or something because it all of the sudden came through the monitor so loud it was like standing 2-feet in front of a full stack on 10. To put it mildly.. Those guys sucked balls.

When things like that happen, I start having problems with my performance. That, coupled with the lack of sleep, didn't make for a good night.

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I play best when its the radio.

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You dig?

Once things start going badly in a gig,I'm easily frustrated,but try to overcome it...I guess it's because I'm old and tired....
Jah Soldier...you're playing in some cool places,how are some of the other bands? Any good little known musicians that we should be looking for?

Sure there are. Keep in mind our shows are Reggae shows and most of who we encounter and get booked with are Reggae bands.

I personally think everyone should have a couple Reggae albums lying around just to listen to for a break in what you normally listen to. I think you'll usually find it refreshing every now and then. I still listen to a lot of Hard Core/ Hard Rock/ metal stuff, but sometimes when I want to relax, some good Reggae music can give me a short vacation from all of the distortion and heaviness.

Last night, we played with this band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkiYSK-0olk
Tribal Seeds from San Diego.

Stranger is another SD band that will be playing with us for my birthday show in Bakersfield:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIUp448xbEk&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL634509C6BCCDBB7F
Very talented band!! The guitar player is one of the few shredders I've encountered so far. He can really go off!! He plays a Strat with very hot pickups. Love these guys.

SOJA is a band out of Arlington Virginia. One of my favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X572Mp_r46E
Love that guys voice.

Fortunate Youth from Hermosa Beach, CA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUdza2oVUXM&feature=related
Our old drummer plays for them now.

Of course you can check us out any time if you want.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--nOEU09SJ8
I'm playing my Squier Esprit with Gibson pickups in this video.

Not much to drool over for guitar players when it comes to Reggae. But when you see a Reggae band live, the overall sound is big and it's just good clean fun.

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Thanks for the links man,I'm heading out for the Sat. night gig,but will check them out tomorrow.