Out of the market…for now

No more ads…no more looking…no more auditions…no more funny stories to tell, at least for now.
After a two plus year search for a suitable live music project, I’ve concluded the only way back to A-room stages is if I put a band together myself…so…..

With the able assistance of three very fine, talented musicians and a Yamaha Motif workstation, we are working our way to stage. The competition for stage time will be fierce, so we’ll have to be outstanding in every way but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

The pre-production is going great and faster than expected. I love Pro Tools and love the Motif even more. The learning curve hasn’t been the issue I thought it would be, but mostly I love the people that have joined me. They are young, talented, eager and hard working. We will have an outstanding front line, we will be vocally thick instrumentally strong and the set list is very fresh, sophisticated and tight. High energy dance with great tunes that aren’t being played to death already.

This is getting very exciting. The best part for me is: (in no particular order)
1) no more classic rock, rock-god wanna-be garage bands with no plans…just jams
2) no more goofy, hipster bands looking for a drummer who will play like Neil Peart and keep his mouth shut
3) No more age discrimination
4) No more flakes (I guess this would be number 1)
5) No more playing foreign kits that were purchased used from Wal-Mart

More to come when the marketing campaign kicks off.

I think it really is true....

The harder you look, the more difficult the search.

I walk a tight wire with drumming…on several fronts. First, I want to be paid to play. Oh, I could probably play most every week-end, if I were willing to accept $0 -$50 for the effort, but it truly is worth more to me to stay home and earn nothing than to tear my kit down, pack it up, haul it somewhere, unpack it, set it up, play, tear it down, pack it back up, haul it back home, unpack it and set it up again.

Second, I walk a tight wire with my search for a project. I run a lot of ads. Not everyday. That would be stupid and ridiculous. And certainly not more than one ad on the same web page everyday. That would be insane! I usually run an ad once a week and probably more like once every couple of weeks now and I worry that THAT is too much. I don’t want to appear desperate because I’m not. If I don’t find a project and can’t put one together, then I won’t play out….simple. I still believe that using CL and BP to advertise is probably the worst way to find musicians, but I have had limited success there before and it’s still free so it’s worth the effort.

Finally, I walk the tight wire from an age standpoint. Having come to terms with “wasting” most of the prime of my life NOT playing, I’m fast approaching an important benchmark in my life... a point where I wonder what’s next. Since I absolutely abhor the thought of playing “Play That Funky Music” and Brickhouse” and then “Sweet Home Alabama” to toothless rednecks in biker bars anymore, I really wonder what else can a drummer in Dallas / Ft. Worth do when you’ve passed that line of demarcation that makes you 1) wonder what the hell you’re doing playing drums, 2) pass up any gig that pay’s less than $150 for the effort and 3) comfortable and satisfied staying home Friday and Saturday nights instead of out with a four grand set of DW’s fending off drunks who want to help you pack up!

Yes, I’m definitely gonna do things my way from here on out. I still love being on stage and the occasional jam with quality musicians. And it’s not that I have this huge ego about the money. It’s not even so much about the principle of being sufficiently paid to play anymore. I guess it just comes from experience. I don’t so much do it for the love anymore as I do it for the love of the thrill and I wonder what will thrill me enough to keep doing it and under what circumstances. I wonder what I will be playing and where I’ll be playing it and I wonder who I will be playing it with. I wonder what will “crank my tractor” enough to get me excited enough to get out and haul a kit somewhere. And I wonder when that might be.