what are you playing?

[Markus Awreallyus]

I play in a cover band and have been for nearly forty years. Throughout this illustrious career ( i couldn't find a tongue and cheek icon) I have played a bazillion tunes. Although most of what we play is for danceable fun, a lot of times we find ourselves with a "artsy fartsy" crowd that wants to hear something bombastic or progressive.
Case and point
What are you playing?
A couple that I like are Ramble On (Zepp) and Sweating Bullets (MD)
Of course a couple of Canadian love songs find their way into the mix now and then.

[Mufasa]

Savannah crowd was a tough one. On one hand, you had the Southern rock group: Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd (no-we never played Freebird...), Blackfoot, 38 Special, Creedence, Marshal Tucker, Allman Bros, ZZ Top, etc...
Classic artists; Neil Young, Clapton, Grand Funk... anything that we liked, really.

Then there were the SCAD students (Savannah Col of Art & Design.. look it up). You never knew what they liked... that week.
Annnnndddd the rednecks. We simply disappointed them by not trying. No one in the group gave a rats arse about country music anyway.

We seldom ever attempted anything by Led Zep or the fellas.
Why bother?

[Markus Awreallyus]

(03-04-2012 05:41 PM)Mufasa Wrote:  Savannah crowd was a tough one. On one hand, you had the Southern rock group: Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd (no-we never played Freebird...), Blackfoot, 38 Special, Creedence, Marshal Tucker, Allman Bros, ZZ Top, etc...
Classic artists; Neil Young, Clapton, Grand Funk... anything that we liked, really.

Then there were the SCAD students (Savannah Col of Art & Design.. look it up). You never knew what they liked... that week.
Annnnndddd the rednecks. We simply disappointed them by not trying. No one in the group gave a rats arse about country music anyway.

We seldom ever attempted anything by Led Zep or the fellas.
Why bother?

How long ago was this?

[Mufasa]

My last group ended in 93' I believe. I was in bands nearly all of my life. My mom owned a bar/ restaurant that literally sat on a branch of a deep water access river near Isle of Hope. I actually started on piano, then played trumpet two years in school.
Then that drummer thing happened and it was all over.
I was playing and making money by age twelve. I learned very early on about all of the drama and crap that accompanies being in a band. Adults are so stupid!
Toured up and down the east coast for a long time, but stayed close to home. Savannah is a great place to be a musician... so many venues and cool places to perform. Hated nearly everything about about being in a band except when I was on stage.
I think you guys saw a short video of me in The Gary Apple Band in 91'(?) in City Market / Savannah.
That is what "truly happy" looked like.

[Scythe Matters]

Okay, now I'm way out of my league!

So, you guys know that I picked up the guitar again a few months after I saw the Boyz on 8/7/2010. I had played as a teen but I didn't have a good guitar and got frustrated. Hearing Lerxst's and Steve Howe's stuff didn't help my confidence. So I did a really stupid thing and stopped playing. So after the TM show (and I won't go into the whys and wherefores here) I started doing things again and decided to pick the guitar back up. We have a few because Ren Man and his BIL both play, so I grabbed an old Suzuki and started trying to learn some of the Canadian Polka music. I was doing okay but getting a bit frustrated again. Then Ren Man got me my beautiful Luna Dolphin, which had been set to have a softer action and was made for my smaller hands. I learned a few songs on it and would pick at RM's Epi335 when I wanted to try electric. Then, for our 30th anniversary, he got me an Epi LP Black Beauty (it looks like an Anniv. LP that was stolen long ago). Now I go back and forth between the two. I have a nice Crate amp here in the den and a huge H&K in the studio (such a deal, we got!). For Yule, I got an effects unit. I think I'm set now

We were talking in another thread about how hard the Canadian Polka music is and that playing sections/bits/pieces is the norm when learning it. There are a few songs that are comparatively easy, and others that have less hard sections. Presto, in particular, swings back and forth between "I can do that" to "WTH? - ow!" It's a huge sense of accomplishment to be able to play any of the songs all the way through. You players who can already do that know what I mean. Having the tabs is a huge help for me (once I figured out how to read them) and I recommend them.

So, anyway... I keep bashing away at the Canadian Folk music. It's interesting - now that I can play some of that, most other stuff seems pretty easy

[Markus Awreallyus]

The Gary Apple Band/ I don't recall a video and why wasn't I informed
Similarly I played coronet through school after trying french horn, trombone and suzzaphone. During study halls instead of studying I went to the band room and tinkered around on the drumset in the practice room and the bass guitar. I learned how to play I Just Wanna Make by Foghat and found that I liked the bass. Believe it or not Skythee I was starting to listen to this Candian trio, IDK some album with a big bird and a song about two dogs fighting. Once I learned a bunch of that I was the new kid on the block Seems things got easier (learning-wise) from there.
As far as fun in the band Muffy, when I was young nothing much mattered more then getting the girl. Through the years I spent a lot of time weeding out people that just pissed me off (incuding myself) then eventually (30 years later, ha!) landed on some guys that (from the words of one very talented, high pitched kick-ass bass player) "liked to rock in the same fashion." Now, In todays world, the extra kick of cash on the weekends is a plus. I am having fun playing. Both on stage (if you call them that) and at home. I think some day I'm gonna be a rock star!

[Mufasa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j-JR1s5l...FvBD_SJkWa
As Boomer said: "Fear the mullet!" These were all aerospace techs except Billy, who was a HVAC specialist.

City Market / Savannah. All-time favorite place to play. Part of the Victorian District, and the center of all things cool nightlife in Savannah.
http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/unite...d-6178603/

The crowd was transient - changing all the time. Look up one minute and a group of Army Rangers would be hammering out air guitar along with the band. A few minutes later, a group of Japanese tourists would be blasting you with photographs. Later, the "vampires" (SCAD students) would appear, all pasty-skinned and dressed in black, silently drinking whatever the hell that glowing crap was in their designer cups.
That was an amazing time in my life. Chock full of giddy, snorting-in-my-beer laughter, as well as tremendous heartbreak and trial by fire. I would not trade a moment.

[Markus Awreallyus]

Nicely done, and a nice tribute to your friend, one can tell he meant a lot to you. Were you refering to the song Can't Find My Way Home? Love that last tune whats that one called? Another day another dollar? Mountain Song?
I would love to hear some more non-band band stories. Savannah down by the water....! Yeah man! Anybody?
Thanks for posting.

[MAL_ONE]

The guys that I am currently playing with (now I know that that doesn't
sound quite right, but it ain't like that.) have taken on the simple, but
classic song Sister Golden Hair. We have recently added Free Ride to the
set list also. We are trying to go for songs everyone knows, but one's that
they haven't heard "too" much from a cover band.

[Markus Awreallyus]

(03-05-2012 11:17 AM)MAL_ONE Wrote:  The guys that I am currently playing with (now I know that that doesn't
sound quite right, but it ain't like that.) have taken on the simple, but
classic song Sister Golden Hair. We have recently added Free Ride to the
set list also. We are trying to go for songs everyone knows, but one's that
they haven't heard "too" much from a cover band.

Love America/n style, they still play around a bit here in the great north.
Edgar! Wow! That reminds me of back in the days when we were poppin..
................................................................................​........what was I sayin? My mind went blank there for a minute