DrumDoug
Senior Member
Last night I filled in for a drummer friend of mine. His band got an early evening gig and he couldn't get off work in time to get there. I filled in for him another time a few months ago. The gig itself had a few quirks. They sent me a set list of about 60 songs and I only know 20 of them. He said they were only going to play for an hour. I asked if they could narrow down the set list a little bit but they said to be ready to play any of them. I ended up making charts for all the songs I didn't know. I figured it would help me in the future if I needed to fill in again. It was a political fundraiser and we were background music while everyone stood around and talked. I ended up playing brushes the whole night. Between the speeches and what not, we played about 10 songs. Overall it went pretty well.
This morning, the leader calls me and wants to know if I would be interested in being his full time drummer. He's not happy with how my friend plays and doesn't think the band can move forward with him playing. We talked for a little bit and I told him I would think about it.
Right now I play in two bands. A country band and a blues band. Between the two bands, Im playing almost every weekend. Both bands are decent, but I don't think either one has the ability to go very far. I would like to get better gigs, and while this new band does play some better places, I'm not sure it would be the right move. My current country band is a three piece and the new one is a six piece. They would have to be making more than twice as much money per gig for that to be any different. The new band wants a contract that they take priority even for last minute gigs. That means I would have to quit both my other bands.
Lately I have been complaining to my wife that I wish I was in better bands. I want to challenge myself to play better, but the current bands I'm in talk about how they are interested in going to the next level but don't want to change anything to get better. While the new band is a little better, I'm not sure they are enough better to justify moving from one local bar band to another. One thing that I really enjoy about being in two bands is that I get to play more of a variety of stuff. I'm also good friends with everyone in both my other bands. Do I want to give that up to play one style of music at a slightly higher level? I have been saying I want to be in a better band, but now that the opportunity has arrived, I'm hesitating. Am I scared of change, or is this move really not worth it? I would also feel really horrible for taking my friends gig when he called me to help him out. He's doesn't know it yet, but he's getting fired anyway. I don't know if that would make me feel any better.
This morning, the leader calls me and wants to know if I would be interested in being his full time drummer. He's not happy with how my friend plays and doesn't think the band can move forward with him playing. We talked for a little bit and I told him I would think about it.
Right now I play in two bands. A country band and a blues band. Between the two bands, Im playing almost every weekend. Both bands are decent, but I don't think either one has the ability to go very far. I would like to get better gigs, and while this new band does play some better places, I'm not sure it would be the right move. My current country band is a three piece and the new one is a six piece. They would have to be making more than twice as much money per gig for that to be any different. The new band wants a contract that they take priority even for last minute gigs. That means I would have to quit both my other bands.
Lately I have been complaining to my wife that I wish I was in better bands. I want to challenge myself to play better, but the current bands I'm in talk about how they are interested in going to the next level but don't want to change anything to get better. While the new band is a little better, I'm not sure they are enough better to justify moving from one local bar band to another. One thing that I really enjoy about being in two bands is that I get to play more of a variety of stuff. I'm also good friends with everyone in both my other bands. Do I want to give that up to play one style of music at a slightly higher level? I have been saying I want to be in a better band, but now that the opportunity has arrived, I'm hesitating. Am I scared of change, or is this move really not worth it? I would also feel really horrible for taking my friends gig when he called me to help him out. He's doesn't know it yet, but he's getting fired anyway. I don't know if that would make me feel any better.
