Blueblooded Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Life has been real busy lately but want to share my recent experiences and some of what I think are good topics with you all... As the title says, I started a band. But it's not the typical story of a few friends getting together. It's a band with people from work to play at our summer picnic/charity fund raising event coming up in September... I work at a large company in the Detroit area in a division with about 600 employees divided into 6 departments. For 15 years we've been doing a yearly fund raiser where the main event was a pine car derby and the department that had the fastest car would take bragging rights. These are little cars you carve out of wood and race down a track against each other. Each year we raise about $50k for a local charity. But folks have gotten bored with the car race so I proposed to solicit for musicians from each department to form individual bands and have a battle of the bands. The committee agreed so about 6 weeks ago I solicited for musicians, sound support, roadies, even groupies! I ended up with a fair response and in the end, we have one large core band and two smaller bands to represent 3 of the 6 departments. The smaller bands will borrow a drummer and other support as needed from the large band (which lucky for me, is my department). Anyway, In a short time, a lot has happened and I have a few discussion topics I'll launch including working with different talent levels, observations of my 4 different Gibsons I've taken to practices, playing with others that use (IMO) a lot of gain. and how playing with others has improved my playing. I hope to generate some good discussion from all this, get some ideas from you all, and have fun with it in general. Will post a new topic in a day or so. Please share your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Sounds like fun... So how have practices been? What is the mindset like for a "band" that came together for a 1-time deal for this charity event... Are you still getting the self-indulgent drama that bands tend to generate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny V Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 I think everyone will have a lot of fun. It will probably be the best attended company fund raiser ever. If you are going for bragging rights, I would suggest that each band has a play list of several same songs, in addition to songs of their own choosing. Let the audience vote on their favorite band. A company that large will have a large diversity of musical tastes and talent. It should prove to be interesting. What guitar you use will be maybe dictated on the type of music you play. Jamming with other musicians will make you a better musician and you will pickup some new ideas. For several years I have hosted a once a month jam night, which has been working out well. I believe it has made me a better guitar player. Enjoy the journey and let us know how it turns out. Kenny V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 good luck with it, always great to play, especially if you have a specific date / deadline to shoot for. what kind of music ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueblooded Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks Guys. Yes, so far it has been a lot of fun. We started out practicing Thursday nights from 6:00-9:00 and have added Tuesday nights so we stay on task. Initially started with about six guitar players of varying talent, two bass players (one seasoned and one semi-beginner who's bucket list includes playing in a band in front of an audience - how cool is that?), one solid crazy loud exceptional drummer and two that played a long time ago that don't have drums but were interested. Since beginning, the solid drummer moved out of state so one of the othes is stepping up. It was a bit of a shock to loose that drummer, but the new guy is improving fast and we're getting better as a whole. Not to mention that two of the guitarists are also playing drums on a few songs. So, it seems we all really like classic rock from Alice Cooper all the way to ZZ Top. Our list includes thins like Funk 49, Boys are Back in Town, Jenny (867-5309, Tom Petty and Bryan Adams stuff all the way to Wheezer (say it ain't so), and FOO Fighters. We're going to get the department managers involved for some of the money raising stuff, and probably auction off opportunities for our workmates to join the band - maybe play tamborines or cowbells or even smash an old junk guitar for a price. So, Jimi, I think the mindset is that it doesn't have to end. If we want to continue after the event, as a jam once in a while or something more, we may do it. Folks have been decent in stepping out of songs that someone else may feel strongly they want to play. Two to three guitars on any one song and we've got a matrix built with who's on what songs built to keep us straight. We'll just rotate on and off for the songs we're on. Doing all this on the big day may be difficult though... We'll get by. No real drama really - mostly fun. Gotta go set up the conference room and get the drums and PA in there for tonight. Will start the next topic about how I find my different Guitar's do playing in a loud and live practice setting with others. I have learned a lot about some features I never thought I would use. It's a lot different than when just noodling around at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 First-off a big Congrats on the idea. Kudos! Second-off another big Congrats on getting the idea past a 'working stage'. More Kudos! You seem to be well structured in many spheres so I won't interfere. One great thing about the project is that everyone will all be out with the intention of having a fun time - no-one will attend in a 'critical' mind - so it should be pretty straightforward to have a very happy and fruitful time. I look forward to reading about the progress on several fronts! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellen Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Very cool, this is good forum stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Yeah man.. nice one.. sounds like a fun and interesting thing to do, and all for a good cause too boot Let us know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoya Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 It's great to have a band project! In addition to your thread, be sure to visually document your progress. Even if it's phone video snippets. Post them here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Very cool, this is good forum stuff Yep! What he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 That's a very cool idea. Ya might never know that the old guy you've worked with for years blows a mean harp or whatever - and a lot of quiet people who wouldn't get the chance to express themselves at work could get right into it too. Should be a great event. Keen to hear what you come up with in the band! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 That's a very cool idea. It is a very cool idea! I would love to do something like that at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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