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Yikes, what did I get myself into?

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sunvalleylaw

sunvalleylaw

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The rhythm guitarist and lead vocal (Brian Carney) pictured in the vid at the link below (from the early 90's) invited me to join him and the keyboardist and other vocalist (Johnny Valenzela) and a bass player in a regular jam.

[video=facebook;1443097202081]http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1443097202081[/video]
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1443097202081

These are the guys that put on the Dark Side of the Moon album concert this last summer in Hailey. http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=16125 They are looking for someone to add some fills, leads, lines and basically "ear candy" as Brian put it. They are playing acoustic instruments, but he said I could play electric as long as it fits the vibe. He covers rhythm, but said as I get comfortable, I could add some additional rhythm if it fit. If it goes somewhere, we might perform.

He suggested this song to get the vibe they are going for.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0rG2ME4sAc

The songs he suggested I familiarize myself with include

"Goodbye Blue Sky" Pink Floyd
"Into the mystic" and "Wild Night" Van Morrison
"Norwegian Wood" if I get to it, by the Beatles.

We have talked guitar, and I have mentioned I enjoy messing with short fills and melody based lead stuff. I also told him, and he knows, I am pretty much a newbie type. Still, I feel I may have jumped into water over my head. He told me it was very loose and casual at this point, and that he was inviting me because I did not have pre-conceived notions. They have no firm plans at the moment, but it may go somewhere if it were to work out. Their prior lead guitarist would just get drunk and **** around horribly.

I talked this over with Spud, and I am going to put on these songs and listen, and hear some fills I could fill space with, and get ready to listen and underplay at first, to just get the feel.

Anyway, in I go. The water is just fine. Time to start swimming! :thumbsup
 
Last edited:
Yikes, what did I get myself into?

sunvalleylaw said:
Anyway, in I go. The water is just fine. Time to start swimming! :thumbsup
Click to expand...


There, you've answered your own question. You'll be fine, Steve. ;)
Have fun!!!:thumbsup :thumbsup
 
Awesome SVL! I am big proponent of the "sink or swim" method. Sounds like your position will offer lots of opportunity to explore creatively without having the pressure of having to carry the gig. I think your playing will grow exponentially in this environment! Good luck, and most of all RELAX AND HAVE FUN!!
:dance
 
As evidenced by the following statement, I believe you have the right approach...

sunvalleyaw said:
d I am going to put on these songs and listen, and hear some fills I could fill space with, and get ready to listen and underplay at first, to just get the feel.
Click to expand...

I think you'll do fine Steve. I'm interested in hearing updates about how it goes for you. I'm glad for you to get this opportunity.

I know how you feel as I too am about to take the sink or swim plunge. I was just asked by friends to play solo at their wedding which is at the end of February. I'm working on an original composition. That part is coming along rather well, but the playing in front of people part, that's going to be an adventure for me. I have never played in front of people before other than jamming at parties where there were other people who weren't really paying attention. This will be something very different for me, but it's a step I need to take.
 
Thanks guys. Yeah, R_of_G, I know what you mean. I have played in front of people before with my student band that used to exist before the young guys moved away to college. But actually, this free forming, just go with it, jam with accomplished musicians makes me a bit more nervous. With the student band, I could learn my part, as everyone did, and we were basically all in the same place. This will take more adaptation on the fly, and I will be playing with guys who have done that together for years.

If I relax, use the KISS method, and go from there, hopefully it will all work out.
 
Sounds like a great way to learn and have some fun to me. This is sorta what I did when I was teaching myself mandolin (very much still an ongoing process). Some folks I didn't know were looking for a mandolin player, and I was upfront about being a noob, and just went and jammed with them. It turned out I sorta knew their drummer, but at any rate see if it clicks in your case, and if so run with it. I've probably played a dozen or so gigs with the hippie band in my case. Had a ton of fun.

Break a leg!
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Thanks guys. Yeah, R_of_G, I know what you mean. I have played in front of people before with my student band that used to exist before the young guys moved away to college. But actually, this free forming, just go with it, jam with accomplished musicians makes me a bit more nervous. With the student band, I could learn my part, as everyone did, and we were basically all in the same place. This will take more adaptation on the fly, and I will be playing with guys who have done that together for years.
Click to expand...

I've played with a bunch of different people in all kinds of variations of instrument combinations in party settings and often some more accomplished local musicians here would be part of it and I would often get intimidated playing with them even though they were mostly friends of mine who were familiar with my skillset. Sometimes I'd get past it, sometimes not.

I suppose on the plus side, at least for my situation, I'm playing solo, a comfotable place stylistically. It's also my first complete original composition which makes a solo performance easier as I don't have to teach it to anyone else.

sunvalleylaw said:
If I relax, use the KISS method, and go from there, hopefully it will all work out.
Click to expand...

Simplicity rules. Frisell is a huge influence on the piece I'm writing for this. His advice seems most often to be to keep it lyrical and centered on a strong melody which he finds endless ways to phrase.

I'm still not clear on exactly how long I'll be playing so I'm practicing my phrasing to give myself a wide enough pallette depending on how long I have to stretch it.

I wish you the best with it Steve. Your varied tastes in music will serve you well.
 
The Deamon's are comming to get ya Sun,Hahahahahahahaha!Now tell 'em to take a flying leap cause you don't care your gunna have fun!Sumi:D
 
Well, I think you should really try to make an impression on them. Show up in some very tight polka-dot spandex trousers. Make every fill count--get in as many notes as possible. Put some fake blood tablets in your mouth before the first song and bite into them right before you come in. That will let them know the caliber of person they are dealing with.
 
marnold said:
Well, I think you should really try to make an impression on them. Show up in some very tight polka-dot spandex trousers. Make every fill count--get in as many notes as possible. Put some fake blood tablets in your mouth before the first song and bite into them right before you come in. That will let them know the caliber of person they are dealing with.
Click to expand...

Don't forget to somehow include fire.
Breathe fire.
Set the guitar on fire.
Catch fire.
People love fire.
Fire. Fire. Fire.
:beavisnbutthead:
 
Yeah, I'll get all Hendrixy and grab Brian's nice older Taylor he will be playing and light that thing on fire. (after all, I don't want to burn my own. . .).
 
I think I am starting there, as it is primarily an earthy, acoustic vibe they are going for. If you check the vid of them above, their lead guy for their electric band back in the day had a nice strat tone, but I think I will start with the Hagstrom. Once I get my tele, I might try that out too.

Brian still plays that same Rick for electric gigs. It is the one my son decided he liked. Sometimes he plays a tele too.
 
marnold said:
Well, I think you should really try to make an impression on them. Show up in some very tight polka-dot spandex trousers. Make every fill count--get in as many notes as possible. Put some fake blood tablets in your mouth before the first song and bite into them right before you come in. That will let them know the caliber of person they are dealing with.
Click to expand...

Dude! That is so my schtick.
 
It's official, the vid of their old band Stonewheat I linked above that you facebookers can look at contains one additional song we will be doing. The lead guitar has a number of repeating phrases that I hope and think I can get my fingers around, and I can get something going for when he solos over time. I am curious what any of you think of that song if you happen to watch.
 
Ok, tomorrow night is the night. It was postponed one week. I have used the time that I have had do play along with the songs we discussed. I have been trying to find some phrases that fit the songs. Some of the songs I have some lines kind of down (some of that Sun May Shine song I linked the vid to for example), some I know where I want to play and which tones I want to focus on, and some are still a little bit hunt and peck. Into the Mystic for some reason is not comfortable yet.

But be that as it may, I am going to play through the songs again now (finally have some time tonight), and just go in and have fun. Listen a lot, less is more, etc. Brian says they may be bringing out some songs they have not even played in a long time from their old catalog, so there will be some just plain listening going on. Anyway, just wanted to check in on it! Here I go!
 
I think it went pretty well! I got asked back for next week, so that is good. I had a lot of fun, so that was good too. They liked my tones, both Hag and strat. But I think the Hag fits the vibe better overall for most of the songs. I got some good smiles for my improv on some of the songs that I had not heard, and my prep on their Sun May Shine song worked out well. On a few of the songs, I am just going to have to study and learn the key lines. The Van Morrison songs especially, and on Wish You Were Here. On those songs, the parts I thought I might play are covered by others, and they need me to play the recognizable lead lines.

Bottom line, it was a blast! :thumbsup:happy The improv on the fly and the study of the required lines are going to really help me take a few steps up on my playing too. A bunch of motivation just flowed in the door!
 
That all sounds great. I'm glad you came away encouraged and excited to do more. That's a good thing.:applause
 
Nothing improves your playing like jamming and bouncing ideas of other musicians. Glad it's working out for you SVL!
 
That sounds great! Keep us updated on how it goes (a pic or clip never hurts, either....:)............).
 
Good for you Steve! Glad you enjoyed it and are embracing the opportunity.
 

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