Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

There's probably a topic for this...somewhere...

Are you in a band/tribute band? If so, tell us a little about it.

If you are in a tribute band, which member of the band do you play?

I'm trying to get a band together. My friend Chris is on lead guitar, and I'm on rhythm guitar. We alternate between a lot of guitars. The majority of the time, I'm either on my Rickenbacker 660/12 or my Fender '62 RI Strat. Chris is on an Epiphone Les Paul and my Rickenbacker 660/12. We play a lot of Tom Petty, but will occasionally break into some Stones, Beatles and Animals tunes. All we need is a drummer, a keyboardist, a bassist and a FEMALE lead singer and we can get the ball rolling!

I'd like to put together a Blind Faith tribute band, but I think people would get burnt listening to the same 6 songs over and over.

I don't think have what it takes to be in a bona fide tribute band per se, mostly because I have a hard time playing other musicians' licks, or solos note for note. I always end up changing them, seemingly.

I've played in folk groups, old-timey string bands, and a short-lived bluegrass band. Now I'd like to plug in and see where I can take that.

JimK

My main gig is an instrumental trio which goes under the name of Doug Morrison. He's a badass.

Capricorn USA - THE Tribute to Motorhead - this is my tribute band.

I also plan on doing a one off GBH tribute show.

I don't care much for cover bands; tribute bands are much better generally.

TomPettyandHeartbreakersFan wrote:and a FEMALE lead singer and we can get the ball rolling!

No no no! You'll be violating one of Big Al's Band Rules!

My band right now is a rock cover band, called Shakedown.
http://www.myspace.com/shakedowndetroit
Good players and good guys to hang out with, if there is ever a problem it gets sorted real quick!
No rhythm guitar player to get in the way, gives me lots of room to roam!!

Unfortunately, I play in a cover band. Mostly lousy songs (except for a few good Beatle tunes and maybe a few others). Three sets/40 songs/5 hours a night. The pay/free beer is great though, so I can't complain too much! It also gets me gigging constantly, which has helped my bass playing and singing chops greatly.

Luckily, I have creative outlets too. I compose lots of choral and instrumental works, for varying instruments. I recently joined The Delay playing keyboards and doing auxilary percussion and drum parts. My own project (which is picking up speed finally) is The Jazz Funeral. And, of course, there's The Janglemen.

My "band" is called "Sheenaallbyherselfcausenobodywantstoplaywithher".

Skaface is my band.
Captain Sandwich is my solo stuff.

BTW, Skaface were interviewed by a guy from McGill University Radio before our gig last Friday. It will be broadcast/webcast tomorrow between 8pm and 10pm EST and available for podcast sometime after that at. So if you want to put a voice to the face and find out what's cool in ska music these days, give a listen.

A few friends wanted to start a band.

problem 1 : me and pat play guitar, alex plays drums...

solution : find a bassist

problem 2 : No bassist has really "gelled" with the band and the style of music

solution : Nick buys a Bass so we can play as trio

problem 3 : We both want to play guitar still though, come on!

solution : work out a "one set per instrument system

problem 4 : We're all so damn busy we never have time ti get together.... at all!!!!!!

solution : well.... we're s till working on that one!

Either way, the bands name is Monterey, and we play Beatles, and blues based music while pushing the Cream mentality of "forget the message, just play"

TomPettyandHeartbreakersFan wrote:...All we need is a drummer, a keyboardist, a bassist and a FEMALE lead singer and we can get the ball rolling!

alanz wrote:No no no! You'll be violating one of Big Al's Band Rules!

What if Jake & Chris found themselves three females who each sang along with playing the bass, keyboards, and drums; would that violate Big Al's Band Rules?

The name of the band I play bass in is bridgework. Our 1st show of 2008 is next week at the Doll Hut in Anaheim and our 1st cd will be back from the manufacturer in 2 weeks.

http://www.myspace.com/bridgeworkmusic

My bassist has decided to go solo for a while, so I'm finishing up our second CD with little help (he writes and sings half our stuff). I do have four songs by him completed, so it will appear to be a band effort.

Meanwhile, I'll foist our debut CD upon this forum again:

http://www.notlame.com/CDSHAMUS1.html

In all seriousness this time:

I have numerous projects that keep me playing regularly. Many involve folks who have been in the business for a number of years at the top level and a few I work with are locals that have steady gigs.

I'm starting a regular Tuesday night gig tonight with Mark Stevens, who was the keyboardist in Roomful of Blues for a number of years and spent time with Kim Wilson's Blues Review and James Harman. Our drummer is George Sheppard who has toured and recorded with folks as diverse as Dizzy Gillespie, Eric Johnson, Talking Heads, Jeff Beck, Oscar Peterson, Smokin' Joe Kubek & B'nois King and the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

George and I also work in another trio with bassist Bryan Smith who is a veteran of such Rockabilly groups as Billy Hancock & the Tennessee Rockets and Tex Rubinowitz & The Bad Boys and was with The Star Spangled Washboard Band back in the early '70s. The three of us work in yet another group that I front, PeeWee & The Primates, with keyboardist Tam Sullivan playing traditional New Orleans R&B, Gulf Coast and Texas Blues and some Memphis Soul. Tam is an incredible player and a masterful organist.

I also work with the 'Detriot Boogieman", Catfish Hodge. 'Fish has 25 recordings to his credit and gathered up the surviving members of Little Feat after the sudden death of Lowell George to form the group Chicken Legs in 1981 and later formed The Bluesbusters with Little Feat guitarist Paul Barrere in 1984. He also formed a group called The Hillbilly Funk Allstars with T. Lavitz, Little Feat's Kenny Gradney and Richie Hayward and legendary fiddler Vassar Clements in 1999. I've been in his current group, The Catfish Hodge Band since March 2001 and have enjoyed every moment.

When I'm not working with these people, I'm working as a freelance guitarist. Needless to say, I'm a pretty busy guy but nowhere near as busy as I'd like to be!

Sheena: Don't feel bad. Nobody wants to play with me either. A few months ago I attended a jam session for Rick players. Of course I took an Epiphone Casino just to be contrary. After listening to the other guys playing very nice covers of Beatles and Byrds tunes, I finally put my rampant stage fright aside (there was no audience) and agreed to sing and play 'She Said She Said'. There were no monitors for the PA, so I couldn't hear myself, but I didn't let that put me off. First I strummed through the chords to make sure everyone knew the song. I doubt anyone recognized my 'G' chord, because my fingering is a little odd and I like to add a string to make it ring. Then I set the gain on my little Marshall amp to 10, and turned up the treble. As the Casino started to squeal, I stepped up to the mic, counted "1, 2, 3" and launched into it. As the song broke down and fell apart after the bridge, I heard someone say, "That was so harsh...". Yes, I suppose it was harsh but that's the way I play it.