Throwback Thursday: How did you get into gigging?

[moon-bass]

I'm digging the stories!

I started playing bass on my 12th birthday. I was shy, awkward, and very poor as a kid. My older brother was playing in a band with some friends - they actually were "lip syncing" before they learned to play - and he had his friends come over for a jam session on my 12th birthday. Among other things, they brought over a Fender Bassman 20 combo amp (an all-tube beast that was way louder than it's 18 watts) and a Squire black-and-maple P bass. No one was playing bass, so I picked it up and was hooked from the first time that I plucked an "e" string.

I spent the next year and half teaching myself bass on my friend's bass. Within 6 months I was playing gigs - mostly school dances, but also parties and show's at friend's places.

After a year and a half of saving and begging, my parents finally bought me a bass - I had to agree to do the dishes for an entire year for my mom to agree to cover the balance, but I ended up with a brand new Squire P Bass - sunburst and rosewood with a white pickguard. Less than a month later I traded that for a used Fender Jazz Bass Special, and that became my only bass for about the next decade or so - and I still have it.

My high school days were filled with gigs - more dances, parties, etc. We had some local social clubs that would let us play - one place in particular would allows to invite our (underage) friends - he'd lock the doors and turn out all of the lights so that from the outside the place looked empty, but inside we'd all be playing and partying. Hell, the guy would send us away with jugs full of beer as partial payment.

At 15 I was playing in all sorts of bars and clubs, lying about my age to get in. By 16, we were getting some notoriety as a great metal band and we opened up for a few national acts that came into town. Unfortunately the next year I was fired as I missed a gig to go on a family vacation (side note: a month later they called me and asked me to come back).

I started studio work around 15 and have done lots of recordings with various bands over the years. Studio work was never my passion though.

I played in a number of different bands throughout HS and did a lot of fill in work as well. Went off to college, dropped out, tried to make it a go at doing music full time, got some serious label interest at one point, but that fizzled ... after I decided that I didn't really care for ramen noodles all the time I found a "real" job in IT (that has led me to a rewarding career) and have been a weekend warrior ever since.

At a point I was juggling 8 different bands at a time and I've always been great as a sub and for last call gigs. When grunge broke, one band was the biggest grunge band in the area. Another band got serious label interest, but that fizzled as well (after A LOT of time and money in the studio) ... I played a ton of biker bars and HUGE bike rallys, opened up for more national acts and eventually moved again to the west coats.

At my ex-wife's insistence I started playing for church bands (lots and lots of stories there) - one of them would be considered a mega church - HUGE audiences! I kept playing in a bunch of bands, including jam/improve bands (played with some well known folks in those bands as well) and eventually got into the Corporate and Wedding Scene, which at the time was VERY lucrative.

I got a divorce and moved again, and music unfortunately took a back seat to my suddenly very busy job. I had just started ramping up again when COVID hit ..

 

[jimmydean]

Took my second year of college off and my neighbor needed a bassist who he knew didn't drink or smoke and could count on not to be late for gigs and liked to practice . Played great venues and got to jam with a couple of people who are in the RRHOF . I know he could have chosen a better player , but he stuck with me for 18 months .

 

[Wesley R]

Great story, and I mean great. You applied yourself and did well. Congrats

 

[DCErik]

I started playing at age 12, in '79, and in the Summer of '80 I answered an ad at the local music shop (Zavarella's) for a bass player. The guys were a couple of years older, and lived out in Rockville at the bitter end of the Metro Red Line. I'd haul my Kay bass and Stage 15 15" cabinet and 15w head onto a bus, to the Metro, change trains, and catch a RideOn bus in Rockville to the guitar player's house. Took hours. We learned some Cream and Kinks covers and signed up for the DC101 Battle of the Bands scheduled for August.
On the big day one of the dads with a van picked us all up and drove us down to Manassas where the other two bands were already set up in a mattress store parking lot. These were obviously working bands of guys in their 20s with full PA, lights, etc., and we were a pretty shell-shocked as we loaded our puny practice gear out of the van.
The 2nd band took pity on us, and said we could use their amps and PA for our set (obviously we were no threat) but mysteriously all of their microphones were broken once they learned that the lead singer was black. So we turned way, way down so Victor could sing over the instruments, and had, IIRC, a pretty decent show. Placed 3rd (out of three)!

 

[turf3]

Senior year of high school I joined a kid band, specializing in Chicago and rock hits of the time.

We started gigging the summer after I graduated.

Freshman year of college I answered an ad from a fellow student starting a band. We founded a band and I rode that for the next few years.

When I got out of school one of the guys that was in the kid band in high school started a band - a dance band - and we played all round town for several years. I was also in a rehearsal big-band at that time - when a guy in town wanted to start a show band he called the director of the rehearsal band. The show band never went anywhere but another sax player on that band started his own big band a couple years later and called me for the sax section - just as the great Swing Dance Scare of the 80s ramped up.

 

[mambo4]

As young Gen X dude out of college,
I was in a buddy's thrash metal band that never made it out of the basement

After rehearsals we'd hit a local university bar
The bartender, it turns out, was veteran of the local music scene, ( never mad it big)
He was fronting a 'joke' lounge band with punk rock kid who happened to be a great pianist.
He learned I was bassist who could actually follow a chart, so asked me to join.
We played sloppy Dean Martin, Johnny Mercer, Sinatra covers and similar tongue in cheek originals
( We had a song "Daiquiri Time" where the keyboardist dropped out, whipped out a blender made Daiquiris for the audience)

It was a couple OG musicians who could book gigs, flanked by horn players and a rhythm section my age.
They became the seeds of my musical network, I was one of their "I know a bass player" guys.
It lead to some wonderful gigs and recordings for 20 years

I've since moved to a new region for day job reasons,
nobody calls me for the gigs any more,
but I have more of a life than just bass gigs, so no complaints

 

[MrClassicMetal]

I'd also played bass in the 80's so it wasn't new to me. I also realized that bands in 2010 still had the same problem: unlimited supply of capable shredders, but strong bassists were hard to find. Bingo! I answered an ad in craigslist and joined a band. I wasn't focused on gigging, I just wanted to hang out with some fellow musicians and play tunes. But as luck would have it, I fell in with a very talented and ambitious group of players, and we fit perfectly from a professional and personal level.

Yeah, that sounds familiar. I remember an article in Guitar World magazine about the LA metal scene in the 80s, and how bands from other parts of the US would go there with high hopes of making it. A guitarist mentioned all the typical problems those bands usually encountered. One being that if your bassist was halfway decent, a more established band might steal him from you.

 

[pfschim]

My Dad was a working pro bass (and low brass) player in Chicago. I saw him go off to gigs from the time I was a young child. Friends of my parents would party at our house from time to time and they would often end up jamming ... mostly jazz. So the idea of gigging was not a mystery to me.

Started playing piano when I was 5, got to choose an additional instrument (bass) when I was 6. I played in grade school orchestras and then middle school. In middle school I hooked up with a guitar playing, song writing friend and we started a 4 piece band when I was in 7th grade that did covers ( I remember stuff like Pictures Of Match Stick Men and You Really Got Me) and some of the guys originals.

The band was not particularly great but we had a great intro to gigging. The front man's highschool age brother was also in a band and he let us do sets in between his bands sets. We played our first gig at a Lions Club "teen dance" when I was in 7th grade (12 years old). I gigged all through highschool and sent myself to college that way as well. After college, I went full time for about 5 years in a club circuit band based out of Chicago. 15 or so clubs in that "circuit" and we played 5-6 nights/week, 50 weeks a year. I got kind of burned out on that and moved to doing local Chicago "casuals" (weddings, restaurants, events, small club jazz/blues etc) and trying to break into the fairly robust studio scene there in the mid-late 70's.

Been gigging a long time and I still find it (mostly) enjoyable.

 

[spiritbass]

I traded my trombone to 'the other bass player' in my small town for a Kingston violin bass that was just good enough to learn on. My uncle taught me walking bass lines on his '63 P and Fender Bassman. I learned songs by playing along with vinyl records through a very janky solid state, open-back amp. After I invested in a 3-15 Kustom 200 amp, I was immediately invited to join a band. Things got more interesting after that.

 

[Killing Floor]

Started playing in bands in 7th grade and gigging was always the first goal.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

I woke up a little nostalgic today… thinking about how I got started into music… specifically bass guitar.

My first real bass gig was in college. I toured with a band that promoted the school. It was all reading music and it was tight. The MD knew how to arrange.

After college, I did a lot of playing in church. I built my chops playing gospel music. That was an invaluable experience because it taught me to listen. The changes came so fast I had to stay alert with ears open. Plus it opened doors for me to play with some national acts, in those circles.

The first time I got asked to play in a non-church setting (I had only been playing bass for a few years), I was auditioning for a local oldies band. They brought me up & said, “Let’s play something easy” and started in with ‘Sweet Home Chicago’. I didn’t know the tune. I was young and it was embarrassing.

I didn’t get the gig.

So I ran back to my safe space of playing in churches, where I knew the songs and felt very comfortable. It got boring and I quit for about 10 years. I spent most of that time in a studio; writing, arranging and doing sessions. Thats where I learned structure.

One day, I got a call from the bandleader of the areas most notable jazzy jam band. He needed a bassist that weekend. Could I sub? I missed playing out, so without hesitation, I said yes.

I had 3 days to learn 40 tunes. Yikes! Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Boz Skaggs, John Scofield, a bunch of jazz standards… I got thrown in the deep end. And I must admit, I kind of loved it.

Vowing to never repeat the oldies band audition, I took a couple of days off work and spent every waking minute charting, playing, listening & reviewing these tunes… full immersion into that setlist. And 3-days later, between charts on my iPad, rote memorization, and my old gospel listening skills, I showed up at the gig ready to go.

The guys in the band were so generous. The drummer and I locked in almost immediately. The keyboard player was also from a gospel background. He would yell out chords or numbers when I gave him the look. The BL was the guitarist and was super supportive… he kept telling me to play more! That was amazing. It was a really fun night. I’ve gotten the callback on that gig, so that means I did something right.

What I didn’t anticipate was when I got a call from an entirely different band. They did a bunch of originals but also some jazzy/jammy covers. It was an easier gig because I had now had a repertoire. I knew many of the tunes. Without realizing it, I had begun building an internal catalog. Plus, I had developed a way to quickly chart the tunes I didn’t know. I still play with those guys. We gig 4-6 times a year and it’s great!

I don’t gig as regularly as some of you. I run a business, so time only allows me those occasional gigs and a sub here & there. So it’s imperative that I never stop learning tunes to keep me current. When I practice bass, that’s typically a large part of what I focus on. I have found that learning tunes automatically helps with chops and technique, because they go hand in hand. But more importantly, it keeps me ready for those days when the phone rings and someone is in a pinch.

Looking back, I realize the importance of each musical experience. Reading, charting, listening, study, and having a catalog of tunes all come together to make a passable musician.

What’s been your experience? How did you get to where you are today?

Our beloved dear leader, Kevin Rudd, gave out $900 to the population in a vote bribing exercise in 2007?

Whilst the reactionary minded complained about how wasteful it was to give away money like this saying they'll only spend it on sex drugs and Rock n Roll, it didn't stop them from hiking up their prices to "get their slice of the pie".

So, out of the publicly allotted 3 choices, I chose Rock n Roll.
I went out and bought myself a new Ibanez bass guitar, secondhand bass rig and within 24 hrs, I was drafted into a band playing Pink Floyd and Doors.
3 weeks later, I played my first gig at the guitarists 50th birthday in front of 250 people.
Now, ironically, the same reactionary minded people pay me to play Rock n Roll.
Think I'll hike my prices up out of spite...
Wasteful? I think not.

 

[rodl2005]

I was drawn to bass. Just had to do it.

But, girls, were a big part of it. It WAS the '70s

 

[2saddleslab]

Worked for a guy back in 1986 who was having a 4th of July block party at his house. Since I "played" [a real stretch at the time] bass and had a band [another real stretch at the time] he told [he didn't ask] my band to play. We had to fire the drummer [we learned early] a few days before so told my boss we couldn't play the block party. Boss said if you want to keep your job the band will play.

My geetar player knew of a drummer, who we met that afternoon, played the 4th of July party [performing Pink Cadillac 4 times], and been playing consistently ever since. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

 

[Esteban Garcia]

Church gigs (classical) as a high school sophomore, which is funny cuz I'm a lifelong atheist.

Then bar gigs (rock and roll) as a high school senior, and then weekend warrior touring on the Midwest college circuit as a young adult.

Then a mix of weddings, festivals, anniversaries and quinceañeras with a tejano band a classical chamber ensemble in my late 20s before hanging it up to raise a family.

In my dotage I find myself back in churches, which is funny cuz ...

 

[tb-player]

Church gigs (classical) as a high school sophomore, which is funny cuz I'm a lifelong atheist.

Then bar gigs (rock and roll) as a high school senior, and then weekend warrior touring on the Midwest college circuit as a young adult.

Then a mix of weddings, festivals, anniversaries and quinceañeras with a tejano band a classical chamber ensemble in my late 20s before hanging it up to raise a family.

In my dotage I find myself back in churches, which is funny cuz ...

You should hang out in the Atheist Bass Players Club in the Lobby. It gets interesting.

 

[Ignatius]

Started playing guitar in church when I was 14. Got into my 1st band when I was 15. At one of our very few gigs, the drummer passed out drunk at the start of the 3rd set. The bassist, who also played drums, handed me his bass. I had no idea what to do. He told me that it is tuned just like a guitar, but just play the lowest note of each chord. (I know, I know.....)

Turned out bass was fun to play! In college I played in bands that always had a bass player flaking out, getting arrested, that sort of stuff. Out of frustration I bought a used no-name bass. I had a Traynor Bass Mate that was my guitar amp. Then I started to learn how to play _bass_, not low-pitched guitar. Played in bands, at church, in theater pit bands.

After a long time off for marriage, career, kids,I got into an original band about 10 years ago. Life got in the way and now I play bass, mando and steel guitar in a classic rock cover band.

Gigging, in one way or another, was always the goal.

 

[hrodbert696]

I guess I'm a late bloomer to gigging. I had a bass as a teenager, but my main creative outlet was theater. I noodled on the bass, left off, and then when it got stolen (I was maybe 21 or 22) I didn't bother replacing it. Fast-forward to my late 30s, I'm a dad and the kids are growing and I get the itch to learn bass again. Bought one off CL. After a few months of self-teaching and playing along to CDs I get bored and look for people to jam with. Found a group of guys and jammed for a year. We only ever played out one open mic, but that basically broke up because the drummer and I started wanting to get out and play a gig. This is maybe 2010 or so and I'm pushing 40 at the time.

After that it was a lot of trawling CL looking for groups, a lot of going-nowhere things, another open mic or two. Probably about 2011 or 2012 I get in with a cover band and actually get my first paid gig. We played maybe a dozen or so more down to 2013, when I quit the band (I'll not tell the whole story about that here) and relocated an hour away. There were a few more bands, mostly covers and a couple originals projects, I think it's probably about 2017 or 2018 I settle into the groups in my sig that have been pretty enduring, regularly gigging outfits down to the present.

 

[DirtDog]

Joined a band as a drummer in 1984. Started gigging. By 1999, was gigging regularly as a bass player with short stints on guitar. Did that until 2018, retired from regular gigging.

 

[Jefenator]

I always had some knack for playing music. (Basically perfect pitch + ADHD.) It took quite a while to find the right setting, though.
Early piano & cello lessons didn't take, and my elementary school teacher was my very least favorite. I actually took middle school & high school off, figuring band was for square even for nerdy me!
I got back in by jamming with a friend in college. I asked my dad for $100 to buy a used bass. Dad declined, so I scraped up my own cash & bought it anyway. I had some pretty disastrous early shows, but somehow just instinctively kept at it.
My attempts at becoming the next Jaco or co-founding the next Red Hot Chili Peppers didn't pan out. It took a 2 year jazz program to finally jump start something resembling a performance career.
I wonder what Mrs Harriford would think if she could see her least motivated pupil, now playing music for a living. (Just goes to show, it takes all kinds.)

 

[JKovax]

My first band gig was like something out of a sitcom. I had started learning to play "bass" on the lower strings of a borrowed acoustic guitar, during the summer before my senior year of high school (a very late start). I wasn't allowed to restring the guitar (I'm a lefty, the guitar wasn't), so I learned to play an upside-down instrument.

After about 6 months of haphazard self-teaching (every teacher I talked to insisted that I learn to play right-handed), some guys in the class behind me asked me to get together to form a band, using their cheap Japanese bass. I showed up at their house, and we loaded up everything into a van to where they were going to practice, or so I thought. Turns out, their drunkard uncle had booked them into a bar for a gig, despite the band not knowing a single song (he took 50% of the money as our "agent", so I ended up with $10). Following that disaster, I wanted nothing further to do with that outfit.

A year later, with my own bass at last, I joined a working bar band, and it took about a year of playing before I really felt somewhat competent, still nowhere near "good". Did the local club circuit for the better part of a decade before joining an original progressive project, which imploded violently. I was so distressed that I gave up playing for over 30 years, and just started relearning about a year ago. Now I'm doing occasional open mic nights with a singer/guitarist while I rebuild the finger muscles and redevelop the necessary muscle memory.