I got a Facebook message the other night from Shaun Crawford. He said he had a friend's band needing a bassist for a West Coast tour in late June. He's played with them and said they were pretty cool. He linked me some music and initially, though not something I might listen to on my own, the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me.
I'm trying to do more of the "get out of my comfort zone" type things, and potentially touring with dudes I don't know and music I've never played before is one of those things. Of course, the first thing I did was check in with my imaginary friends on TalkBass to see what they thought. I wrote:
A musical acquaintance of mine reached out to me yesterday about the possibility of subbing for him on his band's upcoming 9 date Northern CA tour in July. Here are some of my thoughts, in no particular order.
Networking opportunity. This guy that called me is pretty connected in the Seattle scene. He's in several up-and-coming bands. The reason he can't do it is because one of the up-and-coming bands is touring Spain for the second time in a year. To be on his radar is a positive sign.
Never toured before. In all my years of playing, I have stayed local, except for three there-and-backs trip to Oregon (Portland and Eugene), and one time in Los Angeles. This would be my first "real" tour, though I only know dates and towns so far, nothing else (assuming it's by car/van, however).
I'm available. I'm in 2 bands now and neither has shows booked, but I will triple check to avoid any conflict drama. I am also unemployed, so there are no work obligations, but I would need a computer and internet access to continue to look for/apply for jobs.
The music is good, but not my typical thing. I love rock, pop/rock, yacht rock (duh), stuff like that. This band's music is described as "psychedelic rock," which I don't agree with. I hear a lot of indie country (lap steel, horns, twangy guitar), but I don't dislike it; it's not necessarily something I'd seek out to listen to. That said, I have it playing now and I don't hate it. Despite not immediately clicking with the music, it's hip and I can see the yoots loving it with their twirly moustaches, sleeve tattoos and stovepipe jeans.
I don't know any of the band members. Outside of my friend who contacted me (who I think is a sub for them himself), I don't know them. But, if he's vouching for them, I think they'd be cool. I'm pretty easy to get along with as well, but 10-12 days in a van would definitely affect things, I think.
Speaking of road trips, I love the idea of them, I'm not a huge fan of the reality of them. From the schedule I saw, it's starting in San Francisco on 7/1 and ending in Arcata, CA on 7/11, 9 shows in total.
Moneywise, I would love to make some, but I think I'd be happy to just break even as this is more about the experience and exposure than the money.
Anyway, I'm gonna reach out to the BL for more details, let's see what happens.
For the most part, all the responders to my thread were positive and said I should do it. Long story short, after listening to the music, clearing it with Marci, and double checking to see about any conflicts, I got the OK and told Peter, the band leader, that I'm in.
As it turns out, Eric, from the Sunset Grooves, played drums with the band for a bit and vouched for the guys. I talked to Peter and he sounded like a cool dude. I think he and the other mates are in their mid-30s. He's toured the West Coast before, as well as taken the same band through the Midwest and back.
As mentioned above, for me, it's almost risk-free. About the only thing that could screw it up is if miraculously I get offered a job that starts during the time I'd be away and they wouldn't honor me being gone until early July. But I don't see that happening anytime soon; I have irons in the fire, but more people feeling me out than really being interested in hiring me, I think.
After talking to Peter, he wants me to learn 8 songs for now, with a total of around double that, as one or two shows will need two sets of material. I worked on 4 and am familiar enough with them now to feel comfortable. The music is not complex, but some of the basslines are complicated, if that makes sense. He sent over some Spotify links for the tunes, and also some isolated basslines. That works OK, but I'd prefer full mp3s to download and then manipulate in Moises.ai. Currently, I have to jump back and forth between Spotify and my media player and it's a bit clunky.
Additionally, the recordings on Spotify are really retro, sounding like they came from the '60s timeframe. Admittedly, the music is described as psychedelic rock and I guess it sort of is, but less experimental. That said, there is flute, glockenspiel and other non-rock instruments on the recordings. With all that variety, the bass is mixed pretty quietly and blandly in the recordings. The isolated bass sounds good, with a picked J with flats tone (think the bass tone to Drive My Car - Beatles), but I'm hoping he won't care if I play one of my L1Ks without a pick (for now). We'll see.
I'm keeping the band name out of things for the time being, until we get more down the road. Yes, I've accepted and he's confirmed, but it's still brand new and I haven't heard from him today at all, so it's sort of weird. I'd like to get the details and times and places but I won't rush it. I suppose I'll learn more when I meet the guys on Sunday and hopefully we all get along.
I messaged Faith S the other day, as she's traveled with Acid Tongue and is herself touring at age 50-ish. Her words to me a few weeks ago were, "If I don't do it now, I may never have the chance to do it again," or something like that. And I really took that to heart because, after all the years I've played music, I've never done something like this. And to have minimal input on the logistics and all that behind-the-scenes stuff? Shut up and play bass only? Yeah, I can do that.
The travel will be a grind, several hours each day in the van. Hopefully we have good (well, not bad) lodging and bathrooms. Otherwise, I think I can manage. Maybe last year's traveling experience will come in handy for this. Though, packing for a nearly 14-day road trip will be an interesting challenge. What about laundry? Showers? Do I bring a sleeping bag?
I'll be reaching out to Shaun and Faith for more tips and pointers, that's for sure. For now, I'll be practicing the other songs to get ready for Sunday and we'll see what happens after that.
