Non-band members that gig with you?

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DrummingGuitar

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Hey guys, my singer and I have been gigging as a duo, just me on guitar and singing harmony and she is singing. So we have a few festival gigs coming up and we want a full band, or at least a bassist and drummer. How do you go about getting people who occasionally gig with you, but not really part of the "band" (as in the writing process). We will be playing our originals, which we recorded with a session drummer and me playing bass. So the parts are already there, but we are not sure the legal aspect of it, do they have to sign some sort of contract?
 
Legal aspect?? Why the hell would you want to drag lawyers into a simple gig? If you have some musicians in mind, learn your tunes, play 'em. End of story.
 
I've played with a lot of musicians back in the day that weren't actual members of the band. One guy who played bass for us all the time and also in several other bands didn't want to actually join the band or write songs etc. He just wanted to play the gigs and get his cut out of the money we would make playing live. Not a lot of money, but I'm sure every little bit counts. Just make sure you let them know well in advance before every show so that they don't have any other commitments at the time of the show. Make sure they are dependable because A LOT of musicians are flakey as fuck and will leave you hanging at the last minute. One time we had to get some kid to play drums that we knew who never played with us before, but had heard our music a few times LOL. It wasn't the greatest, but he was eager to do a good job and the show must go on...
 
If you don't know a musician who would fit the bill, you can advertise various places like Craigslist (buyer beware and what not). You shouldn't need any legal documents; just make sure everyone on the same page about who's getting paid what and what is expected from everyone.
 
you find hired guns who do this for a living and pay them.
That's essentially what I've done for most of my living for 40+ years.
I do hired gun gigs a LOT more than I gig with any of the bands I regularly play with.
And a good one ( like me) will do his homework and quite possibly know your material better than you do.

For me I generally want a tape of the stuff a couple weeks in advance of the gig and I will attend one dress rehearsal ..... more for the band to feel comfortable with me than anything else since I do my homework and come extremely prepared.

And no, I've never had anyone request any signed release or anything and it would never occur to me to try and steal someone's music.
Depending on the gig I want anywhere from 100 to 200 bucks.
Most of the time I do, in fact, know and play the stuff better than the guys in the band do.
 
Thanks to the people whose responses were actually helpful. From the tone of the replies, I feel stupid for asking, but since I am new to this I thought I'd ask what the norm was.
 
Track Rat said:
Legal aspect?? Why the hell would you want to drag lawyers into a simple gig? If you have some musicians in mind, learn your tunes, play 'em. End of story.
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I never said I wanted to hire a lawyer, maybe I worded that wrong.
 
DrummingGuitar said:
Thanks to the people whose responses were actually helpful. From the tone of the replies, I feel stupid for asking, but since I am new to this I thought I'd ask what the norm was.
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you can't find out without asking and lots of musicians never have occassion to hire sidemen for their gigs. Some do but plenty don't so it's not a dumb question in my opinion.
It's really not a subject I see here very often.
 
Thank you, you have been very helpful. I tried looking before I asked the question and couldn't really find much so i'd thought I see what everyone had to say.
 
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