Playing for the Guv'na

  • Thread starter Thread starter DigitalDon
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DigitalDon

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My son's band played a small out-of-town restaurant in a nearby town last week. The band set up in an outside courtyard and, of course, it started raining an hour before play time. Anyhow, we quickly moved everything inside and played the gig. Nobody complained and even the employees and owners jumped in to help. We all had a fantastic time.

I guess the band made a very good impression because the manager called to see if we would play again next week. Only this time it's for the governer of our state. I'm not saying this could lead to anything but contacts are the name of the game in this business.

The point I'm trying to make is you never know who knows who no matter where you play. This place probably can't seat more than 40 people inside but it appears to have made a good contact. No matter how bad a gig may start just stay professional, smile because you really mean it and remember you're there to show the folks a good time.

Keep your fingers crossed for us :D

DD
 
man that sounds great ..!
what kind of music do they play??..


good luck
jamal
 
Damn....guess I better get that cd out the door pretty quick! Sorry dude, I almost forgot!


bd
 
Jamal - They play country. Contemporary, not the twangy stuff.

bd - I'm still watching for it. I think I caught the flu standing out in the rain waiting for the mailman :D :D I'd still like to hear whatcha got.

Gotta tell a quick story about that gig last week. About half way through the gig this girl comes in (ahem ... woman, all woman). Keep in mind my son is only 20. She likes what she hears (and sees) and struts up to about 5 feet in front of him while he's singing. Next thing you know she's gyrating and rubbing all over herself. Damn I thought she was gonna strip. And limber. I bet she could bend over backwards and touch her head on the floor. Anyhow he has a front row seat to her show. Really messed the boys head up. He dropped the mic and almost fell into the drums! The rest of the band (all "seasoned" musicians) were laughing so hard they could hardly play. A couple of songs later she was back at it again. He lost his place twice during that song. Funniest thing I've ever seen. The whole place was roaring over it. After that a friend of ours ran out to her car (in the rain) and got her video camera. She got some good footage but damn I wish I had footage of my sons reaction. Could have won $10,000 on Funniest Home Videos. Yeah we had a blast!!

DD
 
Well, the gig was last night. The guv'na was a no show but it was understandable since we had a really bad tornado locally. 6 people killed and over 100 injured. It was really a mess. He spent the afternoon visiting the area.

The gig. We all had a blast. More cajun food than you could shake a stick at. The band made a lot of good contacts from all over the state and passed out over 20 business cards to interested prospects. People driving by could hear the band and tried to come in but the whole place was reserved.

Now the pisser. The whole thing was sponsored (food, open bar and entertainment) by the Chamber of Commerce. We found that out when it came time to get paid. Not a problem (yet). The manager (great guy by the way) told us to pick up the check today at the Chamber office. Our drummer lives in that town so he went by to get it. No one in the office knew what he was talking about. Now we got a problem. They finally figured out who the responsible person was but she was out. He went back by a couple of hours later and caught up with her. She told him the entire thing was funded through the University of Georgia Chamber of Commerce Program. She would send an invoice to U of Ga and a check would be cut. You've got to be kidding!!! That's a helluva way to get paid!! Now we've got a serious problem. Knowing how these things work (or don't work) I don't expect the band to see their pay for about 2 weeks. Before you slam the manager know that he got screwed too. It was his understanding the local Chamber would cut him a check the following morning. He's out several thousand in food and booze. He's pissed, the band's pissed, we all learn. I guess the silver lining in this story is the contacts made will be worth much more than the gig itself.

Oh yeah. The semi-stripper girl didn't show up this time but a drunk chamber guy from another town "entertained" us with a couple of tunes :D Just didn't seem quite the same though :rolleyes:

DD
 
Hey Don,
Sounds like a story straight out of Nashville, where you gotta pay to play. Good luck on the "two weeks" thing.

bd
 
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