What to do when a genre is over-represented?

[glocke]

I've been playing mainly Dead music for awhile now...at least for the past decade thats mainly what I've focused on 90% of the time.  Prior to that, I was a lot more versatile musically, dabbling around in different bands that did jazz stuff, originals, etc.


The main reason I've been locked into the Dead music scene like that is probably laziness.  I know a lot of that catalog fairly well and it involves minimal effort from me to prepare for gigs.


These days though, especially within the past couple of years there is simply a plethora of G.D. cover bands of varying skill levels that have sprung up in my area.  Within a 60 mile or so radius I'd say there are easily a dozen bands of varying skill levels.  First off, its great that this music is living on in the form of these tribute bands, and while I still enjoy both listening and playing the tunes, I look at all these bands and think that the genre is just grossly over represented.


First off, it makes getting gigs difficult.  Call to inquire about booking a gig and you get "oh, we've already got 3 other dead bands in rotation, sorry".   
Secondly it makes putting together jams difficult as there is so much competition from other players to get in on the action.  You announce a jam session on one of the local musician forums and there are 3 bassists vying for the spot, a dozen Jerrys, etc..etc..


Chances are I'm going to take a step back from this type of music for awhile and explore other stuff...seems like the logical thing to do at this point.

[elwoodblue]

I sorta wish we had that problem here in the NW.
Noone around here knows what a Mutron lll is 


keep on truckin' !

[pauldo]

That is an interesting observation and could certainly spawn many a lengthy conversation.  I always like a GOOD jam band,  the problem with a saturated market is that not all of the bands are going to be good . . .

Sadly for the last year I have been deeply absorbed in getting our new (to us) farm property up and running and have not actually been in touch with the local scene directly.  I did work briefly with a guy who plays bass (we quickly discovered our mutual appreciation for Mike Watt and bonded very well).  His statement is that here in north central Wisconsin there is a saturation of bluegrass/ pop type bands (Mumford and Sons) type music.

Same story . . .  So many bands playing similar (if not the same songs) statistacly dictates that there will be bands that really aren't that good.  And as you have noted, then when there are jams you have 8 mandolinist show up and we all know there is only one Chris Thile. ;-)


P.S. After re-reading this post, I do want to add. 
Any music played with passion is good music.  If someone's ear deems it 'good' or 'bad' is a mute point.  Seeing someone filter a part of themselves through an instrument to create music is a beautiful thing.

[811952]

I'm fortunate to be gigging with a bunch of kids (get off my lawn!) these days, and they've got some interesting perspectives on tunes that I grew up with. The songs that resonate with them are often tunes I never really listened to, but playing them with these guys is a pretty great experience. The most interesting bit is how they make the songs work with two guitars, bass and drums even though there are some significant genre-hops. At any rate, while we're a bit of a jam-band, no one has pigeon-holed us as anything specific. So maybe applying the GD approach to non-GD songs is something to consider.


John

[lbpesq]

Surprisingly, the thing that I often find wanting in most of the Dead bands around here, (and in the S.F. bay area you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Dead band), is a true appreciation of the Dead approach to music.  So many strive to copy the Dead "note for note".  Heck, the Dead never played the same thing twice, "note for note".  Many of these bands essentially just play the songs and the "jams", what little there are, often consist of the band vamping while the lead guitar goes off.  Very unDead-like.  My favorite playing situation is mixing the Dead catalog with other tunes that the Dead didn't play, but approaching those tunes in the manner the Dead likely would have.  This also goes for originals.

Bill, tgo

[rv_bass]

"P.S. After re-reading this post, I do want to add. 
Any music played with passion is good music.  If someone's ear deems it 'good' or 'bad' is a mute point.  Seeing someone filter a part of themselves through an instrument to create music is a beautiful thing."
« Last Edit: Today at 04:51:46 AM by


Right On!

[ed_zeppelin]

Time to diversify.


Like Jerry, come to think of it. Somebody told me that when he sat down at a borrowed pedal steel to record "Teach Your Children" on CSN&Y's "Deja Vu" album, he had absolutely no idea what he was going to play. The engineer hit "record" and the rest is history. I know that sucker by heart, but I can't imagine where to begin playing it on a pedal steel (good thing he didn't play trombone, huh? That would've changed the vibe, I imagine.)


Buy a decent banjo and learn some tunes off "Old And In The Way." Get together with some maniacs and channel some "Dawg Music" on acoustics, out in the woods somewhere. Sell tickets. (Barbecue sauce is an excellent string lubricant, by the way.) it's an opportunity to experience different facets of the same source.



I saw Eric Idle on a talk show shortly after George Harrison died and he said that George had given him the best advice he'd ever received. Eric was lamenting to George about how every person he met seemed to want to quote Monty Python lines at him, and ask about a reunion. George said that he had learned long ago that when a person asked about when the Beatles would reunite, he considered it the highest compliment a person could give, because what they were actually asking was; "can you make us young again?"


That's where to find Jerry. Tell him I said "hi."

[glocke]

"Surprisingly, the thing that I often find wanting in most of the Dead bands around here, (and in the S.F. bay area you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Dead band), is a true appreciation of the Dead approach to music.  So many strive to copy the Dead "note for note".  Heck, the Dead never played the same thing twice, "note for note".  Many of these bands essentially just play the songs and the "jams", what little there are, often consist of the band vamping while the lead guitar goes off.  Very unDead-like.  My favorite playing situation is mixing the Dead catalog with other tunes that the Dead didn't play, but approaching those tunes in the manner the Dead likely would have.  This also goes for originals.

Bill, tgo"

Yup...Yup yup....

Most of the bands around here play the songs and than have weak, un-dead like jams where most everyone is vamping while the guitar player solos.  Even my band.  I've done what I can to fix it, but it hasn't worked.  When it comes to group improvising it's hard to do with these guys.  Often times I'll try and start a jam off by playing a melody on the bass, hoping someone will follow and we can lead into a song but it just doesn't happen.

Yeah, I need to get involved with different music..I love the dead stuff, but I think for me it's probably run its course. 

[edwin]

I think it's going to run its course. All the hoopla of the last few years has stirred it up, but people will move on. I'm feeling kinda typecast in the role, but it pays well, I don't have to rehearse, and we get pretty decent gigs. I have had to pretty much grab everyone by their shirtfronts and make them pay attention to each other and really listen, but it's beginning to pay off. It only took 5 years to get where most bands would be inside of 3 months. It's finally starting to sound like a band.

That said, I kind of miss my old self, which was mostly funk, jazz, world music stuff. I've started doing a Monday night acid jazz jam with some friends and that has scratched a serious itch, although it's appalling how much my chops have fled (Bright Size Life at a breakneck tempo makes me sweat!), not to mention callouses. Still, people seem pretty patient with me finding my feet in the various genres again and I think it's because my best skill isn't chops or licks or anything like that, it's listening, which means I can get away with not being the greatest player, but it has inspired me to start practicing again.

It's also been fun getting my effects up and running again.

[cozmik_cowboy]

"Any music played with passion is good music."

An old GF of mine, who got her BFA in harpsichord performance,s pent a year at the Mozartium; she took a conducting class there where the instructor insisted the only way you'd get good was to practice in front of a full length mirror, naked.

"(Barbecue sauce is an excellent string lubricant, by the way.)"

I read an intrview once with either Harvey Brooks or Harvey Mandel (well, I read both - just disrememebr which one said it); maintained that he hated new strings, only changed them when one broke, and then the new ones with BBQ sauce.

"I've done what I can to fix it, but it hasn't worked.  When it comes to group improvising it's hard to do with these guys."

A friend of mine told me once he'd love to get a band to play, not Dead music, but I guess San Fran music; QMS came up in the conversationa swell.  He reason for not doing it?  "The people I know who are hippies don't have the chops & the people with the chops aren't hippies."

[811952]

Stephen Stills said he used bbq sauce on flatwound bass strings to break them in. It was in Guitar Player magazine sometime in the late '70s. I thought he was full of crap then and I still think he was just blowing smoke to make a good story. :-)


John

[ed_zeppelin]

In the 70s they used to tell us to boil our flatwounds strings in milk, vinegar, water and all sorts of stuff. One guy I knew swore by taking his strings off his bass and whipping his driveway with them (because he had a concrete driveway, he said, though I've often wondered what other furniture or people he whipped on his way to the conclusion that his driveway was the optimal surface. Just think, if he'd used a Gibson bass he wouldn't even have to take the strings off first before smacking the crap out of his driveway. Hell, I'd have done it for him).


That was before John Entwistle introduced us to RotoSound roundwound sound on "Live At Leeds," when the tiniest improvement in the sound of your flatwounds required violence and caustic chemical reactions. You can imagine how astonished we were by the difference in tone, because immediately tales of boiling strings and whipping things became the stuff of legend we old guys drone on about.


The best tip I ever read about was in an interview with Stanley Clarke in the 70's. He said that because fingerprints are designed to create friction, he used a nail file or sandpaper to buff his fingerprints smooth (I've since learned that it's been common practice among classical musicians for centuries). I've never had the slightest blister or callous since, since callouses are just nature's reaction to friction.


Hot tip: this stainless steel dual-density double-sided diamond coated nail file from Germany (for less than $15) comes as a set. The big one's for your feet (or driveway) and the little one is for your fingernails and prints.


The last time I mentioned it, people reacted as though I suggested they ram their fingertips into a belt-sander, so I should explain the artistic element to this technique. Look at your fingerprints. Can't see 'em, right? Now snap your fingers. That's caused by the friction from your prints. You want to lightly buff your fingertips smooth, until you can't snap your fingers easily. That's all. Wait 'til you feel the difference, especially if you play a lot. I play upright primarily, and slappin' that baby around (yeah, I said it) will raise blisters in a heartbeat if you don't polish your fingertips.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Stephen Stills said he used bbq sauce on flatwound bass strings to break them in. It was in Guitar Player magazine sometime in the late '70s. I thought he was full of crap then and I still think he was just blowing smoke to make a good story. :-)


John

Well, both the interviews I referred to were in GP in the late '70s, so maybe my memory's hazier than I thought.......


peter (who can't imagine why)

[edwin]

A friend of mine told me once he'd love to get a band to play, not Dead music, but I guess San Fran music; QMS came up in the conversationa swell.  He reason for not doing it?  "The people I know who are hippies don't have the chops & the people with the chops aren't hippies."

Pretty much, although many have held that opinion from the beginning. Mike Bloomfield and Steve Miller both expressed as much frequently. Even Gregg Allman slapped down the Grateful Dead as inferior hacks.

[cozmik_cowboy]

A friend of mine told me once he'd love to get a band to play, not Dead music, but I guess San Fran music; QMS came up in the conversationa swell.  He reason for not doing it?  "The people I know who are hippies don't have the chops & the people with the chops aren't hippies."

Pretty much, although many have held that opinion from the beginning. Mike Bloomfield and Steve Miller both expressed as much frequently. Even Gregg Allman slapped down the Grateful Dead as inferior hacks.

No, he was saying it was hard to find players who, like the Dead & Quicksilver, could not only handle the technical end but had the hippie improvisational leanings; the ability & inclination to use Mickey Hart's "rock lexicon with a jazz syntax".

it is interesting to read Gregg's & Phil's memiors & see how differently they saw the relationship between the 2 bands.


Peter