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Thread: A Tale of Two Guitar Players

  1. #1

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    Default A Tale of Two Guitar Players

    Saturday night....
    Had a gig booked at a local bar for a “HeeHaw” party. They wanted an all-acoustic show of Bluegrass & Country. No problem....

    1:00PM Saturday; I text our rhythm player to tell him not to bring an amp. We’ll just plug his acoustic in to the board. 10min later he calls me...and proceeds on a 15min rant about how he’s just as good as the other two guitarists and doesn’t think it’s right to “degrade” him by “sticking him in a corner and making him play rhythm on an acoustic”. He said he’s played in a lot bigger and better bands and suggested that we get rid of one of the other guitarists...specifically the one that actually sings 50% of the songs, LOL. He then told me that acoustic guitars don’t mix well with electric guitars and we shouldn’t even be playing all-acoustic gigs because they suck, and I need to quit trying to be a “music director” and just concentrate on playing drums. AND....he has a “degree in music” so he thinks he could be booking us in better places for more money.
    Well then.....
    I calmly and respectfully reminded him of the discussion we had a few months ago when he called me to ask if he could re-join the band again (he’s quit twice before already). I reminded him that he doesn’t sing a lick, and we have NO NEED for 3 lead guitars. All it does is take money out of everyone else’s pocket. We COULD use a rhythm player that sings, if he’s so inclined, but the other guy is NOT going anywhere, because he CAN and DOES sing. And as for the acoustic issue....it’s a “Hee Haw” party...the bar owner requested an acoustic gig.....

    After 30 seconds of phone silence, he finally said “Oh.....I guess I must have been looking at the wrong flyer. Sorry about that. I thought you were trying to drive me away by making me play an acoustic. Boy...do I feel like a jerk now. I’ll see ya tonight”.

    10 minutes later;
    Our mandolin player and ONLY lead singer for the Bluegrass/Country songs calls me. He’s nasty sick and won’t make it.

    Soooo......I call our other lead guitar player (Roy) that sings all our Blues. I ask him if we should cancel. He says, “No problem. Let’s do it. We have all the words to the Bluegrass songs wrote down, so I’ll sing them. If I hit a song that goes well, we’ll drag it out. If I have issues with the lyrics, I’ll just do one verse, go to an instrumental and end it. We’ll mix in some of the Blues songs I sing and I’ll tweak them to sound like Bluegrass. You guys are awesome, so just back me up. We’ll be fine.”

    We showed up, set up and away we went. Roy had never sang the songs before, but he stuck his harmonica in his neck holder, strapped on his guitar and read hand-written lyrics out of a notebook...while playing rhythm and alternating leads on guitar and harmonica.
    He absolutely KILLED it. Some of the songs went even better than when our normal guy sings them. The crowd loved it. The bar owner loved it. We loved doing it.

    The best part was seeing the first guitar player (the one that went off on me) get thoroughly SCHOOLED by Roy on what it means to be a real musician.. To his credit, he played acoustic the first couple sets and did a great job. He then got the chance to play some leads on electric and hung right in there with Roy. He was smiling the entire night. At the end, he praised the job Roy did and apologized to me for his behavior the entire night. He knew he had made an entire fool of himself.

    Honestly, he’s a good guy and a good guitarist. I DO like him. He does, however, have some issues with self emotional control, which is made worse by medication he takes. I’ll give him a free pass this time....but if and when it happens again, I’m done with him.
    -Brian

    "Too many crappy used drum stuff to list"

    Play the SONG......not the DRUMS!!!

    "I think that feeling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts." ~ John Bonham

  2. #2

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    Band drama... you gotta love it!

    Glad it worked out in the end Brian.

  3. #3

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    Guitar players.

    You can't shoot them, cook them, or feed them to the family, so you have to find ways to deal with. How do you think I got started on Johnny Walker.
    YOU MESS WITH THE DEVIL YOU KNOW.

    YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE DEVIL YOU DON'T KNOW.

    VAE VICTIS

    ONCE YOU HIT A CERTAIN AGE, YOU BECOME PERMANENTLY UNIMPRESSED BY A LOT OF CRAP.

    I HIT THAT AGE 20 YEARS AGO.

    IF DOGS CAN'T GO TO HEAVEN, I WANT TO GO WHERE THEY GO

    WILL ROGERS

  4. #4

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    Default Re: A Tale of Two Guitar Players

    Quote Originally Posted by rickthedrummer View Post
    Guitar players.

    You can't shoot them, cook them, or feed them to the family, so you have to find ways to deal with. How do you think I got started on Johnny Walker.
    My wife bought me 2 bottles of Blue while on our Anniversary cruise last year and I still have 1 and 1/4 bottles left : ) Cannot go back to Green after having Blue.

    You were much more calm with that 1st call then I think I could have been. Is'nt it funny when you become the lead guy in a band ( Not that I wanted it ) how many issues people have that you never knew about?
    Ludwig Classic Maple 22x16,10x8,12x9,16x16
    7" Moon Gel Practice Pad
    Sabian HHX Legacy

    Decide whether this is love for the craft or simply an ego thing

    http://www.redskymary.com/ NOT MY BAND, JUST A GREAT LOCAL BAND WHO SHOULD BE SOOO MUCH BIGGER IMO

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by drummer View Post
    Band drama... you gotta love it!
    No doubt.

  6. #6

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    The funny part is, we been together about 4-5 years and almost never have any drama or issues. Any issues that have risen are always with this one particular guy. Historically, he’s always just quit without saying anything, then after a few months he decides he wants to join again. We’ve always just let him “float” in and out at will....we don’t need him, but when he’s playing he always adds to the group. This is the first time he’s ever really spoken up, and he wasn’t necessarily nasty or disrespectful. He’s a good musician and a good guy at heart, so I’m gonna write it off as a “bad hair day” for him and see what happens.
    The only part that scares me is the (previously hidden) self-absorbed ego he presented. I will NOT let someone like that drag the rest of the band down...so he has 2 strikes...
    -Brian

    "Too many crappy used drum stuff to list"

    Play the SONG......not the DRUMS!!!

    "I think that feeling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts." ~ John Bonham

  7. #7

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    Great story with a good ending.

  8. #8

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    That's not how I thought that story was going to end! haha.

  9. #9

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    I thought it was going to have a kind of "Harry and Sally" ending.

    Our rule was that you better be in the hospital, or dead. I've dealt with that "my GF wants to go to the movies tonight crap" too many times. If I can play a 4 set gig with a 102 fever (and go directly to the LA VA hospital) then I don't want to hear the "my backs bothering me or my fingers are sore" BS.
    YOU MESS WITH THE DEVIL YOU KNOW.

    YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE DEVIL YOU DON'T KNOW.

    VAE VICTIS

    ONCE YOU HIT A CERTAIN AGE, YOU BECOME PERMANENTLY UNIMPRESSED BY A LOT OF CRAP.

    I HIT THAT AGE 20 YEARS AGO.

    IF DOGS CAN'T GO TO HEAVEN, I WANT TO GO WHERE THEY GO

    WILL ROGERS

  10. #10

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    Default Re: A Tale of Two Guitar Players

    I thought it was going to have a kind of "Harry and Sally" ending.

    Our rule was that you better be in the hospital, or dead. I've dealt with that "my GF wants to go to the movies tonight crap" too many times. If I can play a 4 set gig with a 102 fever (and go directly to the LA VA hospital) then I don't want to hear the "my backs bothering me or my fingers are sore" BS.
    YOU MESS WITH THE DEVIL YOU KNOW.

    YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE DEVIL YOU DON'T KNOW.

    VAE VICTIS

    ONCE YOU HIT A CERTAIN AGE, YOU BECOME PERMANENTLY UNIMPRESSED BY A LOT OF CRAP.

    I HIT THAT AGE 20 YEARS AGO.

    IF DOGS CAN'T GO TO HEAVEN, I WANT TO GO WHERE THEY GO

    WILL ROGERS

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