Mastering the Gig: Preparing to Play with a Band, Play a Show, and Go On Tour

That's the . The single most important thing is is making sure that you know . For me , it's always been about showing up Almost over prepared . You know , making sure that you know , if you join a band of some sort , you know you're not the the weak link if you will . So I mean , let's start there .

So the most important thing is is if you are , what's the word I'm looking for , if you are relied upon , okay , you know , for a band , they want to hire you or , you know , whatever the case may be , you want to make sure that you Give them the best and the most professional that you have .

You know , for me , I show up early and I'm always as prepared as I can be doesn't mean that I'm , you know , always Perfect on everything , but I want to make sure that when I show up , people aren't waiting on me right . So , when it comes to learning material . Okay , I learn it as good as I can , and you always have to remember that .

You know everything comes down to Time limits or deadlines , you know . Just as an example and then I'll come back to this let's say you get hired by a band to play and today is Tuesday and you're going to play with them on Saturday . So you have whatever five days to get ready and you're going to learn their set list .

Whether it's cover tunes , original tunes , whatever it might be , you know that that means that you have a deadline to get X amount of material done . So let's be honest . I mean you might be able to nail every single thing that you are Trying to learn , or you're going to have to figure out , readjust some things to make it work .

I mean , let's say , for example , you're in a cover band and you've got 50 songs , which is not unreasonable at all to learn for a show .

Whatever , 40 songs , whatever , whatever it is that you think that you'd need to do , and so you know 70% of it , 80% of it , is perfectly fine , but there's a few songs in there that are challenging for you , or there's a few solos in there that are not . They're just not going to be dialed in perfectly by Saturday . So what do you do , right ?

I mean you have a couple of choices either you don't do the gig , you cancel , you know , say you can't do it , or you do the best you can . You know you might need to readjust some of those parts , some of those solos , whatever , to accommodate the situation . You know , let's take solos , for example .

You have the option of learning them note for note , as best you can . You have the option of learning the most important parts of that solo and then Adding your element in between those as best you can . Or you might improvise a solo , as opposed to learning that solo , because of one of two reasons really time limit or Ability .

Now again , that's not a negative thing , that's an honest thing . You know , if you've been in a situation , you know you've been put in a situation where you have to learn something , but Whatever it is that you're trying to do is just technically Too much , or it's what's the word I'm looking for , stylistically very different for you .

You've got to be real about these things , and so that happens . Learning songs the most important thing is you learn structure , you learn how the song goes , you memorize the song .

You memorize the parts of the song , how it flows together , from an intro to a verse , whatever it might be , and then you learn intros and outros , which we'll get to in a little bit as well , which has more to do with rehearsal of the band . But then you've got to have flexibility .

I mean , if you're learning the material and all of a sudden you get together with this band and they play a part a little different , or they play the chorus a little different , or there's an extended section somewhere , you can't stop your band and go hey , that isn't how the song goes .

Especially if they've been playing together and you're the new person coming in . You have to be flexible . You have to be able to adjust to whatever it is that they have going .

So learning the songs , but having flexibility , either because it's mandatory from a technical perspective , a time limit perspective , whatever it might be , and then having that flexibility because when you get together with these other performers , if you're hired for a show or a tour or something like that , these things happen and you have to be ready and prepared .

So then there's the personality aspect of this . When you're working with other people , it's very important that you have the proper personality for the situation . You can't come into a situation with an ego and that whole thing that follows that you're not going to get a lot of gigs . It doesn't matter whether you're good or not .

You have to be compatible with people and try and synchronize with these other people's personalities as best you can . I've always been blessed with virtually just about every band I've played in . We've ultimately become friends in the process of playing together , even when the band dissolves .

These are people that I still talk to all the time or get together when I'm in town , wherever it is that I was playing with these people or in another country , with players that I've played with . That's important to me , to make those connections because it makes it more fun for me when I'm playing . So it isn't just a professional level for me .

If that's all it was and I played with people that I couldn't stand and they couldn't stand me , I honestly probably wouldn't be playing with anybody , because that's not the way I see it . That doesn't mean I haven't been in bands before where our personalities haven't been completely compatible . Of course that happens , but you find a way .

So being professional , showing up early , being very prepared for me , rehearsals . When you get together with rehearsals , rehearsals are time to become cohesive together . Rehearsals are not the time to be learning the songs . You can't show up to rehearsal and then start trying to figure out how the song goes .

Or your bass player shows up and doesn't know any of the material and now the bass player is spending the entire time trying to figure out how the songs go . That is a waste of time . For bands that I've led , which is a lot of the bands that I've been in , I wouldn't stand for that .

The point of the rehearsal if we're showing up on Thursday at 8 pm after everybody's had a long day of work and everything like that , we're showing up to practice together to take the songs that we've already worked on .

We've already learned and now we learn how to put the structures and the grooves and the tempo and the sections of the song , whatever , and then again any flexible elements that might happen . That's what's happening at rehearsal , so just be as prepared as you possibly can be , okay , and then we move on to the songs themselves .

Let's say you again , you get hired by a band to play with them in whatever capacity , and you've learned the songs . You know , you were at home learning them . And then you get together and again , structurally things are going to be different . What's going to be different ? The most ? The beginning and the end .

Because the beginning somebody needs to start , somebody needs to lead that thing in . It might be the count , you know , the hi-hat , or the click of drumsticks from the drummer . It might start with a bass line or it might start from you , or it might start with a vocal you know cue or something who knows right .

But just because you learned it on the album a certain way doesn't mean that's going to happen in your rehearsal . So learning the intros to things are very important .

A lot of times when you play in a rock band you know there might be a commonality where the drummer you know might click off four counts , or maybe four tends to be too much , so your drummer's gotten used to always clicking off with two counts . You know just , and then you go . Whatever it might be , you want to get used to that .

That doesn't mean every song is going to start like that , but if there's just common songs , that might be the way that they start and you want to get used to that . And the other really , really , really big thing is the way you end songs . You know , sometimes you end the song on a downbeat , a punch of some sort .

Sometimes you do what often is referred to as a wash or a scrub , where you know you end a song and everybody's you're kind of playing and then the drummer will go pop , pop , pop , bomb , bomb , and then you're done . Getting used to those sorts of things are very important and you want to take notes , like for me when I'm at a rehearsal .

You know I might take some notes in my , in my phone , or have a piece of paper where I'm writing some of these things down as we dial those in .

Now , if we're a brand new band and nobody's played together before as far as this band is concerned , you know these are things that you'd be working out and you'd kind of plan out because you want these elements to be as tight as possible . Now , not every band does that . You know you might keep everything really , really loose .

The problem is , is the more loose it is , that sometimes not always , but that sometimes can equate to a Lack of professionalism . You know , for me , if I'm playing in a band and I come out on stage and there's , you know , a large audience sitting there or standing there waiting for you to come out . You want to .

You want to bring that energy , you want to bring that professionalism and that tightness To the show , because people can feel that and and certainly people can hear that . Now again , it depends on the style of music , it depends on the band , it depends on the situation , but you don't want to be the weak link when it comes to that sort of thing .

Okay , so then we move on to preparation for the band , for shows , for traveling maybe we'll get to touring in just a second but you want to make sure that you've got your Gear organized right . So you want to make sure maybe you're bringing a bag along where you've got extra strings , string changing stuff , batteries , flashlight , extra guitar straps .

You know , maybe a backup Little sort of you know rehearsal amp . You know , nowadays we have all these digital things . You might , you know , be running a normal tube amp , but you have this digital , you know , practice Amp that you bring on the road or whatever it might be , just as a backup in case something happens .

Bringing a brat backup guitar is nice if you have that availability in case you break a string on stage or , you know , if you use a floating tremolo like I do , you know you break a string on stage . That guitar becomes essentially completely Unusable .

So it's always nice to have an extra guitar available in that guitar stand that you've got that you can just grab and keep going .

You know , extra guitar cables , obviously those are important . You know there's all sorts of different things to think about extra guitar picks and you know those are all things that I have . You know I keep Some sort of towel or rag in my my stuff in case it's really hot out and very humid and my guitar neck is sweaty , you know it from the humidity .

I'll constantly be , you know , wiping it off and then tuning . Of course , always having a couple of extra guitar tuners , I use those little Deodario ones that just snap on to the , the headstock . Those are really nice to have and it's always nice to have a couple of extras and of course batteries for that .

And all this fits into a little fender bag that I carry and I just have all that in there . I have a ground lift that I keep in there . I have a power strip . I have a couple of , you know , extension cables , power cables , you know . So I have one for my amp . I have an extra . You know those computer style cables .

I have a couple of those that I have and then I have , you know , just extension power cables . You know a 20-foot extension cable . Whatever , I have a couple , those that I keep in there as well . That way I kind of have everything that I need .

And I also have a couple things just in case somebody else shows up and goes oh crap , I forgot a guitar strap . You know I use these Deodario ones that have a universal and on them . So it doesn't matter whether it has strap locks or a traditional guitar strap . You know connector . You know I use those universal ones .

That way , it doesn't matter what anybody has those . Those universal connectors on those Deodereal guitar straps will work for anything . So I have all of that ready to go . So that's what I use when I'm traveling with a band is I have all that stuff with me .

The other thing is is if you decide you're going to actually go on a tour , you have to figure out whether or not a backline is going to be provided for you . You know , do you need to bring your own amp ? You know , if you're flying out to join a band on the on the road , or they're from another you know state you're going to go play with them .

Chances are you're not bringing your 412 and you know your tube head along on the plane right , you're going to get something when you get there . Or again , you have a what's called a fly rig , which is some sort of smaller amp that you bring . You know there's there's all kinds of ways you can do a fly rig .

Whether it's a pedal rig , whether it's a digital amp , you know there's all kinds of different things that you can use . But you might use a fly rig that then plugs into whatever the backline is that they're providing and it's 2022 now . Maybe there is no backline , maybe it's just everybody's running direct with the in-ear monitors .

But the point is you have to figure that out . One thing that I found when you , when you go on tour , if you're using different backlines in different cities , is that it might be nice to have a pedal or two that you bring along . That is kind of your comfort pedal . You know I have what's called .

There's a company called Strymon that makes really great stuff and they have distortion pedal called the Riverside , and I've always found that pedal to be really great because I can put it in front of just about any amp , and if I need a little bit more of some , you know , a little more gain or or whatever , that pedal works really great for me because it's

pretty transparent but it allows me to push , you know that , gain up a little bit if I need or , you know , shape the tone a little bit if the backline amp that I'm using doesn't have enough of whatever it is that that I need .

You know it's it's ideal if you could go to every city and have exactly the amp that you're looking for all the time , but the truth is it doesn't always work that way . So it's nice to have a pedal that gives you a little bit of that cushion for your comfort zone .

So , having something like that , if you're on tour , you also want to think about things like per diem . You know , what are you getting paid on showdays versus off days , and does that give you enough money to do what it is that you are planning on doing while you're on tour ? You know , do you need to bring a little extra money ?

You know , is there any food restrictions that you you're going to require , because a lot of times , you know you're stopping at a Perkins or whatever at you know three o'clock in the morning , off the interstate or whatever it might be . Is there any medical elements that you need to be thinking about before you head out on tour ?

Clothes you know , a lot of times you bring a minimal amount of clothes in a suitcase and you might need to wear those clothes multiple times before you're going to get to wash them . It just depends , you know , but you need to be aware of these sorts of things , you know , before you head out . And so that's just some things to think about a little bit .

And then , just , you know , staying , like I said , staying organized . You know , when you go out on tour and you're going to be playing with a band maybe you're doing a fly-in show or a fly-in tour you know those same rules are going to apply .

You learn the songs , but you're going to need to learn how they the flexibility aspect of these songs that you're playing Intros , outros , any . You know extensions or modifications that are done to the song for a solo or for a breakdown , for whatever reason .

You need to be aware of those and you might need to take notes in that rehearsal and you might only get one rehearsal before shows begin , you might get no rehearsals . I've had that before where you literally have no rehearsal . You just hit the stage and you adjust as needed . You know these are things to think about a little bit .

So bottom line is you go in with a positive attitude , you go in professional , you go in organized , you show up organized . You show up . You know you don't show up late , you show up ready to go for whatever it is and you're ready for these flexible elements . And then you're also thinking about what you need for the situation .

You know , maybe it's a local thing and you don't need to panic as much about you know all of these other elements that you would if you were on tour , but it's definitely worth thinking about a little bit and keeping yourself organized and keeping yourself professional , because I believe that's how your phone keeps ringing .

You know your phone doesn't ring number one if people don't know you exist . And number two , your phone certainly doesn't ring if you wind up with a bad reputation of always showing up late or showing up unprepared . People aren't going to be calling you for that .

But the way to be in demand is , you know , to have your musical ability as optimized as possible and then be ready to , you know , show up professional , show up being a you know , having your personality in check , so people actually want to be around you and staying organized , both for them and for yourself .

So , anyway , hopefully that helps you a little bit Some things to think about . Take care , stay positive and I'll talk to you soon , okay .