Bandleaders

Who among you are bandleaders and what are your observations in dealing with band members? My current lineup (knock on wood) is pretty solid with no head trips. There are always personalities to deal with but a pretty level headed group. I have had some dosies though. Had one drummer who would start a drum solo at any given moment in the evening in any song. Depended on what female was looking.

You need to work with cool people who respect the fact that you are the boss and you call the shots.They can freely state their opinions but at the end of the day it is your decisions that will determine how things are run.When someone new plays with me that is the first thing I explain to them.I won't work with people who have too large an ego and are disrespectful to how things are run.I have a show to run and have enough on my plate booking the shows and making the music successful that I don't need to deal with immature babies who could mess that up...it is a business I am running.

I'm with sonny.

If you're a leader, lead....but it doesn't hurt a thing to listen to what others have to say, or let them choose songs (as long as it fits your genre or style), etc. I love input, I'm open to listening, but sometimes someone has to decide rehearsal days/times, venues, who is doing what and when, and so on.

Most of all, if you're the leader, try to make it fun for the entire band, they'll respect you a lot more.

If you work with professionals you wouldn't be asking this. Sidemen are used to being sidemen. They enjoy (I always did) someone calling the shots and taking care of the little things.

I sort of share this role. The other guitarist and I sort of put the band together, and share the booking role. He tends to be a lot more of a leader than I am, and typically takes on running the rehearsals, and song arranging etc. This is totally fine with me, because he's a way better musician that I am. He is somewhat of a perfectionist, which while frustrating at times, I think is mostly good because he pushes us (me in particular) to be a better player. He's certainly no tyrant though. We're lucky, even though we've gone through a few singers lately, in that the core four of us have gotten along quite well for the last 4 years. Even between singers, we can and have functioned fine just doing the singing ourselves.

A band leader is like a tour guide. Doesn't make sense to argue about where to stop and which bus to take. But of course everybody is free to make the ride a fun one.

I'm the leader in our band. I enjoy the responsibility. Someone has to lead. I'm pretty good at it too. Everybody is having fun and getting paid. When problems arise, we have band meetings to calmly discuss all the good things happening and where we need to improve. Its a lot of hard work being the leader tho.. much easier just showing up and playing... but I wouldn't have it any other way.



If you work with professionals you wouldn't be asking this. Sidemen are used to being sidemen. They enjoy (I always did) someone calling the shots and taking care of the little things.


Well we can't all be professional musicians now can we.

I'm not exactly the Band Leader, that role isn't exactly defined right now. There's problem number 1. I'm in the process of straightening that out now.

What I've noticed is it's important to be very up front, direct and let there be no question about how things need to be. If someone is doing something they shouldn't it needs to be addressed immediately, you can't let it continue at all.

I don't think it's that important to consider people's feelings when they are out of line or not getting the job done. You simply tell them what they need to do. If it's a professional situation it's just business and feelings can't be much of a concern. This is what I'm learning - or really already knew but I'm learning how to incorporate it into what I'm doing with the band. Some leaders have the charisma to get people to do what they want/need without upsetting people but I don't think I really care if I'm considered an a__h___, as long as it's working.

I'm the leader/musical director of our group. By this I mean...I handle what the chords are in the songs we play..as some will hear it differently. I will orchestrate what the intro is for any such song and who will actually kick it off and how many lead breaks there will be in a song even if it's not part of the original tune..just so we can milk it a little longer. Endings are another big part that I will put together..as some songs drag on and just fade out and need to have a real ending in a live situation.

There are 5 of us and we keep it music at practice and roll thru the tunes without to much chat...this is working well so far as I have been with this crew for about a year and half :lol:

I don't consider myself a true 'Professional' in the real sense of the word. I can read notes on a staff..not very fast..I know the notes on the guitar neck @ a somewhat quick glance..some faster then others. I understand that everything moves in increments and have some understanding of music theory. With that said...that's a long LOng way from being Professional in my opinion :wink:

Iv'e been around people who are Professional...and watching them work gives me an anxiety attact :shock:

Me, and allthough everyone gets a say, one person has to be in charge to make the decisions, be it hiring or firing and dealing with pub and club owners etc.

All of the above. Plus:
Lead and listen. Try to keep the peace. Maintain the fun.
Be assertive when you need to.

We ran our last band more like a democracy. Everybody got a vote and we seldom disagreed over any major issue. If a song wasn't working out in rehearsal it didn't hit the playlist until it did or it was dumped. As a group we got along very well.

On stage at the gig since I was the lead vocalist I pretty much fronted the band and off stage took care of most of the booking BS and hiring sound and lights when we needed it. I think the more committed the guys in a band are the easier it is on everyone to know their role and step to do it when it's time.

Over the years the players who created problems or friction never lasted long.

In the three piece, we're all friends and communicate real well. I'm very lucky that we have that chemestry. We listen back to shows and use it as a tool to improve. I'm the poet-guitar player, so I guess I'm the official "leader."

In the Celtic band, it's a weird balance. All of us have booked shows, brought music to the table but for final decisions, especially on certain issues like who we want to produce the CD, we vote. Three of us are kind of a block, the other two are a married couple. He's usually the dissenting vote, she can go either way. We call it the "marriage of five." We've been together almost fifteen years, so it seems to work though I don't know if it would work in another band or with different people.