Sat in on my first gig

Dan R · September 23rd, 2006, 06:43 PM

Well, at the ripe old age of 48, I have my first paying gig under my belt. I really thought at my age, I'd never play a gig. A friend of mine who performs often, invited me to sit in on the last two sets of his gig. It was nothing fancy, but everybody's got to start somewhere. My friend thought it would be fun for me to experience playing a gig. I had the whole experience of setting up, performing, tearing down. I'm glad I got the opportunity to get an idea of what it was like. He wanted me to sing a few songs and play guitar while he played keys and some guitar parts. What I thought was very gracious, is he asked me to do a song that I'd written. We did I'm a Lonesome Fugitive by Merle, Walls by Tom Petty and my number. We were playing a party after a wedding reheasal. I have to say it was a lot of fun. Everybody was cool and they asked us to play another hour, for extra pay of course. The best part for me was after my three songs, I stayed on playing guitar doing fills and a few leads. Naturally, I had my trusty tele. I must have been crazy, I took my '75 and played outside. It sounded good though. I know this is such small time thing, but it was a good way to test my abilities. It's kind of like the "bunny slope". It was worth doing, and it was an experience I'll never forget.

Dan R

chickenpicker · September 23rd, 2006, 06:52 PM

Good. Thanks for sharing that. I presume it's not going to be your last gig?

Telenator · September 23rd, 2006, 07:45 PM

Good for you man! I remember my first gig and it was lots of fun. Perhaps the strangest thing about it was how fast the time went. It literally felt like it lasted 15 minutes and we played for 4 hours!

Big Tony · September 23rd, 2006, 07:50 PM

Good for you!
Now, go do it again!
This could become a habit...

/ Tony

caveman · September 23rd, 2006, 10:36 PM

Your never to old to get your feet wet. Don't wait so long for gig #2.

mojocasterman · September 23rd, 2006, 11:44 PM

This is actually no "small thing". This is a first step, and we all know how those can be difficult. Good for you, I hope you had a blast and that you will move on to gig #2 soon as Caveman suggested!

Dan R · September 24th, 2006, 02:45 PM

Thanks everyone for the encourgement. I believe we will gig together again. We'll just have to work out the details. He took some pictures. I'll try to post them at some point. One thing that made the gig memorable was the location. It was at Lake Lure in the mountains of NC. We played right by the lake with Chimney Rock in the background. It's about 100 miles from home, so we made a bit of a trip for that one. We would more than likely gig around town in the future.

Dan R

xStonr · September 24th, 2006, 02:51 PM

That's great. Good for you. That means there's still some hope for me at 50.

0le FUZZY · September 24th, 2006, 03:13 PM

Good on ya !!

Yew know, I played a bizzilion gigs in my life time but nuttin beats the thrill of a fren askin yew ta sit in with his band. It takes a real good guy with a lotta heart tew dew that and he must haff a lotta confidence in his seff.

A start issa start noe matter watt and thanx fer tellin us about yers.

0le FUZZY

blue metalflake · September 24th, 2006, 04:15 PM

Congratulations.

The danger is that now you've caught the bug and it is like a drug - believe me. Have many more good ones.

bluesfordan · September 24th, 2006, 04:16 PM

After attending open mic jams for about 15 years, I finally got up and played at one this summer. 48 years old here, too. I was nervous as sh*t, had to wait about 3 songs after Pete (host) asked me to play. I also had to sing. Oh, the huge manatee. That poor audience, all 6 of them.

The guitar playing part was ok, except due to my lack of experience with mics, my vocals were not loud enough. Kind mercy for the audience if you ask me

The funny thing was, once I get up and sat on the guitar playing chair (acoustic setup), announced the song anad the key (Folsom Prison Blues, G) and we got past that opening riff, the rest was a breeze. I was so jazzed, I didn't get to sleep until real late that night. I definitely want to do that again. I wonder if they're going to bother tonight (Sundays 6:30-9ish) because the Pats are playing the Bronchitis, I mean Broncos at 8:30

Pats fan since 1960, sitting on my daddy's knee at the age of 2, one of my earliest memories.

zombywoof · September 24th, 2006, 04:28 PM

GOOD FOR YOU. There ain't nuttin' like playing in front of people. Actually, I enjoy just sitting in more now than being in a band. Don't worry about playing your geetar out of doors. I still play my '58 when it is called for (meaning no more at casual jams and goofing around get togethers).

woodman · September 25th, 2006, 01:28 AM

cool, Dan! let me know when you're playing around Chawlet!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 0le FUZZY

<li> nuttin beats the thrill of a fren askin yew ta sit in with his band.

+1 million!

Volvoguy · September 25th, 2006, 04:53 AM

Not meaning to hi-jack this thread or anything, but i just recently had the same experience. I was a little embarassed to say it was my first, so I didn't post anything. Also, it had no tele content. A friend of mine from my work, who is a local full time gigging musician, called me saying he needed another guitar player for a wedding gig. Just some acoustic tunes, quote him "i need some tasty licks". Well, no rehearsals later, i'm clutching the neck of my '63 D-18, hearing "major pentatonic in G, GO!" Well, lets jsut say it was a good thing there was an open bar, cuz a few crown royals later i had lost all nervousness and just went with it! There were a few sour notes, but all in all it was great!!

Well now we've had a few more rehearsals with a bass palyer, and we've got our very own quasi-bluegrass band goin'! I'll see what happens, and try to post our versions of some old standards.

fierce_carrot · September 25th, 2006, 08:36 AM

Congrats on your first gig! Now is the time to contemplate taking it to the next level.

The open jam session!

I was gigging for a couple of years in clubs before I had the courage to step up onstage at the local blues jam. It had a rep for some real blues gunslingers and to be honest, I was trembling that first night. They treated me with respect, gave me more than enough room to express my musical abilitys (inabilities?) and I became a regular over the next couple of years.

September 23rd, 2006, 06:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dan R Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Charleston, SC Age: 50 Posts: 891	Sat in on my first gig Well, at the ripe old age of 48, I have my first paying gig under my belt. I really thought at my age, I'd never play a gig. A friend of mine who performs often, invited me to sit in on the last two sets of his gig. It was nothing fancy, but everybody's got to start somewhere. My friend thought it would be fun for me to experience playing a gig. I had the whole experience of setting up, performing, tearing down. I'm glad I got the opportunity to get an idea of what it was like. He wanted me to sing a few songs and play guitar while he played keys and some guitar parts. What I thought was very gracious, is he asked me to do a song that I'd written. We did I'm a Lonesome Fugitive by Merle, Walls by Tom Petty and my number. We were playing a party after a wedding reheasal. I have to say it was a lot of fun. Everybody was cool and they asked us to play another hour, for extra pay of course. The best part for me was after my three songs, I stayed on playing guitar doing fills and a few leads. Naturally, I had my trusty tele. I must have been crazy, I took my '75 and played outside. It sounded good though. I know this is such small time thing, but it was a good way to test my abilities. It's kind of like the "bunny slope". It was worth doing, and it was an experience I'll never forget. Dan R

September 23rd, 2006, 07:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
Telenator Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 4,646	Good for you man! I remember my first gig and it was lots of fun. Perhaps the strangest thing about it was how fast the time went. It literally felt like it lasted 15 minutes and we played for 4 hours! __________________ Dogs have the right idea!

September 23rd, 2006, 07:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
Big Tony Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sweden, by golly! Posts: 2,522 28 Photos	Good for you! Now, go do it again! This could become a habit... / Tony __________________ {8^)> myspace.com/tonypersson

September 23rd, 2006, 11:44 PM	#6 (permalink)
mojocasterman Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 4,279	This is actually no "small thing". This is a first step, and we all know how those can be difficult. Good for you, I hope you had a blast and that you will move on to gig #2 soon as Caveman suggested! __________________ Lentz HSL - McNaught SC Jr - Tom Anderson Cobra w/ 3 P90s - Crook Custom Tele w/ Lollar & TV Jones - Trussart Deluxe Steelcaster - Vinetto Legato - Grosh Bent Top S - SRV Strat - Ovation Elite T - Dr. Z. Carmen Ghia & Mini Z - Fender Tweed Blues Junior.

September 24th, 2006, 04:28 PM	#12 (permalink)
zombywoof Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Back in the Heartland Posts: 2,903 17 Photos	GOOD FOR YOU. There ain't nuttin' like playing in front of people. Actually, I enjoy just sitting in more now than being in a band. Don't worry about playing your geetar out of doors. I still play my '58 when it is called for (meaning no more at casual jams and goofing around get togethers). __________________ "I don't play a lot of fancy guitar. I don't want to play it. The kind of guitar I want to play is mean, mean licks." John Lee Hooker

September 23rd, 2006, 06:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
chickenpicker Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,060 14 Photos	Good. Thanks for sharing that. I presume it's not going to be your last gig?

September 23rd, 2006, 10:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
caveman TDPRI Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Lander, WY Age: 60 Posts: 71	Your never to old to get your feet wet. Don't wait so long for gig #2.

September 24th, 2006, 02:45 PM	#7 (permalink)
Dan R Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Charleston, SC Age: 50 Posts: 891	Thanks everyone for the encourgement. I believe we will gig together again. We'll just have to work out the details. He took some pictures. I'll try to post them at some point. One thing that made the gig memorable was the location. It was at Lake Lure in the mountains of NC. We played right by the lake with Chimney Rock in the background. It's about 100 miles from home, so we made a bit of a trip for that one. We would more than likely gig around town in the future. Dan R

September 24th, 2006, 02:51 PM	#8 (permalink)
xStonr Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Down in the Boondocks Posts: 1,344 4 Photos	That's great. Good for you. That means there's still some hope for me at 50.

September 24th, 2006, 03:13 PM	#9 (permalink)
0le FUZZY Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kolly-forn-knee-ya Posts: 10,001 6 Photos	Good on ya !! Yew know, I played a bizzilion gigs in my life time but nuttin beats the thrill of a fren askin yew ta sit in with his band. It takes a real good guy with a lotta heart tew dew that and he must haff a lotta confidence in his seff. A start issa start noe matter watt and thanx fer tellin us about yers. 0le FUZZY

September 24th, 2006, 04:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
blue metalflake Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: ireland Age: 55 Posts: 2,340 10 Photos	Congratulations. The danger is that now you've caught the bug and it is like a drug - believe me. Have many more good ones.

September 24th, 2006, 04:16 PM	#11 (permalink)
bluesfordan Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 489	After attending open mic jams for about 15 years, I finally got up and played at one this summer. 48 years old here, too. I was nervous as sh*t, had to wait about 3 songs after Pete (host) asked me to play. I also had to sing. Oh, the huge manatee. That poor audience, all 6 of them. The guitar playing part was ok, except due to my lack of experience with mics, my vocals were not loud enough. Kind mercy for the audience if you ask me The funny thing was, once I get up and sat on the guitar playing chair (acoustic setup), announced the song anad the key (Folsom Prison Blues, G) and we got past that opening riff, the rest was a breeze. I was so jazzed, I didn't get to sleep until real late that night. I definitely want to do that again. I wonder if they're going to bother tonight (Sundays 6:30-9ish) because the Pats are playing the Bronchitis, I mean Broncos at 8:30 Pats fan since 1960, sitting on my daddy's knee at the age of 2, one of my earliest memories.

September 25th, 2006, 04:53 AM	#14 (permalink)
Volvoguy Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2006 Location: North Vancouver, BC Posts: 401	Not meaning to hi-jack this thread or anything, but i just recently had the same experience. I was a little embarassed to say it was my first, so I didn't post anything. Also, it had no tele content. A friend of mine from my work, who is a local full time gigging musician, called me saying he needed another guitar player for a wedding gig. Just some acoustic tunes, quote him "i need some tasty licks". Well, no rehearsals later, i'm clutching the neck of my '63 D-18, hearing "major pentatonic in G, GO!" Well, lets jsut say it was a good thing there was an open bar, cuz a few crown royals later i had lost all nervousness and just went with it! There were a few sour notes, but all in all it was great!! Well now we've had a few more rehearsals with a bass palyer, and we've got our very own quasi-bluegrass band goin'! I'll see what happens, and try to post our versions of some old standards. __________________ As of now, this is the oldest I've ever been.

September 25th, 2006, 08:36 AM	#15 (permalink)
fierce_carrot Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Iowa Age: 52 Posts: 985	Congrats on your first gig! Now is the time to contemplate taking it to the next level. The open jam session! I was gigging for a couple of years in clubs before I had the courage to step up onstage at the local blues jam. It had a rep for some real blues gunslingers and to be honest, I was trembling that first night. They treated me with respect, gave me more than enough room to express my musical abilitys (inabilities?) and I became a regular over the next couple of years.