Road guitarists

[fenderguy]

I was just wondering what ever happened to all the great road guitarists from the nineties?? My favorites to watch play was Butch Davis(tracy lawrence) and Rick Taylor (wade hayes) awesome musicians and great guys met them both... I just wondered if they get tired of the road and say im done or if they get replaced cause they arent in the bands now so i was curious as to what happens to these guys.. Thanks

 

[woodman]

dunno much about those guys, but i can testify that the road will grind you down and beat you like a mangy dog. long trips without good sleep, crappy food, crummy motels, no life EXCEPT for that hour or three when you're playing ... it's a young man's game fer sher, and it will make you old in a hurry! i wouldn't be surprised if they just found a more comfortable niche where they could keep their music, and themselves, alive.

or maybe i'm just cynical!!!

 

[Acephspades]

I think for me the problem would be just being a "road guitarist". It wouldn't be much different than playing in a cover band. Covering leads played by someone else in the studio. No real connections with the song so to speak. Some artists are stricklers for sticking to the recorded version and not allowing members to branch out in extended leads.

I would certainly jump at a chance to do it myself but I really doubt I could just be the "road" guy for long. I'd have to be involved in the recording process at some point. Country music seems to be more this way than any other genre. I'm not a fan of Tim McGraw but I appluaded the fact he used his road band for at least one of his albums. Which is almost non-existent these days from a solo artist.

To answer your question... I don't know....

 

[Big John]

dunno much about those guys, but i can testify that the road will grind you down and beat you like a mangy dog. long trips without good sleep, crappy food, crummy motels, no life EXCEPT for that hour or three when you're playing ... it's a young man's game fer sher, and it will make you old in a hurry! i wouldn't be surprised if they just found a more comfortable niche where they could keep their music, and themselves, alive.

And thats just the GOOD side !
I stuck it for 30+ years and wouldn't have missed one lousy, freezing cold, boiling hot, lost, depressing, lied to, happy, legal, illegal, hungry, smokey, drunken, cr*p packed, medication taking mile of it !!

Sad thing is i dont think the 'road' as such is there anymore, certainly in the UK the opportunities for a young, working muso are getting harder to find as more and more singers go out with backing tracks and 'virtual' bands its harder than ever to be just a 'sideman'.
I only ever wanted to be Albert/Burton/Nichols/Rich - not the guy up front.

Best 'road' advice ?,
"Vounteer to drive the truck once and when you do, slide it gracefully into another car or tree, you won't be asked again"

 

[Steve G]

Best 'road' advice ?,
"Vounteer to drive the truck once and when you do, slide it gracefully into another car or tree, you won't be asked again"

Hope thats not from experience John!!

Worst I ever managed is dropping equipment down a fire escape onto the club managers car...

Shame about those backing tapes John, the gigs just arent there anymore are they? Even when I started out playing and going to gigs there where more opportunities.

On second thoughts maybe they are there and we just need to look in different places.

 

[Big John]

Worst I ever managed is dropping equipment down a fire escape onto the club managers car...

Err, did you go back ?

 

[Twang Man]

Hope thats not from experience John!!

Worst I ever managed is dropping equipment down a fire escape onto the club managers car...

Shame about those backing tapes John, the gigs just arent there anymore are they? Even when I started out playing and going to gigs there where more opportunities.

On second thoughts maybe they are there and we just need to look in different places.

get your ar$es onto the british country music scene, club gigs/festivals all over the country. I've played on the 'road' now for 20years all over this country and im doing as much now as i was then. 3-6 gigs a week. youve just got to go get it if thats what you want.

 

[Big John]

get your ar$es onto the british country music scene, club gigs/festivals all over the country. I've played on the 'road' now for 20years all over this country and im doing as much now as i was then. 3-6 gigs a week. youve just got to go get it if thats what you want.

Been there and still doing that and bored to tears with it !!

You'll have to PM me Twang Man, i'll bet we know each other from somewhere.

 

[J.Rodney]

I may be wrong about this, but I think I saw Butch Davis playing in a little bar on lower Broadway in Nashville back in April of this year.A musician in the bar told me that the lead picker use to play with Tracy.If this was him I will have to agree that he is great.Some of our Nashville members may have to correct me if I'm wrong.The little bar was across the road from Tootsies.

 

[Steve G]

Err, did you go back ?

No! and they stopped doing live bands for a while after.

get your ar$es onto the british country music scene, club gigs/festivals all over the country. I've played on the 'road' now for 20years all over this country and im doing as much now as i was then. 3-6 gigs a week. youve just got to go get it if thats what you want.

Sounds good twang man. Trouble is ive a ten month old daughter and have to be fairly local. I guess if Im honest Im also averse to some of the ahem 'unpleasant individuals' you can fin in the music business. Yes they are everywhere, I know, but theres more than the fair share of inflated egos.

Im happy playing with the few little bands I gig with, just wish there were more places willing to take a chance on a live band. Comes down to how difficult it is to run a (profitable) pub these days i suppose.

 

[colonelrobert]

dunno much about those guys, but i can testify that the road will grind you down and beat you like a mangy dog. long trips without good sleep, crappy food, crummy motels, no life EXCEPT for that hour or three when you're playing ... it's a young man's game fer sher, and it will make you old in a hurry! i wouldn't be surprised if they just found a more comfortable niche where they could keep their music, and themselves, alive.

or maybe i'm just cynical!!!

Preach On Brother!!!

 

[jlrich]

dunno much about those guys, but i can testify that the road will grind you down and beat you like a mangy dog. long trips without good sleep, crappy food, crummy motels, no life EXCEPT for that hour or three when you're playing ... it's a young man's game fer sher, and it will make you old in a hurry! i wouldn't be surprised if they just found a more comfortable niche where they could keep their music, and themselves, alive.

or maybe i'm just cynical!!!

Sounds good to me...my dream job. Actually I'd like play so much to where I'm complaining about playing too much.

 

[bo]

From my perspective there's only so much of Iowa you can handle looking at for a lifetime.

 

[jlrich]

I'm 41 and have given up almost a lifetime of playing to raise a family and pay my bills. I'm divorced, my daughter is almost grown and lives with her mother, and I despise my job, all the more reason.
Traveling doesn't bother me. I have almost 40,000 miles on my car that is barely a year old...I'm in it a lot.
If I had the opportunity to play fulltime on the road or not, I'd do it tomorrow without question.

 

[rand z]

ive only been on the road for short sprints over the years. i do have a few friends that are out there quite a bit. at times they are very well taken care of and really only have to worry about getting sleep and themselves "ready to go" at specific times during the day. (they work for a very famous, and wealthy entertainer/songwriter who, pretty much, carts em around, 1st class).

however, there are times when some of em are out on their own where they have to do everything, including driving all around the country. they do make a specific and pointed decisions to take good care of THEMSELVES by not staying up too late, drink or party too much or at all, get plenty of sleep when possible, and go for walks, play tennis i.e. EXCERCISE. many of em are vegetarians or at least eat REALLY well.

the only thing most of em agree as being the biggest pain is that they are somewhat TIRED a good bit of the time. they've just learned to live with it.

when my musical partner and i are on the road, like this past weekend, we often talk about how hard it would be to do it all of the time, or a lot.

we both agreed that we'd really have to take care of ourselves to do it full time.

imho.


rand z tropicalsoul.net

 

[RTaylor]

Wow, this is my first time on this site and I happen to find a post mentioning me (Rick Taylor). I feel all warm and fuzzy

I'm still on the road. I've been playing for Jo Dee Messina for about 4 years. Before that I was with Rodney Atkins and did a couple year stint with the Honky Tonk Tailgate Party (Daryle Singletary, Rhett Akins, Chad Brock, Jeff Carson).

Not much tele to play with Jo Dee. I'm on a Les Paul most of the night, but my '67 tele is still my fav. I've done a couple of shows with Wade in the last few weeks, so I've gotten re-acquainted with the joys of a good old tele.

I'm not sure what Butch is doing these days. I always really enjoyed his playing and his tone was incredible.

Other notable road players of the time are: Landon Taylor(Clay Walker), Billy Hillman(David Ball) and Lou Toomey(Faith Hill/Brooks and Dunn)

 

[Stickyfingers]

Many years back there were a lot of "no name" groups that worked the road. The bunch I was with covere mostly western states. Back then, there were a lot of very large clubs that had music 7 days a week. Often these places were out of town and were also part of a restuarant/small motel type of thing. You can still see where many of these were along the state hiways. (this was before the interstates). Anyhow, they would book you in for a few weeks more or less, often provide the band with one or two rooms (or not) and maybe one meal a day, something like that. Working a motel chain like Best Western was pretty good, and if you didn't work a full seven days, often you could pick up a military club here and there. AND, if you had a good manager/booker, he would grab some "day" work. Fairs were a good bet. I have even worked at carlots and once in front of a car parts staore that was having a grand opening. I think this life is what drove so many to alcohol and dope tho'. When you were not playing you had absolutely nothing to do. Stuck in the country with no car, and only regular TV. Usually could only pick up one or two stations cuz there was no cable, and all the tv's in the motel were hooked to an antenna and a splitter. I did it for awhile, and sure saw some sights, both legal and illegal, and learned both the up side of the music biz, and the nasty side too. I got to meet a lot of folks and played on the Opry twice, which was a REAL hoot to a young guy like me. I thought I went to "Hillbilly Heaven". I was much younger then, obviously. No more could I play 4 hours in the hot sun at a fair, then hot foot it a couple hundred miles back to a club to hammer it out for 5 hours, then do it all over the next day. I always felt that back then, the club bands, bar bands, etc, were the REAL work horses of country music. Yeah George and Ernest and all them had most of the glamor, but the small groups are what carried the "word" if you will. I still love to get with older guys and compare notes about those days. I treasure the memories, but now days you couldn't pay me enuff to play "on the road". I'm afraid the "road" as older pickers knew it has disappeared forever.

 

[fenderguy]

Hey rick it's pretty cool that you made it on here.. I met you several years ago at a place called coyotes in northern kentucky.. You and wade put on an awesome show.. You had this cool tele that looked like an old 50's model with a b bender on it.. It had emg's and a hipshot drop d on it to.. It's the quitar im still thinking of when i think telecaster.. You and butch are the reason im playing teles today.. You will love it here @ tdpri the folks on here are awesome... Welcome and its good to talk with ya..

 

[Tim Armstrong]

Another road warrior is our own James Pennebaker, who played guitar/steel/banjo/fiddle with Delbert McClinton, Lee Roy Parnell, Pam Tillis, and most recently Big and Rich. James is working in Nashville for Fender as their Artists Relations manager. He has a steady paycheck, benefits, sleeps in his own bed at night, and still gets to play the occasional weekend gig with The Pocket Kings, the band he's in with Reese Winans (formerly of Stevie Ray Vaughn's band).

Cheers, Tim

 

[91xlntS-3]

RTaylor,
Glad to hear that Wade is playing/gigging again. There was some speculation that he wasn't anymore. That would've been such a waste, as I personally liked his music! (even covered a few of his songs)

Nice to know that TDPRI is home to a lot of "pro" players, not to mention nice guys to boot!! Thanks for being here! I never had a chance to go "on the road", but would've liked to have tried it at least once when I was younger. Always been a "weekend warrior" tho, and I love playing music with guys I've grown up with!