play in a band again

I wrote to about a dozen different musicians in the D/FW area who had advertised for bass players on Craigslist in the month or so before I moved here. I got responses back from about four of them, saying that I should get in touch when I got down here. Unfortunately, I’ve been so busy trying to find work and just getting my bearings straight and such that I’ve only been in contact with one of them, and that was actually because he sent me a message asking if I’d made it yet.

So, I really need to get back in touch with people, and then I need to get my act together and get myself playing again and start looking for some folks to play with. It’s prime area for it, so the only thing keeping me from it is my own laziness…

I went over this past weekend to jam with the drummer and guitarist who responded to my Craigslist ad. Unfortunately, I don’t think they really have a viable business plan for a band (their idea being to record as many songs as possible in the hopes that someone somewhere will notice one of them) and the fact that both seem to be very disorganized and scatterbrained doesn’t help my impression a lot. So, I guess I’ll try again sometime soon. Bummer…

Got an e-mail back from a guitarist/singer after posting another ad to Craigslist in Eugene. Seems this guy jams with a drummer every Friday a dozen miles or so from where I live, and they wouldn’t mind having a bassist around to help out some. Both around the same age as me, which is handy. We were going to get together this past weekend, but one of his kids has strep throat, so we had to pass for a bit. Hopefully we’ll get together to jam tonight or tomorrow, then get together with the drummer this Friday and see what happens.

Fingers crossed…

Still plugging along on this one, too. Put up another classified ad on Craigslist in Eugene (since that’s still the nearest one). I did see one ad for a band looking for a bassist in the nearby area a few weeks ago, but they were looking for someone to play much harder rock than I usually deal with, and I’m assuming from the bands they cited as influences that they would probably also want someone a bit younger than me. Ah, the joys of getting older…

Well, I posted my entry to Craigslist in Eugene. I’ve checked the newspaper and the Nickel (local want-ad paper) for the past few months. I’ve posted ads in the local music stores. I’ve had a couple of replies to the ads, but they’ve either been from people who were far away from me geographically, or they’ve been from people who didn’t want to deal with me because of my age (37), since they are teenagers or 20-somethings who want to go on tour, and I’m a middle-aged rocker who wants to jam and maybe record, but who also has a job and a family to support. Sucks, to be pretty blunt about it…

After thinking about the comment by Flying Fader, I went ahead and put an ad up on Craigslist in Eugene, even though that is about 2 hours away. I figured it wouldn’t hurt any, and you just never know. Still nothing in the papers recently, and no responses past a few initial ones to my ads I’ve posted in the music stores. Guess I’m still a soloist for a while…

Picked up the newspaper on the way home Friday to check the classifieds. I looked through the ads today, and there was nothing asking for any bass players. Bummer…

Posted another one of my want ads at Albertson’s when I was there the other day. Yeah, it’s probably not a major haunt of musicians, but I figure they’re going to eat, too, and one or another of them might see it there…

Okay, so I picked up a copy of the local paper’s entertainment section that someone had left on a table at work. Somewhere in the back, there was a list of local band performances, jams, and so-forth. Couple of different jams going on tonight, and a few more through the rest of the week. Will have to investigate further…

Haven’t received a followup call on the one guy who called me this past week. Picked up a copy of the Nickel yesterday. One band looking for a lead guitarist/vocalist. No one looking for bassist/utility player. Bummer. Got to go hang up more notes on the bulletin boards around town. Need to find some jams to play at, too.