Working as a musician most of my adult life, I’ve had an opportunity to play with some amazingly talented people. There’s also been a fair share of strange ones; here’s a few examples… Lola: A petite, twenty-five year old fiery-haired backup singer with a four octave range and a fondness for opiates, Lola decided to … More Working With Weirdos
One of the guys in the band had a buddy who was a marketing whiz. And a whiz he was: he took pictures (we all looked hip, mean and cool at the same time), he created our demo tape, and he printed flyers. He put those flyers everywhere – electrical poles, shopping centers, car windshields: ‘PREMIERE … More The Whiz
When I was in the third grade, I already had a good dose of piano lessons under my belt, compliments of my weekly sessions with Mrs. Gorkachevsky, a Russian immigrant with tons of patience and a need for cash. I loved to listen to her play: not only was she extremely talented, she was a … More My First (and last) Gig
So my music career is not officially kaput. I continue to get an occasional call or email , but I usually am not into the gig. I ran into a buddy of mine who told me how his band was using Craigslist to find a singer for quite some time. He convinced me to join … More Looking for a gig in Eddie Van Hamsterland
AT LAST!! A NAME ACT! I was on a roll … I had never heard of this band but since they officially had a top 10 hit (from the sixties), I was going somewhere. Sort of. There were parts to learn – medleys, dance steps, costume changes – COSTUMES, for pete’s sake!! At least I … More So how long have you been playing with the orchestra?
On and on, we got the jobs. Work was steady – every week. Wednesday through Saturday gigs: 9pm to 1am… Thursday thru Saturday, 9pm to 1am … Fridays and Saturdays 10pm to 2 am … Exclusive one niters… The painful ‘five niter’ Tuesday through Saturday… By Saturday night, everyone was hoarse and tired… One five … More Walking On Sunshine
Being the lead singer in a rock band was my dream, but there were a couple of things missing: fame and fortune. The circuit was not what I expected. It had started to turn into a grind – the clubs were getting weirder and so were the people. I was getting bored. Not good. The … More Rock Star Trek
When I heard we finally scored a gig at ‘the Civic Center’, I was in rock and roll heaven … imagining throngs of adoring fans surrounding our humongous stage setup. We couldn’t wait – it was to be a teen dance – the core audience for our repertoire. We most definitely would have our entire … More Civic Doody
Finally, I was on top of the world: all that practicing and rehearsing paid off — I was the lead singer in a rock band, working the circuit and doing a lot of gigs – some up to five nights a week. I was singing Pat Benatar stuff, Heart, Pretenders, Joan Jett, Quarterflash (remember them?) … More I’m Tired and So Are You
Our band was officially ‘working the circuit’. After that marathon six hour event at the Emerald Lounge, the word spread that we were a good band – club owners started contacting Buddy, our agent, for dates. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves – the guys looked to add even more equipment to the astonishing … More Boffing the Light Fantastic
theclubsinger 