Gigging, where do I start?

Kalcium

Hi there, I've been playing guitar for 2 and 3/4 years now and I am looking to maybe start doing a few small gigs. Where would be a good place to start? I mean 1 way would be to form a band, but finding members is difficult, so I was thinking of maybe doing a few small solo gigs while I see about finding other band members. 1 idea I had was to play covers at the local yacht club buffet they have every sunday (I've seen guys playing solo gigs there), in which case I would just play basic open chords and sing (cant sing with complicated guitar parts...) and maybe throw in the solo for the song too since i wouldnt have to sing during the guitar solo it is do-able ?

1 other question though, is that my singing voice isn't overly great...like if I started a serious band I'd have someone else do the vocals. But if my voice is ok/listenable is it ok to do covers in small venues like restaurants where essentially you're just there to gently play a bit of music to add a bit of atmosphere?
And if for instance my voice isn't great what other options are there for solo gigs, I wouldn't imagine you could do instrumental covers where you just have a basic backing drums and bass (guitar pro ok for backing tracks?) and then your guitar...

PeteM

Kalcium, I see you are in Durban. My suggestion would be to play at open mic sessions. There is an open mic evening on Tuesdays at Musketeers, a pub in Malvern, Queensburgh. The session is called "Unplugged" so you would need to accompany yourself on an acoustic guitar, although it will need to have a PU because they plug it into the PA system.

The audience is very tolerant of nubees and the musos there are very supportive and encourage new performers. Get a few of those under your belt, network with the other musos and find out where there are other open mic sessions.

Keira-WitherKay

Kalcium wrote: 1 other question though, is that my singing voice isn't overly great...like if I started a serious band I'd have someone else do the vocals. But if my voice is ok/listenable is it ok to do covers in small venues like restaurants where essentially you're just there to gently play a bit of music to add a bit of atmosphere?

be careful thinking the small restaurants are easy gigs with a so so voice....... actually these restaurant gigs are what could be your bread and butter if you play solo....... and think about it they want pleasant beautiful sounding music while they eat ...... so i would rather suggest you try the local pubs first ....... there people are drunk (mostly ?) and if you play the songs that they want to hear, even if it's slightly off(we not talking horrible off key voice here) they will cheer you on...... but in the restaurant scene people are sober (mostly) and eating and romancing (mostly) so their level of expectation is higher than the pub.and in the restaurant it's better to be a great singer and an average guitarist than the other way round . and remember towns are small and peoples memories are very long so .you only get one chance to make a good impression if you want to work that venue regularly .....

and what pete said re the open mic evening go do them and polish up your act at venues like that.also you can get feedback from other muso's who many will be only to greatful to help you iron out probems and maybe even find you some gigs

Kalcium

That open mic session thing sounds great! In Malvern you say? I can do that, and yeah i have an acoustic with a pickup, must admit though plugging it in to my little amp hasn't had the best sound, but its not an acoustic amp or anything like that, and at the time of testing it had horribly old strings...(i rescued it from dust collection at my moms house...)

I've heard of open mic sessions where you are only allowed originals, is that the case with Musketeers or can I get up and just play a few covers like Crazy little thing called love?
It would be my first time performing so the whole 'tolerant of newbies' thing sounds like something I could use ?
I'll PM you for a bit more info Pete ?

Thanks Keira, very good advice, I will definately keep it in mind. Combining what you said with Petes suggestion of the open mic thing i think I will give that a go for a bit, perhaps I could meet musos there to form/join a band even! ?

PeteM

You can play anything you like - covers or originals. Yeah, PM me and we can arrange to meet there and I will show you the ropes.

costafonix

Looks like you've already identified the areas that you feel need attention e.g. your singing, guitar sound/amp etc.etc. so I would say practise in a 'safe' venue first, perhaps do a set at your mates parties and ask people for honest feedback. You may hear criticism you dont really want to hear or stuff that you never expected as in how nervous or relaxed you appeared during the performance. Nothing beats being prepared, so lots of hours practising your routine is important. Prepare a set of songs you want to do and are comfortable playing. So go out and DO it, you can only learn from the first experience. ?

Kalcium

Thanks Pete, as long as you don't literally mean show me ropes "...and if you look over here, this is a real nice rope for rock climbing, and this ones for sailing, and this...." ? haha sounds like a great idea though ? I have PM'd you ?

CostaFonix wrote: So go out and DO it, you can only learn from the first experience. ?

Yeah thats what I've been thinking, I can sit in my room playing forever or I can get out there and do it! Having something to practise towards will definitely be good for my playing ?

Keira-WitherKay

Kalcium wrote:
CostaFonix wrote:
I can sit in my room playing forever or I can get out there and do it! Having something to practise towards will definitely be good for my playing ?

thats a great attitude to have......... and just remember the better your act is .....the greater the reward both financially (eventually) and mentally ... meaning the more rehearsed you are the better your chances and if know you can get good sound, and have enough songs ........too many guys try and gig with 6 - 10 songs... most pubs/restaurants only pay if you doing at least 2 sets maybe even 3..........which means you need to know at least 30 -40 songs before you can expect to earn money from it ........

but yeah your attitude of getting out there is commendable...... it's the live gigs (even at open mic evenings) where the rubber meets the road..... and thats when playing guitar becomes very exciting...... everyone will tell you what you do in your rehearsal space is totally different to a live gig and it's a true skill one needs to learn to be able to play live and NOT be distracted by nerves or bad lighting , horrid sound , not hearing yourself ......or even a heckler in a hostile crowd.......

well pete's a hugely talented and experienced musician so if he's gonna lend you a hand and show you the ropes .......you scored a huge luck there , don't squander it........

Kalcium

wow 30-40 :O thats definitely more than I would have thought, but will keep that in mind ?

As you say though, playing live is where it gets exciting and im really excited even just thinking about it ? haha Im not planning on doing it as a main source of income really (im studying at the moment with a virtually guaranteed job at the end of my studies) but it would be nice to earn a bit of money to help with GAS ? haha but the main thing is I wanna do it for fun and experience ?

DonovanB

Then let the rest of us in Durban know so we can come be supportive too...

killafo

Lol, just to back up what Keira said.

We had a gig this weekend, and so 30mins before we got up to do our thing, i was going over the chords to songs in my head. So i was seeing the chord sequence in my head, but i couldn't remember which song it was on, hahahah, so after a mini freak out, i just asked the other guitarist and he told me what it was.

Just goes to show that practice...where i never forget my stuff and live show where you're put under a micro scope...totally different beasts.

But yeah jump straight into it!! Let me know when you're going, maybe i too can come for some beers...and moral support!!! ?

PeteM

I'll be there tomorrow night. Maybe on my own or maybe with my bass player. I've asked Kalcium to contact me to arrange to meet just for him to understand the environment - not to necessarily to play. Everyone's welcome - hope to see some of you guys there.

Kalcium

My best friend and I will be there tomorrow just to watch and see what its like, would be cool to meet some of the Durban forum members too, I rate we all go and meet up there ? If you're looking for me look for a big asian guy (my best friend) and I'll be the short white guy next to him ? haha

At some other stage I'll perform but tomorrow will just see what its all about ?

@Donovan, when is your band playing another gig, wanted to go to Zacks the other day but things didn't work out, would be cool to see some durban forumites in action ?

DonovanB

Kalcium wrote: @Donovan, when is your band playing another gig, wanted to go to Zacks the other day but things didn't work out, would be cool to see some durban forumites in action ?

It might be a short while. In less than two weeks my second son will be born and We are taking it easy as a band for a while because of that.
We're gonna be in studio for a while as well. Maybe in March sometime again. We had a great response at Zack's.

Riaan-Combrink

Kalcium wrote: wow 30-40 :O thats definitely more than I would have thought, but will keep that in mind ?
As you say though, playing live is where it gets exciting and im really excited even just thinking about it ? haha Im not planning on doing it as a main source of income really (im studying at the moment with a virtually guaranteed job at the end of my studies) but it would be nice to earn a bit of money to help with GAS ? haha but the main thing is I wanna do it for fun and experience ?

Depends on the circuit. If you're playing covers in the Cape Town area, the industry standard gig in my experience is 4 hours. 3 x 1 hour sets with 30min breaks or 4 x 45 min sets with 15-20 min breaks. You'll thus need a bare minimum of 60+ songs, but plenty more to go to for requests, etc. And you can get hammered by pub-type punters if you can't play the obvious requests. One trick is to have at least one song by most of the 'major' classic artists. I hate/battle playing 'Hotel California', but will play 'Take it easy' or 'Desperado' if HC is requested. Almost always satisfies the request. If all else fails, and if you're running the PA, it helps to be able to play the persistent request as a mp3 song during your break. Just need to handle and communicate it professionally. Don't take the 'I only play what I think is good music and stuff you' attitude - even if it is a song you'll never play (even under aggressive interrogation techniques). If you only want to play what you like, play in your room ? But you'll develop a way of professionally ducking really inane requests and find another song that will do the trick.

PeteM

Okay, so we had a great open mic session at Musketeers last night, and Kalcium, who started this thread came along.

Brian, who runs the "Unplugged" evening started the session off and I then played a set for about an hour. Derek, one of the regulars then played a set with Brian followed by Steve Fataar and Andy Small who just just happened to pop along (it's their local pub). Steve of course is a "Flames" legend and Andy is a super accomplished muso - classically pianoforte trained but a multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, sax and blues harp. Mossie ended the evening with his set. Colleen, an ex pro drummer/percussionist (having played the circus scene for many years) always brings along her Jembe and other percussion bits and bobs and comes up on stage to support the different acts as and when needed.

Durban forumites, this is a great, friendly venue if you are looking for a place to start out playing. Last night there weren't any newbies, but trust me they do come and play and are welcomed by all. One of my pupils, that I teach singing to, will do a two song set with me next week. It seems that everybody including the local pub goers are incredibly encouraging of all. No great expectations and they just enjoy what's on offer that night.

Steve, who runs an invited open mic session at Zaks on Windermere, has kind of insisted that I play there this Friday. So I look forward to that.

So, Kalcium, good on you that you and your buddy made it last night. Work hard on those two songs and give it a bash when you're ready.

Kalcium

It really was a good evening with great music and great people! The musos and pub goers are all very encouraging! I recommend it to all forum members and really anyone who plays guitar and like quiet relaxed classics ?

@Pete we've been working on it ? haha singing being the main issue, for now we're keeping it simple with just basic chords and singing but its coming along quite nicely, we'll be up there and playing soon enough ?

ActionArnie

PeteM wrote: Steve, who runs an invited open mic session at Zaks on Windermere, has kind of insisted that I play there this Friday. So I look forward to that.

Hey that's 10 minutes walk from me, maybe I'll pop round ?

RobK

So, should we make a bit of a Durbs meet up then? Next week Tuesday?

guitarboy2828

Sorry I couldn't make it.. Was really hoping to! Hoping to make it next week ?