Unbelievable

Unbelievable.

The drummer we auditioned last week is a hard working guy and did his homework on the set list. His weakness for us is that he is a bit heavy with the sticks and plays everything pretty loud. We hoped he would adjust and play to the spirit of the songs, but he had trouble with that.

He also lives pretty far out east in Colorado Springs, which is a long drive to come here to rehearse.

Nobody likes to be told how to play, but we can’t have a drummer who drowns out the rest of the band.

I got this email from him this morning:

“Hey Bob& Doc,I don't think I can afford to travel up to Woodland  Park as much as we would need to be as tight as we need to be.I'm a good country drummer and you guys a good musicians also,however I think I'm going to lean towards a rockier and probably louder type of sound,and you guys probably need a little more quieter  style of drummer,hope that there are no hard fellings,I'm just not comfortable with where I believe this would be heading,Best of luck,Charles”

I’m sorry he couldn’t adjust and I understand the hardship of having to drive so far to practice. I wish him well.

I have another guy who responded to the Craig’s List ad. He was scheduled to audition yesterday, but since this drummer did such a good job working the list I gave him I decided to go with him and told the other guy we picked a drummer. I emailed him today to see if he still wants to audition.

Waiting for a response from him.

Drummer passes list of death

I gave the guy we auditioned today a list of 11 of the more complicated dynamic songs we do on Monday last week. He did his homework and hit all the changes right on. So then I sprung some songs on him he didn't know and he did a great job picking up the dynamics with just visual ques from me and the bass player.
Doc (bass player) and he hit it off too. Always a plus when the rhythm section can get along. 
Long story short, this guy is good and he wants in. I think we can finally start moving along at a good fast pace with the full set list.
I'll be moving pretty quickly to start booking gigs in the next couple weeks. Still have to deal with a long lead time with clubs booked up 6-12 weeks out.
Cooter Creek Canyon Band coming soon  to a watering hole near you.

Auditioning a new drummer

Checking out a new drummer today who responded to my Craig's List ad. The saga continues. Onward and upward, into the star valley nuthouse.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred. 

Bye Bye Drummer

Our drummer just got put on a 10 hour day shift on Saturdays. I just put another ad on Craig's List and got an immediate hit.

Here it is: "Hi. New in town, if you have paying gigs, I'm in."

How can anybody think they can wing it when songs have arrangements, stops and dynamics that need to be rehearsed?

This guy just got back to me and I sent him a set list with 11 songs to work on. I told him to call me to set up an audition.

Slim pickins' for pickers around here

It’s springtime in the Rockies and it’s still snowing and colder than a well digger’s ass. It was 6 degrees here at the bunker this morning. Yesterday’s blizzard warning turned out to be all blow and no snow. (only got an inch of the slippery skid stuff)

With some extra time on my hands I went through a bit of the history of putting this band together. The project started in Sept of last year with ads posted on Craig’s List looking for players and networking around town for local players looking to form a group.

The Craig’s List ads and scouring the local gene pool resulted in about two dozen people I either talked to, auditioned or took in for a short time. The breakdown of the issues resulting in not having these players is as follows: Eighteen where rejected for reasons of ego, not wanting to practice, lack of equipment, living too far away, poor excuses for missing practice, and for not responding after initial contacts. Two went on because they didn’t want to wait for the band to gel into a tight enough group to play gigs and joined other bands and the rest had to commit to day jobs and didn’t have the time to practice and commit to future gigs.

As it stands right now I have a good bass player who sings well and a drummer who is on thin ice for not showing up for practice, although his excuses have all been legitimate up to this point.

We’re still looking for a keyboard, lead guitarist, or steel player. The ad is up on Criag’s List but I’ve only had one response in the last week from a guitarist I’ve already sent packing for thinking he is too good to have to attend practice. It’s slim pickins around here for pickers.

More delays and another player dumped

I’ve been quietly awaiting further advancement of our band project, having been frustrated by snow delays for rehearsal and personal delays by band members.

Now I come to find our prospective guitarist is continuing to come up with one excuse after another to not show up for practice. We’ve waited a long time for him to come around and apply himself. It hasn’t happened. Most of his excuses have been legitimate and understandable, but it’s now to the point that delaying our progress will only result in the summer passing with all venues booked solid until the middle of fall. Apparently, he is not interested enough to commit to, or doesn’t understand the urgency of getting tight enough to start booking gigs NOW or lose the summer music season altogether. Since he seems to not have the time to commit to one lousy day a week to put together a solid act, we’re moving on without him.

I put another ad on Craigs List yesterday and already got a response from a guitar/keyboard player who lives up here in Woodland Park and has excellent references. Only trouble is he is in Hawaii right now and won’t be back in town until April 4^th.

I sent him a set list and he knows a lot of the songs on it so we should be able to gel things quickly, if he decides to join us.

There is also another guitarist who is interested in checking us out who is a friend of the bassist. He is currently playing with an up and coming country singer out of Nashville who just released his debut album. I’m finding it hard to believe he would give up this gig to join a band just starting out, but we’ll give him a shot a week from tomorrow.

Just one more delay and the clubs continue to book the summer. I don’t know whether to be pissed or just frustrated. Either way it sucks, but this project is important to me and I know we have a great show to offer when we finally get to share it with people.

No Delay Like A Snow Delay

No Delay Like A Snow Delay

We are canceling tomorrow’s rehearsal due to an impending snowstorm that will be dumping anywhere between 4” to 24” on us from tonight thru Saturday night depending on the track of the storm.

The good news is our guitarist Joe has completed his move to Manitou Springs and is getting the new house in order. He also had his dental surgery yesterday and is recovering with the aid of Vicadin. He also starts his new job on Monday that will put him on a normal persons schedule, 7am-3:30pm with weekends off, freeing him up to have time to lead a normal life.

We’re looking forward to getting down to some serious rehearsals and getting ready for our promo video.

Speaking of promo, I’ve ordered some business cards and some promo post cards that I’ll start spreading around the area as soon as they arrive. (Wednesday) They look like this.

 

By the time we do our first gig people will already know the name, Cooter Creek Canyon Band and will be wondering who the hell are these guys. Hope this will peak their interest enough to get em out to check us out. More promo stuff to come, including black tee shirts with the Cooter Creek Canyon Band logo across the front.

 

It’s getting down to the wire to get bookings for the summer season club schedule so it’s time to get down to business.