Anyone playing in blues bands?

shaunm

I have seen quite a few posts on Facebook lately from guitarists all over the country that seem to be out gigging week in week out. I am hugely encouraged by this as when I used to be out gigging each week in an indie band blues was not something I used to see very often. 

Needless to say I am hugely encouraged by this and I am wanting to put together an out and out blues band as it's something I've always wanted to do. 

How do people go about getting gigs? Round where I live (west yorkshire) there doesn't seem to be a great scene. 

Also, to you guys that do play in blues bands do you tend to play covers or your own material or a mix?

redrighthand

I've played in a blues band in West Yorkshire. There is a scene - maybe just not as obvious as the indie, rock etc scenes. Gigs will tend to come from a limited number of venues, like the Blues Bar in Harrogate, Duck and Drake in Leeds... We played originals largely. That band is still going (I'm not in it any more) and still gigging regularly in the area.

EricTheWeary

Have done. Always my impression they are the commonest type of band playing the pub circuits although I couldn't offer up any empirical evidence. Always covers ( however loosely done). Getting gigs...hmm... you could start with venues that regularly have blues bands on although you run the risk that they are the least interested as they have those bands on their books already. TBH the greatest challenge in doing a blues band is getting the right drummer as they find it boring and/ or can't get the feel right. 

bigjon

There are at least 10 good blues bands gigging around Cambridge - I've depped for a couple of them quite often, and I think that's the key - the membership is very fluid and they're all in other bands as well so they swap around for gigs a lot. Quick route to gigs is 1) go to a jam-night / open mic and video yourselves doing three songs (edit them down to 30-second excerpts if you can be bothered) 2) tout those round the pubs that already put on gigs - most of them round here work about three months ahead. 

I don't know if Cambs is representative, but here it's the out-of-town pubs in the surrounding villages that host blues band gigs far more than the central music pubs.

Blacksheep

Yes-ish. I play in a three piece that is essentially a blues band with a Hendrix twist. We do about 50 gigs a year. But you need to really work at it. Pick your venues carefully and be prepared to travel and play to smaller crowds. It's a crowded market so also be prepared to cut your fee to get a foot in. The best venues book well in advance and are over subscribed. It has taken us months if not years of pestering to get in some places.

cbilly22

Only thing I'd say is you'll get more interest from potential venues if you offer something a little different to other bands in the area.

We tend to do things in a more up tempo Dr. Feelgood, Nine Below Zero, early Mac kind of way, avoiding what our ryhthm guitarist refers to as "warm lager blues". It's all covers of covers. We are lucky as we have two frontmen, me and the harmonica player and we sing quite differently which breaks things up a bit for the crowd. It also means that with the harp waiting to blast in, I'm kept on a leash in terms of solo lengths which stops people getting bored too...me included!