Hi,people.
Are you in a band or play an instrument ?
I"m in a rockabilly/rock n roll band called "Rocket-88". "tnr" posted an excellent thread entitled "do you play bass". This thread is open to anyone who plays ANY instrument & ANY bands no matter what kind of music you play.
I"d like to see pics of your band in action, or just yourself at home playing whatever you play. If you use amps, i"d like to know what type & why you like that particular amp, or for that matter, ANY equipment you use to get your sound. I"d like to hear your stories about your best gig or, even better, your WORST gig when everything went wrong! I want to know why you like the music you like. I dont want to hear about music you dont like cuz thats no use.

Right, i suppose i"d better set the ball rolling.
My band is a three-piece rockabilly/50s rock n roll band.Theres Matt (Double-bass), Tony (drums), & me (guitar/vocal). I"m certainly NOT the best guitarist in the world, but i enjoy trying. I use an Antoria "Rock Star" (what a crap name!) guitar. Its a mid 80s copy of a Gibson 335.I like it. My amp is a Line 6 Spider 11, 150watt digital modelling amp. These amps got crap reviews in the music press, but i like it & it makes the sounds i want it to. We"ve got no "groupies" because we are all to ugly, & anyway, i"m married & the other guys are in proper relationships.We"re NEVER going to be famous cuz we mainly play cover versions, but write the occasional song of our own.We are happy to play in pubs & earn a few £££s, but equally happy to play charity gigs for deserving causes.When we play live, i find it nerve wracking & exciting at the same time, i"ts a BIG adrenaline rush ! It"s the most fun you can have, with your clothes on!

Oh man I wish I was in a band, or just play an instrument. Though, if I was in a band, we would play guns n' roses type of rock. What do you play?

Heres some pics n stuff to start this topic off (if i can do it!).........................


The bass player (Steve) left the band, this is a pic from a few months ago. Matt is the new bass player, but i"ve not got any pics of him playing yet. I"m the incredibly handsome guy (with red eyes) on guitar lol. Thats Tony on drums, he knows a million jokes (non of them clean).

My hobby home band.....
www.tmblive.com
guitars are.

my home amp is a marshall tube.
i write the songs so i suppose rock.pop. you can hear samples of the songs on the web site .
and watch the homemade video for one of the songs there also or on youtube.
im having my mandolin shipped in next week, i like to diverse with instruments making them do things they are not supposed too.
Picking up a Ibanez wildcat special edition in a couple of months, bright orange..lol.
music is a wonderful thing, just keep doing it.

sorry here is the rest.

sorry it will only let me do one pic at a time.

more.

Thats an awsome bass your friend has.

last one. ive smaller Russian balalakias an stuff but no pics.

ROCKABILLY ! But GnR are F***in brilliant as well. You can be in my band, but only if you look & boogie like your avatar does ! You can be our "DANCER".

I explain playing music live, as like a footballer playing football, or, a fisherman fishing. When we play, the object of the game is to make drunken people get off their backsides & BOOGIE ! When that happens, i feel like the footballer who scored the winning goal, or, the fisherman who caught the BIG fish! I LOVE IT !

Fxxk ! Am i jealous !

LOL. im in London next week, i dont know where exactly you are but id love to have a jam with ya man, but unfortunatly im on a very tight schedule.
But it can always be organised for another time.

Yaaaaay - Nice one Rocket - good choice of thread title.

I played in a couple of amateur bands, but they never came to anything. I palyed keyboards and (basic) bass guitar. I really enjoyed it.

Well, I don't have any photo's, so I thought I'd hijack this thread and tell you a VERY old joke.

'cos I reckon y'all GET the joke, unlike most of the people in my social circle.

A businessman is flying to a business meeting in a small, landlocked African country. (I'll call it "Gibsonville", for the sake of argument)
He gets off the plane, via a stepladder. (it's a pretty basic airport), and walks over to the courtesy bus.
As he walks, he hears the sound of drums beating from the jungle, which pretty much starts at the edges of the runway.
He gets onto the courtesy bus. As it drivers towards the customs building, he asks the driver a question...
"excuse me, I understand that these drums are a form of communication. What are the drums saying ? "
Well... the driver slams on the brakes. The bus fishtails. Luggage flies EVERYWHERE... much confusion.
The driver turns to the businessman and - ashen faced - says...
"Drums have been playing for a thousand years. Drums Stop ? Bad News"
The businessman is chastised, thinking he has unwittingly trodden on a local taboo, so he shuts up.

But then he gets to the Hotel, and thinks.. "the receptionist is accustomed to foreigners... she won't be offended"..

So he asks the receptionist... "I can hear these drums even now... I know they are an ancient message system... what are the drums saying ?

Well, the entire hotel lobby stops dead... everyone stares at him... even the "elevator music" coming from the lobby loudspeakers grinds to a halt...

The receptionist is pale.. but stutters... ss.ssir, drums have played for a thousand years.. the d..d..drums stop.. BAD NEWS.

Well, the businessman gives it up as a bad job, and decides NOT to raise the issue during his stay.
However...
Having finished his meeting, he is back on the courtesty bus to the Airplane that will take him home.
He asks the bus driver..
"Look... I KNOW this is a sensitive subject... and please forgive me if I am treading on a local taboo... I know the drums have been sending their messages for a thousand years, but WHAT are they saying, and what happpens if they stop ?

The Bus driver gently brings the bus to a halt, and then turns to the busnessman, and says....

"Drums have been pounding for 1000 years. If Drums Stop ? Then Bass Guitar solo commences."

I nearly wet myself when I first heard that joke. I hope you all like it

Meow Purr.

A man decides its time his son learnt a instrument, he chooses a nice bass guitar and sends the kid to lessons.
after the first lesson he ask the kid what he learned the kid says all the notes on the E string. great says dad.
next week after the second lesson the dads asks the same kid says all the notes on the A string, dad says great.
the following week the kid comes home from the lesson 5 hours late and stinking of smoke and booze, the dad says , son what happened.
The kid says. I had a gig.
LOL.

I"m in Stoke-On-Trent, my friend, quite a jaunt from London, approx 300 miles (it doesnt sound much, but the transport infrastructure isnt to great here). That double-bass was bought off e-bay for approx £350 sterling.
I know that many British rockabilly bands head to other European countries for gigs because this genre of music is still well
supported in those countries. If i mention rockabilly in England, i"m met with blank stares. No-one seems to know much about this genre of music. How is it in Finland ?

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep there is a whole sub culture of rocabilly,physcobilly doing very well in finland, they live the life tattos, hair, cars etc.
Brian setzer and his orchestra play here regulary to packed houses ill try find u some links.

Nice one "louie", i"m gonna steal that & use it ! < i like these smiley face things.

heres some

http://personal.inet.fi/musiikki/rockabilly/index_rock.html

http://www.pcuf.fi/~tapiov/gigs.htm

http://www.hith.net/holeinthehead_reviews.html

http://www.feliks.pp.fi/rockabisi.htm
google rockabilly and finland and have a look around your self.

Here is me

And here is my brother. We were at a talent show type thing.

Have you got the Stray Cats "Rumble In Brixton" DVD? That was filmed in (obviously) Brixton, London. Me my wife & a few friends saw them the night before in Manchester. They were FANTASTIC ! We had a brilliant time. My wife (Emma) loves rock music & i do too, but that night, Stray Cats blew her away. She"s seen GnR, Billy Idol,Alice Cooper, & a lot more, but she didnt know about the "Cats" . She said it was one of the best gigs shed ever seen, & i agreed.
The Brian Setzer Orchestra are fantastic. Myself & Emma would love to see them live. We watch the Japan Tour DVD, & its brilliant, but sadly, they dont tour England because , i suppose the demands not there.
Jealous, AGAIN!. lol.

Yeah the Brian Setzer japan dvd is amazing, i love the way they start with the music from the old cop show Hawaii 5.o. i had to explain to my Finnish mates where it was from.
Great dvd, great Orchestra.
Im not a rockabilly fan but love music and can see class when its in front of me.

As I previously stated on the 'bass' thread, I play in a band called Andrew's Revenge. I play bass nad our music is a mix between rock, emo, acid jazz and a bit of hiphop. We usually play songs from any band/musician we enjoy. From Saosin to Queen, From Anthrax to Michael Buble. We also play Japanese Rock, where we sometimes dress up. The fun thing is that we're a band of young professionals. My vocalist is a psychiatrist, hence we call him The Shrink, my lead guitarist is a business advisor, my drummer is a computer technician, the other guitarist is a public relation officer, I myself am a lawyer. Sometimes we practiced after office hour and still in our uniforms. This gave us and idea to go on a gig with our uniforms, and the crowds kinda liked it.

I'll post some pictures another time

Apprieciated ! Did i spell that right ?

Cool! Do the uniforms thing, & i hope it works out for ya all. Never forget that MUSIC IS FUN, if it ever stops being fun , well, thats the time to stop playing. I LOVE IT !

I must admit that i knew , straight away, where that "Hawaii 5-0" tune came from,cuz i"m 43 yrs old !
I say i love rockabilly, but dont take that as meaning i dont like other kinds of music also. I like lots of stuff.
Like you say, you"re not a big fan of rockabilly, but Brian Setzer IS CLASS !

Gotta level with you here. I suffer (suffered?) badly with Manic Depression. I"d always played rock guitar, until one day, I went into TESCO! with my wife (Emma ). I saw a CD of old 50s music & bought it. The tunes on it were old fashioned & cheesy.I loved it. This kind of music makes me happy,makes me boogie, makes me grab my wife in the front room & hold & kiss her & feel love & romance!
Yeah, when the kids are away, the adults do play!
Whoops! i went of the track there. Music, Bands, sorry, i"m drunk.......................

"louie". I"ve tried some of your links, but my computer just freezes, & i get a message saying "not responding".
I"ll try again when i"ve got a better computer. Sorry mate, i tried!!!!

Because you"re "professional people" , doesnt make you "special". Every type of person can play music.Matt, who plays double-bass in my band has letters after his name.He has a Degree in micro electronics, & another one in something else to do with engineering (i dont know). His Mrs (Gill) has a degree in biology. Tony, who plays drums, is a diesel fitter, He"s a clever bloke in his field.
I like to play MUSIC. It doesnt matter what you do for a living,i.e "to make money".
To be honest with ya, i dont need to make much money, because our outgoings are quite low, & we live a quite simple lifestyle which we enjoy.
I find you quite smug.

Yep! Thats so funny, but also true! Bang on! <<<<< i like these little picture things.

He he - and on the topic of letters, apparantly a lead guitarist finaly handed in his Astrophysics PhD dissertation last week... about 40 years after he left university to play in a band.

What a foolish youth, throwing away such a promising academic career (he was already a BSc and MSc apparantly) to follow some fanciful career as a "rock guitarist" and "backing vocalist"...

Ya' musta' really regreted THAT decision Brian...
I mean.. "backing vocalist" in a ROCK band ? It's hardly demanding. It's hardly Opera is it ?
..and who's going to get ANYWHERE in a band with the asinine name of "Queen" ?

Brian May (Bsc, Msc,Dsc (honoroury), PhD (pending), Commander of the Order of the British Empire) turned 60 last month,and finaly handed in his thesis, which has been accepted for peer review. (though he has already co-written two astrophysics research papers in the intervening years, the little scamp ).

Meow Purr.

Well said

Hey Rocket88,
I never said we were 'special' in any way, in fact, I can safely say that we are so faaaaaaaaaar from being a special. It's just a fun trivial things about my band. I agreed with you that anyone can play music. But then you called me a smug...oh well. We may don't do music as our primary work. We may not be an artist of any standard. Some may call us smug as well. That won't stop me from playing music. That won't stop us from playing music. That won't stop us from feeling the thrill of our fingers playing around in our instruments. That won't stop this heart beat synchronized by harmony. That won't kill the flame. You may call me whatever you want. But let me tell you what it is, my friend...

...it's ROCK! And it will not go down that easy. And so does we.

Both very well said.

OMG dude i just saw rockabilly's lead singer. He was on max ex him and his wife rode off in two go carts on their wedding day, man he must make some wild music LMAO!!!!

I'm in a five piece black metal band which I play rhythm guitar in. We are currently in the process or recording our first full length and play originals bar a cover which may be included in a set. My primary guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard which I play through a Fender 100 watt solid state which I am extremely happy with. As far as gigs go nothing has been too bad except for the occasionally bad mixer on the mixing desk, so I can't really complain.

Here are a couple of photos:

Im just about to put toghter a professional covers band, 3 female singers all in black numbers7 piece band horn section doing Bert Batarach, Phil Spector, Arethia Franklin, Diana reoo and the supremes, martha and the vandelas etc etc. should work out well and be a good money spinner.

SORRY! "capoiranger", please accept my appologies. I"d had a few beers when i typed that, & i now regret my comment. Sorry.

How did ya go on at the talent show ?

Hi "Affliction", cool pics, thanks for posting them. With your kinda music i"m guessing that you play a lot louder than we do. Do ya mike ya amp up & put it through the PA ?

Hi dude. Who is "rockabillys" lead singer , sorry, dont understand. Whats "max ex" ?

" 3 female singers all in black numbers". Like in the "Addicted To Love" video ? OOOoooooohhhh!

Naaaahhh, it's alright ! As long as you still love music, we're brother no matter who we are. And by the way, I listen to some Brian Setzer too! My favorite is the one that he did on Woodstock 99! Good Lord that was awesome!
Lately I'm listening to Johnny Cash. Good music, especially at night with a cup of warm chocolate..heehee.

edited: For some times ago I was sooo deeply impressed by Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murpyhs. It's true, either you're an Irish or you're drunk, or both. Those tunes always makes you want to drink and fight! Arrgghahaahaha...

Thanks for accepting my appology graciously. Johnny Cash was one of (if not THE best) storytellers EVER (allong with Phil Lynott).
I"ve got the "Live In San Quentin & Live In Fulsom Prison" CDs. Brilliant !

My wifes family originate from Ireland, maybe it"s rubbed off on me !

Yeah for sure, always sounds much better in my opinion.

"Love...is a burning thing. And it makes...a fiery ring."

Good God, Johnny Cash is so hypnotizing. You know, that "Ring Of Fire" is going over and over again in my head? Wheeew...

Rocket-88,

Have you heard of Hayseed Dixie? They do rockabilly covers of rock and metal bands.

It was like a graduation. There was about 100 people in the audiance and I would say about 8 people gave a standing ovation and realised no one else was standing up so they sat down . Someone yelled "FREEBIRD". We just played the same type of deal on June 9th but we played with another guitarist and we played Oye Como Va by Santana and because we had no Keyboard I took a bass solo and everyone loved it!! I recommend giving your bassist a solo every now and then.

Idk how I missed this thread. I'm obviously loosing it. Yesm, I am in a band and have been in the same one for over 10 years. Oddly we haven't killed each other yet. We're progressive rock/jazz fusion. I've done several side projects with metal bands including progressive and black metal. Good times.

Did I mention I'm a drummer? I'm dabbling with piano, bass and very little guitar.

I"ve heard of them vaguely, did they cover AC/DCs You Shook Me All Night Long ? I"m pretty sure that was them, & they got airplay on Radio 2 by popular request.
Check out Jack Rabbit Slim for some brilliant modern rockabilly,they"re on Myspace & have a kickin album out called "Sleaze-a-billy".

Double-bass solos (slapped) are an integral part of a rockabilly gig, sometimes with 2 people playing the same bass at once, or maybe the drummer playing his part on the body of the bass. It aint rocket science but it looks good & adds something to the "show".
Slappin Double Bass players are very much respected in rockabilly circles.