By Sam Wilder Ok so you want to be in a band (who doesn’t) but there’s some things you need to know in order to build a successful band. We’ll call them rules for the sake of this Pro Tip. Rule 1: If you are surrounded by musicians who are truly success minded, there are...Read More
Written by Ken Kirkland “What do you want to do with your life?!” the crazed dad shouts to the 14 year-old kid, barging into the bedroom, fed up with the sound of loud, non-stop music practicing. “I wanna rock!” the kid says. (Enter long-haired rock musicians. Cue loud music. Exit dad, crashing backwards through the...Read More
Written by Judy Rodman “We know that there are some for whom music is so compelling and innately powerful, they are unable to contain it within themselves. They can no more separate themselves from music as they could their own limb.” – Musicians and the link to mental illness Tis the season to be …....Read More
Thanks to Mary at band-vans.net for this excellent article. Many bands think that if they master their instruments, write good songs and maybe even have some fans that the rest will somehow fall into place. They forget to ask themselves how other potential fans shall come across their band. The big advantage of the internet...Read More
This article was taken from Tom Hess, professional touring guitarist and recording artist. I couldn’t of said it better! Have you ever been in this scenario? You are trying to find new band members. You put out flyers, ads, or even post on forums online. Then, whenever someone shows interest in your band (they call...Read More
If you read part 1, you probably were thinking I was saying we should all play for free (don’t do it, unless a charity) and we should all just hug and sing John Denver songs (real name Deutschendorf BTW). Nope, I’m like any warm blooded human and American, show me the money! let’s derail this...Read More
“Hey dude, you playing at Wombats, that new bar in town?” Hell no man. “Why dude?” Not enough money man. “What do you mean? Isn’t some money better than no money? No man, we know our value. As someone who has booked myself and artists, I have actually used the phrase “We know our value”...Read More
By Carey Henderson I’ve been playing guitar for nearly 31 years. I started like many people: my parents bought me an inexpensive guitar, because they were smart enough to start this way to see if I’d stick with the instrument first, I took lessons (from Jason Harlow himself), and spent a lot of time driving...Read More
Oh no, pucker factor 10! (pucker factor – the amount your butthole clinches up during a tense situation) In a world far far away, this is a fictional story. Jim Smuckatelli, bass player who played with the band “Sasquatch” comes into rehearsal with a new band called “Lazerbeam”. Now everyone knows that Jim is a...Read More
Written by Jason Boyd – Professional Drummer When Jason Harlow invited me to write an article, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about first… Groove. Groove is such an important element of music that I find is too often overlooked. In my opinion it is what makes music truly enjoyable. I really look...Read More
