Live Musician Central

Author: Live Musician Central

  • Holding Auditions For New Band Members

    Paul Rodgers Passed The Audition To Replace Freddie Mercury In Queen
    Paul Rodgers Passed The Audition To Replace Freddie Mercury In Queen

       Every live band will go through personnel changes throughout the life span of the band. Members of the band will quit for all sorts of reasons from health issues to the ever popular “artistic differences” which is really just code for personality conflicts. Whatever the reason, if your live band is going to continue you will have to find a new member to replace the one who is leaving.

       Sometimes you’ll be lucky and know a musician that can step right in and replace the person who is leaving. Most of the time you’re going to have to do some asking around  and find a few musicians who would be interested in joining your band. Once you have a few names, it’s time to have an audition session and give the candidates a chance to show you what they can do.   (more…)

  • Sunday Funnies – Do You Like Waffles?

       Welcome to the Sunday Funnies on Live Musician Central. Every Sunday we post up a video clip or funny music game that will tickle your funny bone.

       Today I’m presenting a clip that could be a Saturday morning cartoon commercial. Remember those ‘Just For Kids’ commercials on Saturday? Well this one has a song that will stick in your brain and have you singing it all day. I hope you like waffles as much as I do!    🙂    (more…)

  • Weekend Set List For Your Live Band To Play – Top Hits Of 1987

    Every weekend I will be featuring a new downloadable live band set list for you to check out and get right here on Live Musician Central. This feature is called “Weekend Set List” and it features proven set lists that keep the audience on their feet in live music clubs. The songs on the set list are time tested and proven to work in front of live audiences.

       The musical style of the setlist is shown at the end of the post title. This week I’m featuring a Top Hits Of 1987 set list. This set list has worked for me very well in some of the clubs that have an 80’s music loving crowd. These songs will keep people up and dancing while talking about the good ‘ol days all night long.

       You can either use this list and learn these songs to play with your live band or you can simply use them as break music. If you play these while your band takes it’s break you will keep the party happening while you get some rest. It’s a good idea to keep these songs on your iPod or portable music player.

       I am posting the Set List with Amazon.com MP3 downloads because they’re cheaper than iTunes, sound better than iTunes and you can listen to samples right here on the webpage.

  • The Good Singers Vs. Bad Singers Debate

    Bob Dylan - Good Singer or Bad Singer?
    Bob Dylan – Good Singer or Bad Singer?

       Today I’m going to address a topic that is a personal pet peeve of mine. I personally don’t like labeling artists as either “Good” or “Bad”. That goes for anybody that creates a work of art including painters, writers, musicians or any other person that creates something from nothing. Art is subjective and what’s beautiful to one person, may seem ugly to another. But, my real pet peeve is the labeling of something as unique as an individual human voice as either “Good” or “Bad”. The sad thing is that I hear comments from the crowd about good vs. bad singing every time I watch a live band play.    (more…)

  • Fender Drops Prices On Musician’s Friend

      
       Musician’s Friend has lowered prices on lots of Fender gear and that’s a good thing, I think. What I mean is, I was looking into these supposed “price drops” and sure enough Fender has dropped prices on certain parts of their gear lineup. I don’t have good list of Pre-Price Hike prices but I do know that the Highway One Strat was $750 pre-price hike and is now $699. So that is indeed a real price drop, but what about everything else you may need in your live band?

        It looks like the bulk of the price drops have happened on the Made-In-Mexico equipment such as the Standard line. But the top-of-the-line premium guitars such as my beloved Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster is still 30% more expensive than last year with no price drop in sight. The top amplifiers are still just as expensive as well so there’s no real savings on Fender’s premium equipment which is what I recommend when buying equipment to use when you play live.     (more…)

  • John Bonham – Moby Dick Drum Solo 1973 Live Video

       One of the main reasons Led Zeppelin was such a huge live band was because of the incredible drumming of John Bonham. His drumming style was huge and bombastic which really added to the entire feel of the Led Zeppelin experience. He also had a great feel for playing the proper drum fill in the perfect place in any song.   (more…)

  • Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone Guitar Compressor/Sustainer Review

    Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone Pedal
    Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone Pedal

       Last week I picked up the new effect pedal from Pigtronix called the Philosopher’s Tone. It’s an analog compressor/sustainer that gives you the ability to sustain your held notes for a very, very long time. I had the opportunity to use it in my live band at a gig this past weekend and figured I’d let you all know how the Philosopher’s Tone performed.    

       I picked up my Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone from a webstore called GuitarX. I worked with Gary and the customer service was excellent. E-mails were responded to very quickly, shipping was super fast and the pedal arrived in perfect condition. It was a very good buying experience.     (more…)

  • Weekend Gig Report – In Stereo at Canyon Inn, May 29-30, 2009

    In Stereo Bass Drum Logo
    In Stereo Bass Drum Logo

        My live band “In Stereo” played two nights at the Canyon Inn in Salt Lake City, Utah this past weekend. It was a very mixed bag as the two nights went down in very different ways. On Friday we had some definite problems but we recouped and Saturday we were back on top of our game.

       Our drummer, Ted Townsend is still recovering from a severe ankle infection that has left him unable to play drums. He is getting better but the date of  his return to the drumset with In Stereo is still unknown. Luckily, the very talented Frank Lee was able to fill in for Ted this weekend. Frank also plays drum in my original band, Shufflin’ Noah and Frank was a founding member of In Stereo before he went back to school to get his Masters degree.    (more…)

  • Sunday Funnies – Kids Cartoon Candy Cigarettes

       Everybody knows that any smoking at all is not good for your body. So it was a pretty major marketing blunder when someone got the bright idea to put famous cartoon characters on candy cigarettes. Having kids associate Spider-Man with smoking is maybe not the best thing for good ol’ Spidey’s image. Okay, they’re calling them “candy sticks” but we all know they’re just re-packaged candy cigarettes.     (more…)

  • Weekend Set List For Your Live Band To Play 5-30-09 – Metal

       Every weekend I will be featuring a new downloadable live band set list for you to check out and get right here on Live Musician Central. This feature is called “Weekend Set List” and it features proven set lists that keep the audience on their feet in live music clubs. The songs on the set list are time tested and proven to work in the clubs.   (more…)