Live Musician Central

Author: Live Musician Central

Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 5-9-09

Every weekend Live Musician Central posts up a selection of the top new music releases so you can download them. Whether or not these are the best releases of the week they are the most heavily marketed new music releases by the industry. If you play in a live band it’s a good idea to keep up with the music being pushed by the music industry. These songs are going to be getting airplay in the nightclubs, music television and the radio. If you know what’s being marketed to the public you will stay relevant in the clubs you play. You can either learn these songs or have them on your MP3 player or iPod to play during your band breaks.

Since iTunes is the top music retailer in the U.S. we include links to albums that are being specially promoted on iTunes. We also include links to Amazon.com MP3 service. Amazon.com MP3’s are encoded at an excellent 256kbps and sound fantastic. They’re less expensive than iTunes and will play perfectly on all portable music players including iPods and iPhones. They’re also DRM free so you can load them on multiple players.

We also include links to some all time best selling albums so you can keep building your band’s songlist with proven, well-known songs. (Yes, the Wilco banner below is a live concert video for your iPod or iPhone!)
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Negotiating Gig Payment For Your Live Band – Get A Signed Contract

Download Live Band Performance Contract

How much should your live band be paid when you play a gig? That’s a very delicate question and the answer is going to be different for pretty much every gig you play. Some clubs pay a standard $350 per night. Some will give you a percentage of the door receipts. Some clubs pay less and some pay a lot more. The thing that you have to remember is that gig payment is always negotiable and it’s up to you to agree to a fee before you play the gig.

Negotiate Gig Payment In Advance

The most important thing to remember when booking a gig is to negotiate gig payment in advance. Try to reduce any variables the venue may throw at you. If the venue tells you “we’ll decide on payment after we see how many people show up” then that is a great big red flag and you should seriously consider not playing that venue. Don’t agree to any stipulations such as “payment based on food and drink sales”. Even payment based on door receipts is tricky because most clubs won’t let you audit their door receipts. The best thing to do when you’re booking your gig is to get all the payment details right up front.
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Jellifish Chorus Guitar Pick Review

Jellifish Chorus Guitar Pick

I’m always looking for interesting and innovative products to try and and possibly use when playing in my live band. So I took a great interest in the the Jellifish Chorus Guitar Pick. The sales material says that you can get 3 trademark sounds from this guitar pick. Chorus, which generates a 12-string like effect. Pluck, which is like a hammered dulcimer. Bow, which sounds like a cello. So naturally I had to order one and give it a try.

I’ve got a great story about my experience with ordering the Jellifish from Music123. I ordered several different picks from Music123 that I had been wanting to try out including the Jellifish Chorus Guitar Pick. When my order arrived, the Jellifish pick had been damaged in shipping and the metal tines had become bent which put a serious damper on the picks intended uses. So I called Music123 to request a return authorization and the simply said, keep the damaged one and we’ll send you a new Jellifish pick free of charge. That, in my opinion, was excellent customer service. I didn’t have to go through the hassle of returning the damaged pick and I got 2 picks for the price of one. I was able to bend the damaged pick straight enough that it would work even though it didn’t work as well as the undamaged one. (more…)
Eddie Van Halen Interview About The EVH Wolfgang Guitar

If there’s one live band that changed the whole world of Rock-N-Roll it was Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen is one of the most legendary live guitarists of all time and he is also a guitar building guru. From his earliest day’s as a guitarist he was experimenting with his guitars and changing up their designs. Just the replica of his legendary Van Halen Frankenstein guitar is sought after by collectors and lusted after by fans.

The new EVH Wolfgang Guitar by Fender is the latest and greatest culmination of Eddie’s relentless quest for guitar design perfection. In this video, Eddie himself talks about the the design process and unique qualites that went into creating the new EVH Wolfgang guitar. (more…)
Musician’s Friend Earth Day Celebration Green Manufactured Music Equipment

   In celebration of Earth Day 2009, (yes I know it was April 22nd) Musician’s Friend is featuring manufacturers who exemplify eco-friendly manufacturing practices. They’re also highlighting manufacturers that show and extraordinary commitment to humanitarian issues. What does this mean to those of us who play in a live band? The chance to score some very unique music equipment and do our part to help save the planet.

Martin SWDGT Drednought Acoustic Guitar

    Some of the top music equipment manufacturers feature very creative ways to help keep their manufacturing footprint to a minimum. Martin Guitar company uses wood from well-managed forests as well as using earth-friendly woods such as birch and cherry wood. I’ve seen some truly beautiful instruments made from Cherry wood such as the Martin SWDGT Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar which has solid cherry wood back and sides.

   Make sure you check out the full list of enviromentally conscious products from top manufacturers such as DW Drums, JBL, Laguna and QSC. Just click on the green banners in this post to see the excellent products presented by Musician’s Friend.
Practicing One Hour A Day Will Make You An Elite Musician

Joe Satriani Is An Elite Musician

I’ve been playing in a live band since I was 14 years old. I’ve met and played with some incredible, elite musicians over the years. I’ve always had the goal of being the absolute best musician I could possibly be. So I’ve asked a lot of musician’s over the years how they got to be so good. The answer is always the same: Practice.

I’ve written several posts about the topic of practicing on Live Musician Central because I’m a huge believer in the power of practice to make you a better musician. I know for a fact that people with very little natural talent are some of the best players around. The reason they’re so good is because of their work ethic when it comes to practicing their instrument. Having a talent for music and talent for playing your instrument is a blessing and will help you to become a good player. But to be a truly great player, you need to work and that means practicing. (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Green Jelly “The Three Little Pigs” Video

Ahh yes, a classic metal tune by the crazy metal band Green Jelly. This was huge back in 1993 and we used to watch it on MTV all the time. My oldest son used to be scared to death of Rambo in it. He was so scared, all we had to do was say “Raaaambo!” to him and he’d run and hide. Of course he was only two years old at the time. (more…)
Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 5-2-09

   Every week on Live Musician Central we post up some of the top new music releases for you to download. Do we think these are the best releases of the week? Not necessarily, but they are the most heavily marketed new releases by the music industry. If you’re in a live band it’s a good idea to stay on top of what music is being pushed by the music industry. These are the songs that are going to be getting airplay in the clubs, music television and the radio. If you know what’s being pushed on the public you stay relevant in the clubs you play in by either learning these songs or having them on your MP3 player of iPod to play during your band breaks.

   Since iTunes is the top music retailer in the U.S. we include links to albums that are being specially promoted on iTunes. We also include links to Amazon.com MP3 service. Amazon.com MP3’s are encoded at an excellent 256kbps and sound fantastic. They’re less expensive than iTunes and will play perfectly on all portable music players including iPods and iPhones. They’re also DRM free so you can load them on multiple players.

   We also include links to some all time best selling albums so you can keep building your band’s songlist with proven, well-known songs.
(more…)
Dealing With Change And Guiding Your Live Band’s Evolution

In Stereo Sings 3-Part Harmony

One thing I’ve found from all my years of playing in a live band is that things are constantly changing. The type and quality of equipment is always changing. The current popular songs are always changing. Your live band has to constantly change as well just to keep up with everything else. Believe me, the best way to let your band die is to refuse to change.

One of the biggest problems I see in live bands is they become unwilling to change to fit the their ever changing environment. The biggest reason for this is because of plain old laziness. It takes work to keep your band up to date and relevant. The biggest mistake that bands make is an unwillingness to change their set list. You really need to get rid of songs that you’ve been playing forever and start learning some new songs. Your song list should be constantly added to and changed up at gigs. (more…)
About The Product Links From Amazon, eBay and Musician’s Friend

Hi everybody, I’ve had a few people ask me if Live Musician Central is all about selling products. The answer is no, Live Musician Central is all about playing in a live band. That’s why I link the words Live Band to the homepage of Live Musician Central. So why do I have so many links to products on Live Musician Central? (more…)