Live Musician Central

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  • Gig Report – Bonne Nuit At Cybergate Cafe April 17, 2010

    Bonne Nuit Plays A Live Show
    Bonne Nuit Playing Live At The Cybergate Cafe

       I played a gig with my sons in our live band Bonne Nuit this past Saturday night at the Cybergate Cafe in Provo, Utah. Even though we’ve played some live online concerts, it was our first live show in front of a live audience. We rehearsed a lot to get ready for the show by doing standard practices with a couple good dress rehearsals in our practice space. The pressure of putting on a live show really helps to focus band practices and we really improved a lot getting ready to do this show.

       We know we’re having a real rehearsal when the neighbors across the street call the Police to come give us a listen. They’re the only neighbors that do this and I believe it’s because they want the Police to have an easy call coming to listen to our band and talk to us about it. Luckily, the Police always seem to like our band and simply tell us to carry on playing. While we were practicing for the Cybergate Cafe gig, our nice neighbors called the Police to come have a listen when we were practicing at 5:30 PM. The Police apologized profusely for bothering us and told us to carry on, that we sounded great and to shut it down at 10:00 PM. So we knew we had a hit show prepared!    (more…)

  • How To Build Your P.A. System

    Yamaha EMX512SC/S115V
    Yamaha EMX512SC/S115V P.A. System Package

    One of the most essential collections of equipment you’ll need for your live band is a good P.A. System. There are a lot of different P.A. System configurations and you can spend a lot of money building a P.A. from the ground up. Today I’m going to talk about what you need to build a basic P.A. system that will get you out in front of people playing gigs.     (more…)

  • Gig Report – Highway 6 Plays UEA Event

    Highway 6

       I had an interesting gig with my good friend Tom Nedreberg in the live band Highway 6 on Saturday April 10, 2010. We played for the UEA (Utah Education Association) Political Action Committee Capitol Club Event. It was the first time I’ve ever played a show that had a political purpose. It was also the first time I’ve ever followed a speech by the Governor of Utah.

       Highway 6 was the entertainment for the evening and we were asked to play 6 songs on acoustic guitars. The members of Highway 6 that played were myself and Tom Nedreberg on acoustic guitars and Disa Nedreberg making her debut singing lead vocals. We practiced and were ready for the gig with a tight set of songs.   (more…)

  • Sunday Funnies – Sesame Street Ladybug Picnic

       Okay, growing up we didn’t have a whole lot of TV channels so the choices in kids shows were fairly limited. One staple of our growing up years was Sesame Street. It’s been fascinating over the years hearing how the music we listened to on Sesame Street has influenced our songwriting. My band Shufflin’ Noah has been known to bust off a Sesame Street style original or even a cover song over the years.

       The Ladybug Picnic is a short counting song that sticks in your brain and just won’t let go. There’s just something crazy catchy about it. So watch at your own peril because once you hear this song, you may not be able to get rid of it!    (more…)

  • Shure SE115 Sound Isolating Earphones Review

    Shure SE115 Sound Isolating Earphones
    Shure SE115 Sound Isolating Earphones

       I like to protect my ears from excessive noise when I’m listening to my personal music for pleasure. Having an excellent pair of sound isolating earphones is essential to protecting my hearing which I’m sorry to say isn’t so good after all my years playing in a live band. Still, I’m extremely picky about how my music sounds and I like to hear it warm and clear when I’m listening for pleasure. Sound isolating earphones are important for me because I can keep the volume at a reasonable level and still hear every detail of the music.

       I own a high end pair of Shure SE530 sound isolating earphones that I use for personal monitors with my live band. I also use them when I travel or simply want to listen to music when my Sennheiser headphones aren’t around. The thing is, they’re so expensive that I’m extremely careful with them and I don’t like to go running, biking or hiking with them. I love to be active and I’m a very serious runner so I wanted a really good pair of headphones that had high end sound but that didn’t cost $300.   (more…)

  • Week Before Gig Preparation

    In Stereo At 2002 Winter Olympics   Having a big gig on the calender is the main goal of every live band. If you’re lucky, you’ve had plenty of time to prepare for your gig,  you’ve got all the songs learned and your show is completely rehearsed. There are a few things I like to be on top of my game the week before a big gig.

       The first thing I do is spend time alone practicing any parts that I have trouble with. This includes complicated guitar solos, tricky lyrics or anything that gives me rhythmic problems. I like to just put a little more polish and sparkle on my playing the final week before a big gig so I put in some extra time playing with a metronome as well. I try not to overdo it but the extra practice really settles my nerves.

       (more…)

  • Happy Easter From Live Musician Central

    Hope you all have a fantastic and fun Easter today!   (more…)

  • Band Members Must Have Common Goals

    Matt Rushton and Tom Nedreberg
    Matt and Tom Have A Goal Of Playing As Many Gigs As Possible

       One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my live band is getting a group of musicians together that all share the same goals. There are a lot of musicians out there but not all of them want to play in bars. Some musicians just want to jam and don’t want to play any live gigs at all, ever. If your band is going to succeed you really need to have common goals.

       The first thing you need to discuss before you even decide on what type of songs you want to play is where and when you will play gigs. This will determine your song selection as well as whether or not the individual band members are willing to commit to certain types of gigs. Too many bands dive right into learning songs which is always the first goal of any band. Let’s talk about that first goal of learning songs for minute.   (more…)

  • So Your Band Sounds Like A Train Wreck

    In Stereo Jamming Live At The Canyon Inn
    In Stereo Started Out Sounding Like A Train Wreck

       So you’ve searched for musicians, finally found a the perfect band lineup, and you’ve decided what type of music you want to play with your live band. You’ve had a few band practices but your new live band sounds like a train wreck. This is a common problem and believe it or not, can be very simple to solve.

       The first question you have to answer is, what’s causing your band to sound like a train wreck. The most common problems I’ve seen in new bands are centered around the ability to play to a beat and individual player preparation.    (more…)

  • Sunday Funnies – Bikini Girls And Spectacles

       For today’s Sunday Funnies I’m posting up a pretty funny ad for Specsavers. It’s relevant to performing musicians because let’s face it, you have to look cool when you’re up onstage. There’s nothing that can overcome a dorky look, so be careful how you dress!   (more…)