mark555

Hello Every one, it's time I took some time to write another entry and update the story of the band's journey. I really appreciate that some of you take time to read my blog as I really do enjoy writing it. We're well and truly in gigging mode now, and are getting more bookings than I thought we would, and going down really well wherever we are asked to play. Crowds have been of various sizes, from good to almost empty, but we have always tried to be as professional as we can be regardless of how many people have been at the venue. We are getting paid well for a club/pub band, we are reaching £350 for some gigs, which is good for where we want to be. One of the jobs I seem to have landed is that of finding gigs for us to play at, but I do get help from Sue, our other guitar players wife who is very good at making an effort and can be quite successful. To get the gigs though, I often have to spend a couple of evenings on the phone, searching out where the venues are on the internet, and trying several times to speak to the right person. I think I prefer to play at the Working Men's Clubs, some of which are quite impressive. Some of the pubs are ok, but very few have a stage, you just move a few tables out of the way and set up. A couple of weeks back we played a pub in my home town of Huddersfield and we got two return bookings right away for next year. the pubs usually give us a return booking, but the clubs are different and although we have had promises of further gigs, some have yet to materialise and the usual excuse is that the concert secretary's haven't got their 2016 diaries yet. I suppose that they haven't thought about downloading and printing one off for free. We've taken over £5000 in bookings so far, and out of the money I've already earned I have bought myself a Classic Player Strat in Fiesta Red, I did post pictures of it a few weeks back. But I intend on saving my share of the band earnings and just letting it accumulate until I decide what to do with it. Playing gigs is one thing, but it can take a lot of work to get them. Some of the venues only book through agents, and those guys can be a pain to deal with. So far we have handled our own affairs and hopefully it will stay that way. Thanks for reading, Mark.

A great read. Thanks for posting, and for doing something so positive.

Another gig under our belt, we played a venue called Netherton Conservative Club. With a small audience of about eighty, we played two sets of forty five minutes and one hour. The venue has the smallest stage I have ever played on - we had our mics fully extended and set on the dance floor. The club was well out of town and located in a nice setting, but humping the gear in and out was a pain in the neck because the door was a long way from the car park. We did not get a return booking there and then, which I would have liked to have secured, but I will be phoning back in a day or two as it's two weeks since we played. I must admit that I will not be too bothered if we don't get back there, but I see getting a return booking as part of a successful gig. We went down well, but I made a couple of howling mistakes in that I totally forgot some of the words of one song, and while playing a popular instrumental, I completely forgot where I was supposed to put my fingers. What was nice though, was a friend I haven't seen for a long time came about fifty miles to watch us play, he had seen my ad for the gig on facebook and decided to come over. We were a little rusty because our bass player had been in Australia for his son's wedding and had stayed a month, so we had only had one practice before the gig. Anyway, we're still finding venues to play, social clubs around Yorkshire in the main. I don't know what the US equivalent of these clubs are, but at one time the club circuit was huge in Britain. Well, today the main high spot of my rehearsal session with the band was using my Tokai Telecaster. That guitar is just a joy to play. As I am getting used to playing a telecaster, I understand why so many players love them. I am finding that I can use it on more and more numbers that we play, and it just cuts right through the mix and rings like a bell. I love it for playing early rock and roll and it just does the job so well, My friend Dave who plays in another local band, calls them a "Grown ups guitar". i waited a long time to get this instrument and it has been well worth the wait. Sometimes, somethings just work really well, and this guitar is one of those things, On top of that, it is so comfortable to play. One thing I have decided upon is that for the time being I have enough guitars, and what I really need is another amp I would be comfortable gigging with. For two reasons, the first is that I need a back up if my amp breaks down, and second, I can use humbuckers through it without having to take one guitar out and change all the settings. I am saving my gig money up to pay for it, with the gigs we have booked, I will soon have another amp. our next gig is in July, hopefully soon I will have some pictures to post of our gigs. On a different note, I have started to try and lose weight. I am way heavier than I should be and I am sick of it. I do not want to be the fat one in the band and so far I have lost four pounds - it's one small step for mark and one giant leap of hope! I have given myself a year to get to where I want to be. Here's hoping I can stay the course. To all those kind enough to read my blog, thank you so much, it is much appreciated.

Carpe Deum.... But also, you had the option of refusing it as not being saisfactory. It's no good accepting a product knowing it's not up to your standard and then complaining. if it is any consolation, many top players are using imperfect guitars. If you are not happy, take it back to the seller.

No Problem at all with a song list, but I am just checking in before getting int he shower to get ready for work so will send you details later.

Many thanks for your kind words Shoman.

many thanks for the kind words.

Many thanks Beagle!

Having put so much work in to the band, we are now playing live and played our first gig with the present line up, which we feel will be permanent. We all get along together and feel we have a common goal with none of us just tagging along. Our gig was at a nice pub on the outskirts of Huddersfield, called The Wagon and Horses, which is run by a young couple who seem to be doing a good job of it. With it being what we call in England a "Bank Holiday Weekend" it could have gone either way as to if any one came or not. But without the place being too full, a good crowd of local people of all ages were in. We went on and started our first set at 9:10pm and played for an hour, we opened our set with "Down At The Doctors" by Doctor Feelgood. At 11pm we played our second set and finished bang on 12 midnight. Our set list is composed of a mixture of rock and roll, 60's music, a couple of blues numbers and basic Rhythm and Blues. Lead guitar parts were shared equally between myself and Dave. I am really pleased to be able to tell you that we were really well received by the audience who applauded us after each song we played, and towards the end of the night were singing along with us and some were dancing. When we were packing up the gear, Lauren, co owner of the pub, came across to us with her diary and gave us two more bookings at £250 each for later in the year. That sum may not seem a lot, but it is good for the local pub scene. We have a booking for £300 in August. Sadly, over here in the UK band earnings have been the same for fifteen years or so now. What was really great was the fact that my 28 year old son George is visiting us and he and his friend came to watch and they really enjoyed us, there's something special about your son coming to see you play and having him tell you he thought you were great! One of the signs of being well received by your audience, as you will know, is that some of the audience will want to come and talk to you. A couple of older guys in their 70's wanted to come and and chat with us, because I was fronting the band I seemed to be their band member of choice! I considered it a compliment, although one old chap wouldn't let me get away and I was desperate to pack up and get home to bed! I finally got home at 1.30am. For the gig I used my strat, which has a Seymour Duncan JB Junior in the bridge slot, and also my Tokai Telecaster. I was so thrilled how well the Tokai performed and I can understand why so many players love their Telecasters. I used my Hot Rod DeLux amp and a pedal board which contained a pedal tuner, a reverb pedal, compressor, and an overdrive pedal. I found using the pedals an excellent way of controlling volume and effects without having to constantly turn to alter the amp. Dave, our other guitar player mainly used one of his three PRS guitars, a swamp ash special, and also a Les Paul. He uses a Marshall amp. Shaun used his 37 year old fender Precision and also his Precision bass which he built himself - a bass version of a partscaster. The one in the photo I am attaching is the partscaster precision. He plays through a Fender Bass amp with a 4 x 10 cab. It's been quite the journey to get to this point but the end result has been well worth it. Thanks for reading.

There were times when I really did not want to go to band practice, but we carried on and it's good now. Thanks for being kind enough to read and leave a comment, it is much appreciated.

I feel like we have crossed a really important bridge now, and that things are not going to be so difficult. We are now a band that is taking bookings and the fees are pretty good for a band of our ilk. More of that later. We are now a steady line up with committed musicians in the line up. It's been an up and down journey, losing two band members along the way. However, Shaun and I were determined it was not going to finish after all that hard work. We now have 33 numbers that we can go out and gig with, all we are doing now is polishing them up and getting them right, we are 85% there and the next four rehearsals will get us to where we want to be. I have plenty of practicing at home to do, but I can do that. I spent all Thursday night on the phone trying to contact the people who book bands for their venue, I got a good booking for a venue in Sheffield for August 22nd. One booking as a result of an evenings work on the phone, but out of all the places I called I actually only managed to speak to one guy and he booked us. A big working mans club in the city of Sheffield, £300 for the night and hopefully some return gigs. We have another booking for 27th of this month, at £225 at a pub in Huddersfield. The rest of the band were very happy about my work, but I reminded them that if they want to help by doing the same themselves it would be very much appreiciated, but I am not confident the others will do it. I love having a Telecaster. OK, it's not a Fender, but it is as good as most of the fender Tele's I have played. It's great for Stones songs, Honky Tonk Woman and it's all over now sound terrific, the clarity is spot on. I can understand why Telecasters are the favourite guitar of many players, I must admit that right now, although I use it on only a few of our numbers, my Tele is my favourite guitar and not just because it is new. Anyway, The rehearsals are great now, we just go through the songs and go from one to another, where as it was taking some time to get some of them down. We have four rehearsals until our first paid gig as our current line up. One thing that has struck me, Shaun and I started out last year with just he and I, auditioning players to join us. We had previously had a band that just would not work. We got a new guitar player and lost him, a great drummer and lost him. The end result was two new band members who have brought a better level of commitment and are easier to play with. Allen, our new drummer, was in the line up we had when it wouldn't work, and now there are three of us from that line up and it's working great. The difference being the lack of a weak link. And the difference that makes is huge. Thanks for reading.

We're now actively looking for gigs, so hopefully we will get some to report about.

After the abismal session we had last week without a drummer, things are looking up. During the week I decided to call a friend, Allen, who Shaun and I have played with before in a band we just could not get up and running. By good fortune for us, it turned out that Allen has not been playing any gigs since last summer and was fed up with his current band's lack of enthusiasm for going out and playing.As we had always got along together and had made a point of trying to stay in touch, and we arranged for him to come and play with us today. All four of us were very pleased how the rehearsal went and we had one of the best practices we've had in along time. I really like Terry, out old drummer, he's a terrific guy who I hope to stay in touch with, but the difference in having a drummer who us really up for it from one who had lost interest makes a huge difference and we just played song after song, with playing a few once or twice again just to get right. Even though we are all at a decent level, we still had to get used to playing with a new drummer and he with us. that was soon sorted out though. We had a great rehearsal and next week we are practicing on Friday night because my little Granddaughter is coming for the afternoon and I'm not missing that for any one! Thanks for reading.

Many thanks - We will miss our friend very much, like many who go prematurely, he was a great guy but more importantly just a good human being. As for the band, well, I have put too much effort into getting it going to let it go at this point!

Thanks for the kind comments, I don't think I could be a solo act myself, with me it's very much a band thing.

I would agree, we play what we have and discover why we bought them.

Trying to get a band up and running is full of twists and turns that you just don't expect to find. having completed a set list of over thirty numbers we are now ready to polish them to performance level and we have gigs booked. Then, this week, we all get an e mail from Terry our drummer saying he is quitting. He told me that he is not going to join any other band, but he wants to do other things. He and his brother have bought a narrow boat and want to go off on it at weekends with their wives and just enjoy themselves. Also, he has lost enthusiasm for drumming and looking back this has shown because he hasn't learned new songs he needed to and it was worrying me just enough to make me wonder why he wasn't making the effort. Terry is truly a nice guy and a gentleman, and he told me that as far as a bunch of guys go, we are terrific to be around and good musicians to play alongside. We shall remain friends, and after all, if his heart is not in it, we might as well look elsewhere. Never being one to let the grass grow under my feet, I have contacted Allen, a guy who I get on with very well who has been in a band with me before that didn't get off the ground, It turns out that his band is doing nothing and he was pleased to hear from me, we always got along very well and stayed friends. The upshot is that he is coming to play with us next saturday with the intention of joining us if it goes well, and there is no reason why it shouldn't. We still had a band practice this weekend, if for no other reason than to keep the discipline of practicing going. However, it was a bit of a waste of time because it was playing with a huge hole in the sound which just killed our enthusiasm. However, we did use some of the time to mess around with one or two new ideas. Now on to things that really matter. Tomorrow is the funeral of our dear and very close friend Peter. Helen and I have been friends with him and his wife Sue since our kids were babies, and all our kids are the best of friends. Sue and Peter are more like family to us than some of our blood family and tomorrow will be a tough day for them, so we have to help them get through it. The next couple of years will be tough for Sue, in a house on her own, she and Pete were one of the most together couples I have ever seen, you didn't find one without the other. Guitars and bands are great, but it's people who really matter.

Thanks Dick (is that your real name or a play on words??) The gig is at the end of March and we will let you know how we get on then.

Yes he's right in there, and not only that, he has spent some money on really good PA.

What with all the stuff going on about the HOC site being down, I haven't been able to post for a while, but I'm glad we're all finding our way back home and I am glad I can write my blog again. Well, lots has been going on since I last wrote a chapter in the progress of Rout 62, my band. The band's name is a bit of a play on Rout 66, and is toungue in cheek because two of us live in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, and the two big motorways that pass our town are the M1 which runs North from London and the M62 which runs East to West from Hull to Liverpool and is the busiest motorway in the country. Our rehearsals over the last six weeks have been hit and miss because of Christmas and sickness, particularly with myself and Terry, our drummer. So we got back to it yesterday and although it was time well spent, we were out of it with one or two. However, we have now completed our initial set list by adding three more songs to it which we quick and simple to learn, they are Please Please me, Big Boss Man and Got My Mojo Workin'. So now we are just going to polish them all up. We have our first gig lined up at a pub called The Wagon and Horses about fourteen miles from where I live, it's a nice pub, no sawdust on the floor and no spitoons in the corners! We're getting a data base together of venues who are booking bands, all I am doing is looking at the websites of other bands in our situation and seeing where they are playing, and phoning the venue up. Gigs are getting fewer these days as venues are closing rather than opening up, or even some cases just staying open. We will be hopefully playing at venues round the Yorkshire area, which is quite a big place. If there are some gigs to be had in east Lancashire we will take those also, but you would have to know the geography of England to know why we would or would not play a town. One thing is for sure, I am not going to spend all my earnings for the night on petrol just to get there and back. Earlier this week, I finally found the right Telecaster for me. I had found a couple of really nice American ones, but at £1300 they were more than I could really justify spending. I have been trying all sorts of variations of the Telecaster theme, Mexican Tele's, Japanese Tele's, all of them. While looking on the net to see what was for sale I looked on a particular website of a shop I have never been to which is about 30 miles from where I live so I decided to visit them. Any one who reads my posts will know I am a big fan of Japanese Tokai guitars, and the store I went to had three. These guitars are getting harder to find in the UK because Fender and Gibson are telling UK stockists that if they sell Tokai, they will take the Fender and Gibson franchises from them. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I now own a Japanese built Tokai Breezysound, which is their name for a telecaster. This guitar is the equal of the American Telecasters I have played at a much reduced cost to me. It came in a tweed case and I used it at rehearsal on Saturday. It was superb for most of the songs we played and was just so versatile. I really have got a great guitar and I can see why every serious player wants a Telecaster. As one of my mates says, it's a grown ups guitar. You can see it in my post entitled NGD on the boards. The band has gelled so well as four individuals, Dave, our other guitar player has brought a superb PA with him and we have all the gear we need now to put on a good gig, the rest is up to us to manage that gear well to produce the sound we need that will be good for the audiences we play to. Thanks for reading.

Peter Green - Hull's hardest working musician! New years eve seems a long time ago now Pete!

Back to rehearsing after a couple of weeks break due to starting a new job and also having had a very bad case of bronchitis. I wasn't really 100% fit for practice today because my chest was still weak, and I do a lot of the singing, but others are committed to the band and you have to keep this in mind. We now have 25 numbers in the set list and we are now starting to go through them one at a time, sharpening them up. There's nothing difficult about any of them for a half way decent player, as The Stones Sang, "It's only rock and roll, but I like it". As long as our audience like it, that's all we're bothered about. "Old Dave", who wasn't old in years but was our last guitar player, is long gone now and "new Dave" is making his mark on the band. He is fitting in really well and brings qualities that we appreciate. He has a lot of experience in playing and is great at rehearsals in that he is always ready to get on with it and has a positive outlook, he is also good at making sure we are not in the "we're a rehearsal band" frame of mind and is always reminding us to get ready for gigs. New numbers are being added very quickly now and by February we will e gigging. We have one more practice before Christmas and then one between Christmas and new year when we're not working, although New Dave is retired. What's nice about this band is that we are all getting along really well and we're also playing the music we like, and we all bring a decent level of talent. But talent is not always about how good you are on your particular instrument of choice when it comes to a band environment, I personally believe that it's about everything encompassing the band. I enjoyed JeffB's post on the Family Tree about how not being in a band has improved his life, and right from the start I have said I do not want this to rule my life. I do not want to get to the point where I am booked out months in advance playing when I don't want to. Something to bear in mind. Meanwhile, I am going to try and attach a few pictures I took at rehearsal yesterday, but none of me..... Thanks for reading and best wishes, Mark.

Many thanks Randy, I am trying to make it interesting to those kind enough to read. I am looking forward to writing about actual gigs.

I totally agree with you about Mustang Sally, it really is overdone to death. I have not heard the track "When I come Home", I will have a listen to it on you tube. I just can not summon up the mental effort to play Born to be Wild. Thanks for reading and for the reply.

Normally we practice as a full four piece, but today was a little different in that Terry, our drummer called me today full of flu and not only that, his home was bugled on Thursday night while he and his wife slept in their beds. In truth, he just needed some time to unwind and rest. So, undaunted, Dave, Shaun and I decided to practice and just kick some songs about that Dave did in his last band and just concentrate on guitar and bass parts. It was actually time well spent, and we didn't have to play as loud as we normally would. On top of that, Shaun and I got a nice surprise, Dave turned up with a full PA and a brand new mixer, saving us a lot of money. Now what I can't understand is why singers do not want to spend money on anything but a mic, yet here we have a guitar player who has spent money on some nice PA. Mind you, he was earning in his last band for eighteen years. So today we kicked the following numbers about to see if we want to progress them to completion. Won't get fooled again Substitute The last time Keep on Running I think we will get them all to gigging standard, but I turned my nose up at Born to be wild, but it was pointed out to me that Bikers like it. I don't know about that one, it seems a bit cheesy to me. On topic that came up is when do we start looking for gigs. I have always wanted everything right before I even think about looking for gigs but I am being pushed in this situation to start looking before I think I am ready to look. I have to remember that I am one of four band members, but I am sure Shaun will come down on my side because he saw what happened when one previous band members pushed us to play before we were ready. When I gig I want the people watching to be impressed and enjoy what we do.