The Differentiators...What Sets Bands Apart

This is a "reprint" of a posting I did about 3 years ago. Apparently, there has been some resurgence in my pontifications. This was originally written in 2007...everything still holds true today.




It's Sunday afternoon, and I've just finishing cleaning my guitars from two shows this past weekend with The Rhythm Dawgs--. I've done the web updates and scheduled rehearsals for the next couple of weeks. At breakfast, my wife Barb and I talked about the shows this weekend. She made a couple of comments about how successful our shows have been lately, and it got me thinking about what differentiates one band from another.


The Rhythm Dawgs played in two new venues (for us) this past weekend. One was a pool hall, and the other a small venue that features live music. In both locations, the band was very well received. The patrons kept telling up how much they were enjoying themselves. The owners and managers are calling the next day to grab any and all of our avails for the rest of the year. We have another client who always schedules us first, and then fills in the other bands around our schedule. So, why the Dawgs?


Everyone in the band is a proficient musician. We're not shread masters and we don't hold Berkley music degrees (but Dana did graduate from Guitar Institute of Technology with honors, so he is the most formally educated member of the band). That said, there are a lot of players out there that can run circles around us. So if it's not shear technical ability, what is it?


I thought back to dinner before the Saturday night show. After setup and soundcheck, 3 of us walked down the street to grab a sandwich. In the grill, there was a power trio setup in a small corner by the bar. They recognized us (maybe it was the Rhythm Dawgs shirts we had on), but we had no idea who they were. They never introduced themselves, never said hello to the crowd, nothing. They put on their instruments and started sonically pummeling the room. Don't get me wrong, they were very good players, and their version of "Born Under A Bad Sign" was excellent. But, there was no connection. No eye contact, no interaction, nothing. It was almost like watching a juke box.


OK...now it's starting to dawn on me. The biggest difference between the Dawgs and most of the other bands out there is the way we bridge that 4 foot span between the front of the stage and audience. They're part of it, not just spectators. We make them feel like they're part of something special and that they have some ownership in the event.

In trying to quantify this, I started writing down the things that I'm really anal about when it comes to a show:

1. Does it look right?

Yeah, it's music, but these days everything is so visually oriented. One thing we make sure of is that the stage looks like we're ready to play for network television or an arena. That doesn't mean Marshall amps stacked to the ceiling (although we do carry out a considerable amount of equipment). What it means is that the stage looks organized. We don't leave milk crates laying around, cables are secured, and the gear is clean.

We also take the time to at least augment the house lighting with some of our own. Depending on space and power, it may be anything from flying 16 PAR cans over us to just adding some accent lighting on the back line. We've also got these fire hydrants that light up (playing on the dog motif) that we'll try to place as well. But the point is, we try to do something that visually interested. Three of us used to work together at a concert lighting company (and Dana still does). One of the owners once said that a concert without lighting is just radio. Nice one, Lowell!



2. Do we look right?

I've heard some really good bands that look like they just got finished mowing the yard and came to the show as an afterthought. With the above mentioned band, the lead singer looked like he put a little thought into what he was going to wear. But, the rest of the guys...well, I'm sure their lawns look good.

We don't spend hours in a makeup chair getting our hair done before a show. But, as a former band member once put it so well, we at least dress like we're all in the same tax bracket. If the club patrons can't look around and pick out the band members in the room when they're not onstage, then the band missed the mark. I'm not saying you have to go all out like KISS, but at least look like you've put in some effort into your appearance.

I've got a vest that's sort of become a signature look for me (kind of like Angus Young's shorts, but the vest looks better on me). It's covered with Hard Rock Cafe pins from everywhere I've travelled, as well as a few others with some special meaning to me (like ones from the DCI drum corps my son has travelled and performed with). It serves another purpose in that it's a great icebreaker when I go around and visit with the folks in the club on breaks. People ask about the pins, and wind up knowing a little more about me as a person and not just as a band member. Hey, there's a little more of that "ownership" thing I was talking about.


3. Let the audience know you're there for them.

If it's just about the music for you, then stay in the studio and record. Playing out live now has many more challenges than it did 15 years ago. Between smoking ordinances, sound level ordinances, and scare tactics from certain organizations about how one drink will cause you to kill people, it's tough to get folks out of their house and into a venue. If they're going to spend their money on gas and cover charges, you had better give them a good reason to do so.


We don't care if it's a 50 seat or 1500 seat venue, we're going to put the same amount of effort and sweat into playing both shows. One way or another, we're going to find a way to entertain everyone in that room.


4. And yes, the music matters.

I guess here is where I would say that if you can't play something with conviction, then do us all a favor and just skip playing it. It doesn't matter if you're doing originals or covers, there's a certain amount of emotion that can be conveyed to the people in the room listening to you. Without that, again, it's like watching a juke box.

I could write a book on song selection at this point. It really comes down to picking a direction for your band and crafting your show around that. I know...I already hear the "...we play what we want on our terms, and if nobody else likes it, screw 'em", or the "cover bands suck" mantra. If you're an original band, then God bless ya', you have a much different agenda than us (although our originals that we sprinkle in throughout the night usually get a good reaction).


With the Dawgs, it was never about getting a record contract or getting famous. It was first and foremost about friends playing together, and going out periodically and playing for some other friends. We play things that we can play well, that we like, and that we think others will like to hear.


Do we hit the mark everytime...of course not. There's been a lot of songs that we thought were great and we could play them like nobody's business, but they just never got a crowd reaction. So, you live and learn.

Whether it was a planned decision or not, we've come to the point where we're known for playing those tunes that either make you go "...Wow, I haven't heard that in years" or "...I can't believe they're playing (fill in the blank)". Some of the covers, we stay very true to the original. Some of 'em....well, we'll just say that we don't think that Van Morrison every intended "Brown Eyed Girl" to be played like a southern rock boogie tune. But hey, it works and the audience loves it.


One thing that has been a group decision is to avoid certain songs that, in their original form, have just been done to death. To that end, you'll never hear the Dawgs do Margaritaville or Freebird. Why? Remember that thing I just said about playing with conviction? We recognize that it wouldn't happen with those songs, so why bother.


I should note that I know some bands that get paid very very well to be live jukeboxes, and I have nothing but respect for what they do. These are the bands that get $10-20 thousand dollars for private functions and wedding receptions, and are top caliber musicians that can play circles around me. That's a whole different part of the entertainment industry as far as I'm concerned. I just have neither the talent nor desire to pursue that type of musical career.



5. Good sound is not an option.


I've been very fortunate to have assembled a PA system over the years that fits this band's needs very well. Yeah, it's larger than most bands on our circuit carry out, and it's more work to set up and strike. As far as power, it gets loud enough for our needs (we've done outdoor shows for 300 people with no problem). The main thing I looked at when putting it together was getting a full sound with controlled dispersion. By design, the system is a medium-throw PA. This means that it's nice and full and thumping up close to the band. Move back 20-30 feet, and you can hold a comfortable conversion without having to raise your voice.

At the Friday show, I had one gentlemen (and I use that term loosely), come up to me and say "you don't need all this shit in a little room like this". To which I asked him "How do you know? Are you an audio engineer or a musician who's band has 2 Crapmaster PA speakers on sticks?". He got pissed and walked away at that point, so I figure he was the second one. And, for the record, I am a Certified Electronics Technician in Communications, Audio, and Industrial Control.

We really pride ourselves in being able to deliver a high-energy show without beating the audience to death with an aural assault. I guess that comes with age and experience (in other words, we got the volume thing out of our systems when we were teenagers). The patrons appreciate it, as well as the owners.


At that same Friday show, the manager saw all of the equipment and was nervous that we were going to blow the windows out. When we hit the first number, I looked up saw the manager standing there with his jaw dropped. I motioned for him to come over to my side of the stage and asked him if everything was ok. His reply...."that sounds amazing...don't touch a thing!". Mission accomplished. And to my friend with the Crapmaster PA...try spending a little less at the bar during your shows and you might be able to invest in better gear.

Going back to the first point (Does it look right?), it just plain impressive when you walk in and see our entire show setup. It doesn't matter if it's a 14' or 40' stage, it gets your attention. There's been more than one person who came in during happy hour, saw the setup, and decided they needed to stay to see the show.

Do you have to spend $50,000 on a PA? Nope. I've probably got a little more than a tenth of that invested. But, I watched where I spent the money. Again, I could write a book on this subject (and I've had some requests to do just that). I'll put it this way, if you plug a $20 Radio Shack microphone into a $70,000 Midas console, that console is going to very accurately reproduce every flaw in that cheap mic.


Conversely, if you plug a good mic (and there are very good mics in the $100 range) into a $500 console it's going to sound better. Not perfect, but a lot better. In other words, put your money into the source and work back from there. There's a lot of other parts of the signal chain that most bands miss, but I'll save that for another day.


6. Be humble and jam.

Back in the 80's, to make ends meet, I used to lease out PA and lights to a mobile DJ named J. Robert Hollie (aka Sugar Bear). I wound up being his lighting man for several years, and it turned out to be a very lucrative venture for both of us as well as well as a hell of a lot of fun. J. Robert could not rap, and only mixed a little. His presentation was more like a radio show than a traditional club DJ. But, that man could pack a 600 seat room anytime he wanted. Any DJs that battled him went home in shame. On a road trip to Louisiana one time, I asked him if he could only give me one piece of advice, what would it be. His answer, "...be humble and jam". That has stuck with me ever since. J. Robert, where ever you are, if you somehow read this just know I never forgot that lesson. (I also learned a lot of the "looks right" lesson from him as well. J. Robert would wear a different color tuxedo at every show. There was no mistaking who he was in the room.)

OK, I've pontificated, vented, and tried to pass on a little of my tribal knowledge. As usual, the opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily anyone elses. If you've taken away something useful, then you're welcome. If I've ticked you off, then please put your grown-up panties on and deal with it. It's just the internet!


Ken

My Continuing Music Education

As a lot of my close friends know, I've been very active in a modern rock band called Buzzfuel for the last year. It gave me a chance to play bass guitar on a regular basis again, and really push myself to learn a lot of new material.

Now, let me set this up. I'm at least 10 years older than the rest of the band (but, I've also got at least 10 years more experience than them too). It took a month or two for all of us to get comfortable, but after the "probation" things really fell into place.

I found a role in the band as Chief Engineer. They had great equipment...they just needed a little help integrating it all together. So, after a bit of work we get the setup time down from around 2.5 hours to about 45 minutes. Hey, more time for everyone to drink beer, right?

Throughout the rest of the year, I found myself for the first time in a long time practicing on a regular basis. And after a few months of that, I found myself being able to play some ridiculously complicated stuff...things I hadn't been able to play since the 70's.

And then I noticed that I had re-learned to listen critically, and isolate different parts of a song to learn. All of the players in Buzzfuel were held to a pretty high standard...close enough was usually not close enough. It then became a game for me...how close can I nail a song to where the band leader has nothing to complain about. I probably put in way more time learning some songs than I should have, but it made me a better player...no doubt.

And with Buzzfuel, I have now gone through something that (amazingly) I never have in all of my decades of playing...and that was deliberate break up. All of my previous bands either just drifted apart, or made an ugly split. This was neither.

Unless you're The Rolling Stones...no band lasts forever. I guess I've been spoiled by playing guitar with The Rhythm Dawgs for 11 years now, but every band has a shelf life. And unfortunately, Buzzfuel has reached that point. There was no fight, no disagreement, no drama. No one got fired for drug abuse or sleeping with someone else's girlfriend / wife. Nope, just some of the members decided they had other things in their lives that were more important. And in all justification, a couple of them have had rather large changes of recent.

So, now I'm searching for what I'm supposed to be feeling right now. Buzzfuel is going to be a hard band to walk away from. The players were all top notch, we got good venues to play, we were very well equiped, and we all genuinely liked each other. I'm really going to miss playing with those guys, because everytime I did I learned something new.

And so to my brothers in Buzzfuel, I must take the time to thank each of you.

To drummer Larry Horvat...you got it. You understood the "marriage" between a drummer and bassist. You hit hard and played your heart out ever gig...whether there were 20 people or 500. The two of us formed a rhythm section that could turn goat piss into gasoline.

To guitarist Mike Bedard...you always brought this understated intensity to the performance. You understood the space around the notes. And when you put your guitar down and picked up the mic to sing...you were bundle of directed insanity and energy...I loved it.

To lead vocalist JD Stumph...you brought a confidence that wasn't overshadowed by ego (unlike 99% of the front men out there working today). You took command of the room, but always remained approachable. And you always brought a full on performance.

And to lead guitarist and ring leader John Cortell. You have done more to shape my playing in the last year than anyone in the previous two decades. You set the bar high and held me to that standard. You saw in me ability that I didn't realize I had. I'll always be indebted to you.

And so...now what to do. The Rhythm Dawgs will continue to be an important creative outlet on guitar for me. But I've got all this cool bass gear....it would be a shame for it to just lay around now....