A Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Webzine
August 2006 · Bimonthly
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In this issue: Interview with Hiromi's Bassist, Tony Grey |
Walkin' Through the Jazz 'hood (part duex II) | Different Ways of Playing the Scales | Life on the Road: The Urban Cowboy Band - Part 1 | Bass Sessions to Go! Print this Article (PDF) Email Article to a Friend 
Life on the Road:The Urban Cowboy Band - Part 1by Michael Garnett I got lucky last month and scored a gig playing low notes for Johnny Lee's "Urban Cowboy Band." "Looking for Love," was his smash hit from that Travolta movie in the early 80s. I'm sure some of our more mature readers remember that one. Eddie Murphy even parodied the song in a Saturday Night Live sketch. It seems most of the people I've told about the gig will start singing "Wookin Pa Nub" right back to me. I'll be keeping a diary of our gigs, and thought I'd share some of what I've learned with our friends out there in the bass community. First off, it took quite a while for me to actually land the gig. I found a wanted ad on a musician's website and responded immediately. This was the third week of November, 2005. I told them I played bass, knew most of Johnny's hits already, and was very interested in the position. They had given another guy the gig, but by the second week of February the guys were considering making a switch. However, the current guy still wasn't doing anything wrong, or wasn't bad enough to get the axe. By the end of March, he had found a day gig that paid better and gave his notice. So, 5 months after initially contacting them, I got hired. All it took on my part was a phone call or e-mail every once in a while, just letting them know I was still interested. And the perseverance paid off. 
My first show with the band was at the end of April at Waco in the Heart O' Texas Coliseum. Before the gig, I received the CDs and started listening, charting, and practicing. Since the band was spread out across Texas and Oklahoma, there was no opportunity to rehearse anything until sound check. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about the gig; I was sitting on a pucker factor of around 9.3. Having played mostly smaller bar gigs my whole career, walking in the loading dock of that place gave me the jitters. Those of you that have played big coliseum gigs can surely remember your first. Those of you that haven't yet, you'll know what I'm talking about soon enough. A sound check in the center of an empty coliseum, with all the lights on, makes you feel about as small as you'd look from the nosebleed section. To top it all off, I misread the road map and was almost 30 minutes late for load-in, a HUGE no-no. 30 minutes late for my first gig. Fortunately, the other band was almost 1 hour late getting done with their sound check, so I wasn't in too much trouble. The time crunch didn't help the nerves much. After a bite to eat, we headed for the hotel and I tried to relax. By show time, I was shaking like a dog trying to... no, can't say that here... You couldn't have forced a BB... no, can't say that either. By show time, my pucker factor was in the neighborhood of 9.9. I had completely psyched myself out. I couldn't have told you what key the first song was in. I had convinced myself that I didn't know a single song on the set list, and I was completely panicked. The nerves had me in a bad way. But we kicked off the first song, and sure enough, my fingers knew where to go. We nailed it. Kicked the second tune, nailed that one. A little voice in my head told me, "Hey, man, this is just like playing with the CD. You know all this stuff, what were you worried about?" The rest of the show went off pretty much without a hitch. I relaxed a little bit, played a few wrong notes, smiled a bunch, and nobody knew any different. In the weeks before the gig, all I could see was a gold record, 5 number one hits, and 7 more top ten tunes. About halfway through the show, I realized that I was just playing bass for a guy that liked to tell jokes and have a good time. We made it through the gig, and everybody was so happy with my playing that I was asked to become a permanent member of the band. Our second gig was The Grizzly Rose in Denver, CO. What a great club. Great show, great crowd, great sound crew, and the nerves didn't bother me as much this time around. It was nice to relax and really get my head into the material. I was able to snap off a few pictures between songs, here's Johnny probably telling a dirty joke or something. Next, we're off for a long run across the West. Laughlin, Las Vegas, Phoenix, El Paso, and Albuquerque. I'll have the notebook and a couple cameras. Hopefully I'll have some stories that can be reprinted here. Y'all keep picking, and we'll see you down the road! A few pointers for the guys and gals out there trying to score a gig:
Happy Picking, and tune in next time, there's plenty more to come! Michael GarnettAbout the Author You can reach Michael by e-mail: michael.garnett@gmail.com Visit Johnny at: www.johnnyleefanclub.com [ top ]
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It sure felt good saying yes to that. Thanks to the rest of the band for helping me, thanks to the stage crew, the sound guys, and everyone else for making that first gig go off smoothly.