It’s been around eleven years since I was in a band last. I’ve tried to hook up with other musicians since then and get something happening, but for various reasons it didn’t pan out. Back in November I tried out for a band. It was an ideal situation in a number of ways. They met at the drummer’s house, which was large, well appointed, and detached enough that noise complaints were not an issue.
I was given a list of songs to learn, and they were all classic rock, particularly Led Zeppelin and Journey. Here’s the problem, Robert Plant and Steve Perry are tenors. I’m not. I’m a baritone, and there’s no way I could sing “Separate Ways” in that register. So I dropped it an octave but then I was a little unsure of the pitch. So my performance was pretty bad. But when I left I was looking forward to getting back to it.
Then the next day I received a text from the drummer. He said he had talked it over with the other guys and they were going to look in another direction. I was angry, felt rejected. But I could see where they were coming from. He also told me they were committed to the songs they’d chosen and that he personally had no rock star ambitions. He just wanted to get up and play the songs they had chosen.
Call it musical differences. In a way, they did me a favor. I wouldn’t have been happy singing a bunch of vintage songs for an audience of people who’d heard it all before. I’m a songwriter; I’ve written and produced several albums of original material. If I’m ever going to get up on a stage again and play music, it’s going to be my own music that I’m confident in, not a bunch of 40 year old AOR tunes that will be heard in every bar and on every county fair stage in America over the course of the next four months.
Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with cover bands. I have many friends among the musicians I know who play in cover bands, enjoy it, have faithful followings, and even earn a few bucks here and there. And I like going to see them play when I can. But it’s not what I’m interested in doing. I want to do original music, so I guess I have to get out there and meet some like minded people.
Here’s the lead single from my last album:
