No Jitters Here! We’re Professionals!
What better way to get Gail dancing than to just schedule a show? In a few very short months, we’ve gone from talking about it, to posting about it, and now we’re on to doing something about it. It all started with a social media post about being frustrated with two-years of lockdowns and lack of bands doing the kind of music we (and many people with whom we hang) would like to hear in the Bakersfield area live venues. Gail and I started going through playlists and songs night after night over the course of about 2 weeks. We found over 50 songs from the 80’s (our stomping grounds) that really groove and bring back a lot of great memories of a much simpler time. Most importantly, Gail will dance to them, and Will Gail Dance? is rehearsing those songs now.
Sitting behind an instrument and rehearsing 20 songs in a row is quite grueling no matter how experienced the musician. Think about that for a second. That’s 20 songs times an average of 4:15-30 per song and roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes. Mind you, that’s just to play through each song one time, and that’s just 20 songs. This doesn’t include the time spent on learning the songs before even sitting down to play. It is one thing to listen to the radio and pick up a few things, especially when you’ve heard these songs for over 30 years. It is quite another to actively listen, analyze, and transcribe your parts then go back and play along with air guitar or air drums before doing it for real with sticks and pics in hand–by yourself. Remember, I said 50 songs not 20, and we are just getting started.
Just saying this: By the time a great cover band of experienced musicians plays together for the first time, each member has invested hundreds of (spare) hours working out thier parts, programming effects boxes, figuring out sticking patterns, working on the stage show and band communication, determining how to talk to the audience, building the right set list for the venue, and a whole myriad of things before rehearsing the actual show. They’ve stocked up on strings and sticks and gadgets, and gear nobody will ever know about. From first-hand experience, this effort is purely for the love of music and the instruments and the hopes of doing something special together that will make people (not just Gail) have a blast and dance their hearts out. This is done out of gratitude for an era when bands full of musicians played together on stage long before the era of lip-syncing and solo performers.
Our first gig will be successful. There are no jitters here and we can’t wait to play. Come on out and see Will Gail Dance?