Was it worth it ?

[bazzrd9th]

Hi Guys.
Maybe a sign of the times, or a passion for music and the steel, and the playing thereof...who knows.
Last Monday we backed Landon Dodd and Tony Booth at the United Services club, Widnes.
Great guys, a great night of Texas dance hall music. We did a forty minute set and then Landon and Tony did a one hour set and an hour and a half set....We used Shane, his own drummer who had come over with him.....One hell of a long night.
It all started three weeks before when it was offered to us as a paid job. As usual ,after accepting the gig it escalated to something a lot more. We had, in that time to learn thirty four songs !!!!. A least we already knew about five of them. I ended up MDing the show and when I realised what was expected of us, and Landon's needs, I decided to book a fiddle player (Seonaidg (Shona) Matheson) and a guitarist (Lennie Whitehead). The time we spent burning the midnight oil, learning all the outros, intros and solos was unbelievable and wasn't justified by the monies offered, given that the copies of the songs were by top US country singers, Haggard, Bush, Paycheck and many others and meant apeing all the steel intros and solos. I must have spent upwards of twenty hours on them....thank god for the numbers system. We also supplied the PA.
We arrived at the club at 2pm, set the PA up, sound checked and the guys arrived from their Scottish gig, absolutely wiped out after a 500 mile drive, at nearly five pm...not much time for a run through !.
Landon changed some intros and solos around on the fly during the set which was rather hairy. When you are expecting a verse intro and a couple of seconds before the start the singer turns round and says ' A five Barry on a two'.....you thank god you know how the working US bands operate. A five is a turnaround in the songs key signature , and a two is the call from the drummer....34-1 2.
When Tony Booth was up and throwing songs at us we didn't know, and shows four fingers for the key, shouts 'four on a one' and the drummer goes straight into a count 34-1...you really have to be on your metal.
I must admit I've never concentarted so hard...also given the fact Landon changed the song order around, added solos and dropped three songs from the last set....
It's the nature of the Texas dance halls where bands play nearly all night and need to have a vast repertoire of numbers.
I was truly knackered at end of it all, and all for £100.....Was it worth it for all the effort and angst.....was less than £2 an hour and all the stress worth the effort ???.........Damn right it was....It was brill. I went home with a great sense of satisfaction and a job well done and hopefully sent the guys back to the States with a really good buzz.
Bring it on.....65 years old and still gagging for it......
Barry

[Ken Byng]

Barry - great story. What you have to remember is that most of your counterparts in the States get a half of what you earned for your night. I don't know how many of them survive, but like you they just love playing.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Way to go Baz!!! tell it like it really is!! .....Glad you enjoyed the gig

[Dave Nutt]

Barry, you did it because of your passion for pedal steel guitar, you succeeded because of all those years of experience plus your undeniable talent.
Its such a pity that UK steelies never really get the level of exposure and kudos that the US pickers get. I hope those guys go home and tell it like it was.
Well done Barry.

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

Barry,
You are certainly to be congratulated on a great effort and for Your dedication,true pro.
To learn the intro's outro's and solo's for thirty four songs in twenty hours!!!! It takes me twenty hours to learn one intro to one song.
Well done.
Billy