Finding Musical Friends!

Next came the process that I was dreading - the search for musicians to realize my dream. I have been a musician all my life, and know just how hard and frustrating this part of the work is. I put ads in all the regular places - Craigslist in Boston and Rhode Island, Berklee Music School's Website etc. etc., and waited ...

Soon the wacky responses came rolling. Even though I had set out very specifically what I was looking for and asked for online examples of playing/singing skills, I got replies like, "I'm a gitar plyer" or "I sing EVERY kind of music ever thought of in the history of humankind, but NO there are NO examples of me singing ANYWHERE." I can assure you, it's VERY exasperating : )

I DID get one or two interesting responses however, and  swapped emails, but a couple of likely sounding guitarists were very difficult to pin down (impossible infact). Yes, they were interested, but no they couldn't make ANY daytime OR evening either on weekdays or weekends! Hmm, how are we going to get together exactly? One guy wrote that he would be available around November 2011!!

Thankfully, there WERE sane people who answered my ads too. A bass player/wind player from MA named Steve Tapper (I keep thinking that he has the same name as the VERY cool guitarist Steve "The Colonel" Cropper who played with Booker T & the M.G's), a drummer from RI named Rick Santos and a guitarist from RI who just LOVES the music of "Buffalo Springfield." Not a bad selection to start with.

I met Rick for a chat at my favorite coffee hangout, "The Coffee Exchange" in Providence, and went to see him play at a Blues Jam at the new Pawtucket rock venue "The Met," so by the time that we actually got to play together, I felt that I knew him a little bit. Steve, strangely enough had applied for a bass playing position with my Breton dance band "Trouz Bras" a couple of years ago, so it was good to know that he was interested, as I'd liked what I'd heard before. The other guitarist was wrapped up in a solo project, so I knew that his time and interest would be limited, but I liked the songs that he sent me, and thought that he would be a good addition to the project.

Wow! We have a time and place when we can all be in the same place lined-up! Let's do it!