We were hired by a very beautiful & charming lady the guitar player & me have known for years* to play for her friend's 40th b'day,she'd rented the local Moose Lodge hall for it.
I've played the various private clubs & organizations over the years,Elks,Moose,VFW,American Legion etc...& they all have pretty much the same thing in common: a buncha old drunks who have no other place to hang out,they don't like any music past 1975 & it's gotta be country.
(never mind that I'm now approaching that age myself )
Well,this was a little different.I,as usual,get there a little early to set up my drums & I'm greeted by a lady I know well,turns out she's the 2nd in command.Then I see 4-5 other people I know from another bar I've played at the last 16 years & my brother's there,turns out he's a member (I'd called him to tell him we'd be playin' there).
Then we meet the "Governor" (head of that chapter) & he's this old biker lookin' guy,really friendly,later in the evening when it was gettin warm inside due to the AC not workin' well he grabs a big fan & sets it up for us.
Turns out they were a great audience,not only did the party people like us,the members said we were the best band they'd ever had there & they absolutely loved our original music.
The Govenor came up to us after we'd finished playing for the party folks & asked if we could play another set or 2,I told him "We were hired to play the party & it's over.If you wanna hire us to play more let's discuss money" He said he didn't have the budget that night (we were tired too) but he really wanted to have us back,soon
So I'm supposed to call him Monday & get some dates & I'm gonna join,it's only $35 a year,I figure bein' a member too will give us more clout.The impression the Gov' gave me was that he personally liked us & wanted to hear more of our original music.
He told me they were tryin' to get more people to join after a disasterous year & a half of the former Gov runnin' people off & felt that we'd be a welcome addition to the promotion.
With local bands scrabblin' for gigs in a bad economy & very few plcaes hirin' original bands this is a real shot in the arm for us
* Paul & I really like the woman & she really is damn good lookin' but we don't trust her as far as we can spit
I've played the various private clubs & organizations over the years,Elks,Moose,VFW,American Legion etc...& they all have pretty much the same thing in common: a buncha old drunks who have no other place to hang out,they don't like any music past 1975 & it's gotta be country.
(never mind that I'm now approaching that age myself )
Well,this was a little different.I,as usual,get there a little early to set up my drums & I'm greeted by a lady I know well,turns out she's the 2nd in command.Then I see 4-5 other people I know from another bar I've played at the last 16 years & my brother's there,turns out he's a member (I'd called him to tell him we'd be playin' there).
Then we meet the "Governor" (head of that chapter) & he's this old biker lookin' guy,really friendly,later in the evening when it was gettin warm inside due to the AC not workin' well he grabs a big fan & sets it up for us.
Turns out they were a great audience,not only did the party people like us,the members said we were the best band they'd ever had there & they absolutely loved our original music.
The Govenor came up to us after we'd finished playing for the party folks & asked if we could play another set or 2,I told him "We were hired to play the party & it's over.If you wanna hire us to play more let's discuss money" He said he didn't have the budget that night (we were tired too) but he really wanted to have us back,soon
So I'm supposed to call him Monday & get some dates & I'm gonna join,it's only $35 a year,I figure bein' a member too will give us more clout.The impression the Gov' gave me was that he personally liked us & wanted to hear more of our original music.
He told me they were tryin' to get more people to join after a disasterous year & a half of the former Gov runnin' people off & felt that we'd be a welcome addition to the promotion.
With local bands scrabblin' for gigs in a bad economy & very few plcaes hirin' original bands this is a real shot in the arm for us
* Paul & I really like the woman & she really is damn good lookin' but we don't trust her as far as we can spit
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