Had an incredible "Build Your Own Band" event this weekend....

baimun

baimun

Funkasaurus Rex
Every August the Goshen ArtHouse does a "Build Your Own Band" event where the participants are sorted into various groups ensuring that each has at least one drummer, vocalist, bass player, guitarist, and then fills in the rest with keys, violin, banjo, flute, depending on who signs up. Past years my different bands have had pan flutes and keytar. Then the bands break off into different rehearsal spaces around town, write an original song, and then rehearse it to be able to perform at the showcase that evening. :helper:

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Due to the sorting, we ended up with the smallest band of only 4 members. Our singer was a recent music major with perfect pitch... but when I asked all of the band members what were some of their favorite artists, she rattled off some indie artists I was completely unfamiliar with. "Umm.... any pop or rock bands you like?" She says "Well... Paramore?" :baimun: "I can work with that!"

I was the only one in our group that has done this all four years, so I knew how quickly our couple hours of writing and rehearsing were going to go, so I wanted to simplify the structure... and when it came time for voting I wanted to make sure our song was memorable with a good earworm hook.

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We started with a simple I - V - vi - IV in E and then Keith, John, and I started jamming on it a bit. Aysia was coming up with some ideas but I could see that she was starting to get overwhelmed pretty quickly. (I completely understand because the previous three times, I've had to write the song, then play and sing. This year I just wanted to rock out on guitar.)

I gave her an idea that was rattling around in my head on the days leading up to the event... "The words might not come out right, but we're all here tonight" and that started the work flow. She worked on lines and we tossed around different words to keep if from being too rhymie-rhymie.

The sparkle pink Sully was the perfect attention grabbing guitar for this event... and it didn't disappoint.

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Out of the 8 bands that performed, we won "Best Song"... and I'm so geeked about it. I've come close to winning before (people walking up to me at the bar afterwards "how did you guys not win? You were robbed").... so the Encore performance was even better than the competition one.

Supposedly the ArtHouse has some recordings of the event.... I saw a camera and hopefully they captured live from the board. I'd really like to play it for you guys!! :helper:
 
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I forgot to mention.... our band name was "Momentary Marmalade"... because we're a one-night-only Jam band. :helper:

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Dad jokes for the wiiiiiiin... :baimun:


Ironically enough, Aysia wasn't even supposed to be in the country this month. She's going to the UK to get her Master's Degree in music. There was a delay with her visa. Her mother and brother were also participating so she signed up late. She was unfamiliar with Paddington (but liked the Marmalade reference and alliteration) so I told her that movie was her homework and that we would be sending her to the UK with a paper tag that reads "Please look after this singer. Thank You"
 
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That sounds like an amazing event! We have a couple school-of-rock type organizations around here but nothing for established players.
 
Chicken Man said:
That sounds like an amazing event! We have a couple school-of-rock type organizations around here but nothing for established players.
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One of the great things about this event is the wide variety of backgrounds and experience levels. The ArtHouse takes that into account and tries to make sure that you don't end up with one band of bedroom players who've never been on a stage before while another band is a loaded supergroup.

It really helps give the experience and boost to newcomers and is just a big nerd-fest for those of us who have been doing this for a while. I met a dude from a regional band who also happens to work at Sweetwater... so I think I have a new rep. :helper: Hey Logan!!!
 
Cool
I couldn't write a song if my life depended on it! I have the upmost respect for those of you that can do it, even moreso if you did it in a few hours under pressue :eek::baimun:
 
Dudeman1967 said:
I love the whole concept.

If they had a “B” or “C” league I would be in for sure.
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The event is really geared for ALL experience and skill levels.

In a past year we had a bass player who had never played at school, or with any other human beings. We helped him make sure he was in tune, had a usable tone, and gave him lots of eye contact and queues for changes. They were buzzing after the event and came back this year. :baimun:
 
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