Rock & Roll Hootchie Coo…

Some of you know that I’m in a band (Myopic Ramjet – garage and proud of it!). I’m that middle-aged guy who still rocks. I think I rock, my kids think I rock, therefore I rock. The difference between me and many other guys my age that play is that I never stopped. I run into guys who did it in college, fell out of it for a few years, or perhaps decades, then picked it back up when their lives permitted. I never stopped. Sometimes I slowed down, sometimes it was a month or two between practices, but it never stopped.

I play the guitar and occasionally sing, usually back up or harmony. I’m not a virtuoso by any means. What I am is an excellent rhythm player. I can step up and play a lead when I need to, but my forte is rhythm. For a long stretch I was in a power-trio called Hip Check with my buddies Bob on bass and Brian on drums. Bob and Brian were an amazing rhythm section, tight and funky, which made my job *MUCH* easier.

As a veteran of the club wars I have a few observations. One is that there are many, many guitar players out there who are technically more proficient than I am. So what? I play with feeling and with groove and I’ll get on a stage with anyone. Technicians are a dime a dozen. I can’t play Eruption by Van Halen, but I know where the pocket is and how to get in it. Nearly a decade in a power trio taught me that one of the most important things a guitar player can do is to shut up. Knowing when NOT to play is as important as knowing when to launch into a blazing lead break. You’d be surprised at how many guitar players never learn that lesson.

Another observation is that there’s a freedom to giving up THE DREAM, to finally admit that no matter how many gigs we play and no matter who the band opens for, we’re never going to be discovered and make a platinum CD (Geez alert: I almost said “album�?). That liberation is key to what I do now, which is to play danceable rock, 60s to 90s. All I want to do is have fun and get people to dance. For me and for the band, the more people are dancing, the more fun we have.

Since we’re not in it to make money, I don’t care about playing clubs any more. Don’t get me wrong: I love to play a great stage and will happily play any club that wants to have us, but I’m not hustling to draw a crowd any more. I’d rather play the parties, where the audience is built in. Over the years we’ve played backyard parties, corporate holiday parties, a party for the Washington Area Frisbee Football Club’s end of season bash, and everything in between. Big fun all around; we had a great time, the crowd had a great time, and everyone wins. Planning a party? Send me an email (moreau at chrismoreau dot com). So long as you provide the food and drink and a reasonable size place to play, we’re probably interested.

Our bass player recently left the band and moved to New Jersey, never to be heard from again so we’re looking for a new one. The first guy to audition came in last week. He was a nice enough guy and it felt like we all got along pretty well. He’s clearly got the chops and can sing, too. It was a good fit. But we had already signed up two more people to audition, both of which will happen this week. I would have offered the first guy the job the next day, but a deal is a deal and so we’ll try these other guys out and see how it goes.

The thing with auditions is that your best bands are more of a gang than a collection of musicians. The whole must be greater than the sum of the parts. Assuming a certain level of ability, it’s more important that everyone gets along since we’re going to be spending a lot of time in the basement working out song arrangements, going over the same song a dozen times. It can become trying if we don’t all get along and any one of us doesn’t assume positive intentions.

The audition process is as much about how everyone gets along as it is about talent. It’s about whether the auditioner is laid back enough, is too anxious to have things his or her own way to the exclusion of everyone else, etc. It’s not very fun and playing in a band, while work, is supposed to be fun. So we’ll get through this, find a new bass player who likes to play, who does it reasonably well and, if we’re lucky, who can sing, too. Then we’ll be back in the saddle.

Watch for us in a town near you. So long as your town is in the Greater Washington DC area.

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