[Organizers] Dance organizers - anyone have talent sit in with visiting bands?

[via Organizers]

Emily - 

I would say it is entirely up to the band as to how comfortable they are with sit-ins.  It is hard to imagine any band allowing someone they do not know to be on a microphone and in "the mix," but it is not hard to imaging them letting people sit in the back and play along.  You definitely want to communicate with the band ahead of time, so they are not surprised the night of the dance by someone expecting to be able to play along.

A couple of thoughts - 

If you send out a booking contract, you could put a statement on it that there may be occasional sit-in musicians, and ask that the band contact you if they have any issues with that.

You could also find a "senior musician" who is known and trusted in your area, who might be willing to screen people and recommend whether they are ready to be on stage with a traveling band or not.  Then the band could contact that individual if they have concerns about whether someone is ready to sit in.

I have seen many people sit in with local bands, but with traveling bands it seems like you on the right track to have a strategy for this.  Good luck.

Ben Allbrandt


---- Jeff Kaufman via Organizers <organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: 
> It depends on what your goals are. If you want to give the dancers there
> that night the best music you can give them that usually means letting your
> touring band play on their own. Most bands have their own tunes,
> arrangements, and style, and when fitting in extra musicians that's often
> hard to communicate and organize in the time available. Especially if this
> is a band known for having a tight sound, you're going to lose that when
> you add more people.
> 
> But this may be worth it if your main goal is building local capacity. Yes,
> the music that night won't be as good, but if you can make up for that when
> the local musicians who sat in are playing on their own it's good on
> balance. If you go this route it's important that the sit ins are there
> because they want to learn and not just because it would be fun to play
> with the visiting musicians, or else you're not really being fair to the
> dancers.
> 
> (You do still want to check with the band, because the amount the band's
> sounds will change when they incorporate new musicians is variable. At one
> extreme you have groups like Perpetual eMotion, at the other you have
> groups of individually excellent musicians who have more of a pickup band
> style among themselves. The more pickupish a band is the better they'll be
> able to integrate new musicians, and the way to find out is to ask them
> what they'd think.)
> 
> (The above is all talking about sit ins who are included in the overall
> sound and that the band is trying to coordinate with. It's also possible to
> allow sit ins to sit well behind the band off mic while the band plays
> whatever they normally would. This is what BIDA does, though people only
> rarely show up. Some musicians find it annoying to have people noodling
> along behind them, others don't care.)
> On Apr 9, 2015 10:37 PM, "Emily Addison via Organizers" <
> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> 
> > Hi Dance Organizers,
> >
> > One more question stemming from my work on our callers handout here in
> > Ottawa... except this query relates to musicians!
> >
> > Do any of your dances facilitate local musicians sitting in (either on OR
> > off mic) with visiting bands? This came up at Puttin' On The Dance 2 and we
> > have a few keen musicians who would like to do this as part of their
> > strategy for improving their chops. I've since talked to two touring
> > musicians who are very open to this and think that some other bands may
> > also be open.  However, I anticipate that other bands may not be open.
> >
> > So ... if you do something like this...
> >
> > 1. How do you structure it? Is anyone allowed on stage? Do the musicians
> > get permission from organizer ahead of time (e.g., book their spot)? Is
> > there a max number of sets a night that are 'sit in'? Are any 'sit ins' on
> > mic or are all off mic? ???? ????
> >
> > 2. Also, how do you pitch the idea to the hired band?
> >
> > I'm particularly talking about TOURING BANDS and then local musicians who
> > already have some dance experience (not random musicians).
> >
> > With thanks!
> > Emily
> >
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