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

Hello, We recently had some local musicians sit in for a couple of songs with our hired band at a dance weekend. The musicians organized among themselves and made arrangements with the sound technician - it was a complete surprise to me! One of the musicians was an old friend of the band and the other is a young fiddle prodigy that lives here locally. As a part of the dance weekend we had organized a musician's workshop and that's when the fiddle player in the band and the young fiddler "found each other" and the rest was history. Perhaps a musicians workshop - especially early in the event - would facilitate the groups working together on stage and help them build some trust and familiarity with each other. I realize this doesn't answer Emily's question exactly but I wanted to share how it sometimes just happens spontaneously. - Shelley BottsColumbia Missouri Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2015 21:37:33 -0500 To: organizers(a)sharedweight.net Subject: [Organizers] Dance organizers - anyone have talent sit in with visiting bands? From: organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net 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 _______________________________________________ Organizers mailing list Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net