✂️how we cut the line with our new band

paying your dues? thanks, but we'll pass

RIFFS:

Our new band debuts this weekend.

We’re playing a ticketed show at a small-but-legendary honkytonk bar.

Two weeks after that, we’re playing a 1200-seat room that’s a frequent stop for big-name radio acts.

We didn’t spend years paying our dues, grinding out low-pay gigs, or enduring a dozen lineup changes.

In fact, we’ve never even been in the same room together.

Our first rehearsal is today, two days before the gig.

Here’s how we did it.

Look, I don’t want to lie to you.

This isn’t some life hack that you can easily replicate.

But I do think it’s instructive for you to see how we did this. Otherwise you’re likely to end up playing the wrong game, wondering why you’re so far from the outcome you sought.

Let’s set the stage, shall we?

I’ve known Jasper for a decade.

In 2012, his band was opening for mine. We hit it off. When he said he was moving to Chicago, we made plans to gig together.

We did—we found a weekly gig and (literally) “got our act together.”

A few years later, he was recruited by a successful international touring act, and our regular duo was now an occasional duo. When he was home from the road, he’d pick up Monday night slots at Bub City (the big BBQ & country music spot downtown).

Last summer, he sent me a text.

He emailed the guy who books Bub City, asking if he thought there’d be interest in a 90s country band, and if so, did he want to develop it together?

Demand first, band second.

We didn’t start by recruiting a band. We started by securing demand for the concept.

Once we got the green light, then we reached out to the A-grade players we wanted for the band. These are absolute professionals—they’re gonna show up to rehearsal fully prepared. When they step onstage, they’re going to bring the house down.

It’s waaaaaay easier for us to recruit these A players with real paying gigs on the books.

There’s a saying: You can do it for the music. You can do it for the money. Or you can do it for the hang.

Our goal is to be the trifecta:

• get paid well,

• to play with great musicians,

• in a fun, stress-free environment.

Wanna see behind the scenes?

If y’all are interested, I’d love to show you how we structured & prepared for this gig.

As you probably expect by now, there’s a ton of clever tech & systems design helping us manage this thing.

Comment on this post (or reply to this email) if you want to know more.

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RECS:

I’ve spent an ungodly amount of time hunched over my guitar & keyboard, practicing parts and/or writing charts.

It really does a number on my upper back.

I’ve tried a dozen things:

• stretching,

• massage,

• Rolfing,

• yoga,

• lacrosse balls,

• foam rollers,

• mobility tools,

• etc

After reading Built From Broken, I realized what most of these are missing: load.

We need weight to trigger the body’s corrective response.

I replaced the usual things I do to manage pain with a few minutes of functional bodyweight training exercises from GMB.io’s Elements program.

Within a day, I was back to normal.

Their full Elements program is about a hundred bucks, but you can dip your toes in for free over on their YouTube channel:

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CHARTS & SMARTS:

One of the songs we’re doing is John Michael Montgomery’s Sold:

At 240 bpm, it is brisk.

They give session guitarist Brent Mason a four-bar solo… which at this tempo lasts all of four seconds. But hoo boy he doesn’t waste it:

I transcribed it for you here:

A couple of cool tidbits jump out at me:

1

These two notes are the same, but played on different strings (with different articulations).

2

The whole thing is constant forward motion, and the only time it comes to rest is when he’s calling out a chord change—playing a D on the D chord and ending on the E over the E chord that starts the bridge.

That’s all I got today.

(Plus hey: I gotta get back to practicing this material!)

See you next Wednesday,

Josh