Keyboard Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 16) INTRO go see! Here are some must-see shows. GONZALO RUBALCABA www.g-rubalcaba.com ask mike Hi Mike What happens if you’re sick on tour? Or a parent dies? How do you balance real life with tour life — and make sure you have a real life waiting for you when you get home? —Michael Mon–Wed, 03/10–12/08 Yoshi’s Oakland, CA ROD PIAZZA & THE MIGHTY FLYERS www.themightyflyers.com Sat, 03/01/08 Luckman Fine Arts Complex Los Angeles, CA Sat, 03/15/08 Arcadia Blues Club Arcadia, CA Thu, 03/27/08 Boulder Station Las Vegas, NV LANG LANG www.langlang.com Tue, 03/04/08 Center for the Arts at Mizner Park Boca Raton, FL Sun, 03/09/08 Carnival Center Miami, FL Tue, 03/11/08 Kennedy Center Washington, DC Michael, Last year, at the end of Mariah Carey’s tour, my father passed away. We were in Japan, and when Mariah heard, she made arrangements to fly me and keyboardist Eric Daniels back to Boston immediately so I could be there for his funeral. She insisted on having Eric along just to make sure I was okay. She flew us first class, had a limo waiting for us in Boston, and put us up at a hotel, all at her expense. Mariah blew me away with her kindness and generosity, and even though she always had my love and loyalty, she’s stuck with me forever now. The point I’m trying to make here is that on tour, your family sometimes is the people you are working with. However, there are no “sick days” on tour. As long as you’re not in the hospital, you’re expected to do your gig. On some of the tours I’ve done, if any of the musicians or singers on stage get sick, I can usually cover from the computer. I make a habit of recording important original musical and vocal parts for just that scenario, and normally I can use the parts from the original recordings. The tour will not hesitate to call in a local doctor to take care of the touring personnel. They’ll write prescriptions, give shots, etc., to make sure the show goes on, usually at the tour’s expense. If the pop star gets sick, there are a couple options. They have insurance that will pay for the lost show, but if they’re not too terribly sick, I can either change the keys of the songs to make them easier to sing, or put in the studio or live vocals for that performance. I try to record the singers’ rehearsals for that very purpose so it won’t sound too canned. Some artists will change the show, removing some of the more difficult songs or, failing that, just take the insurance money, as the lip synch thing would just never work for them. If a show is cancelled, the production personnel still get paid. Many big tours will actually train someone to be a substitute dancer to fill in for one that gets hurt or has a family emergency. With musicians, it’s a little harder. I have about three people I could fly in on a moments notice to fill in for me. I haven’t done that on extremely short notice yet, and hope I never have to. I currently have Marco Gamboa working in my place on the Marc Anthony/Jennifer Lopez tour. I was able to get most of the programming done, fly him in, train him, then watch him run the show for a few days before I went home. I did that because of family issues. My son is 16, and is going to high school at the same school where my wife is a teacher. You can imagine all the possible problems that could create! Also, the previous two years I have been gone for the first six to eight weeks of the school year, and it didn’t go well, so this year I had to make a change. On a personal note, this is my third marriage, and in this business it’s not uncommon to have a personal life that gets trashed by the long hours working and weeks away from home. This is a tough gig, and it takes an even tougher person to put up with someone doing it. I am very lucky to have someone like that in my life, and I wish all of you the same! —Mike All levels of questions are welcome, and we promise to keep your surname and email address confidential. If you’d like to ask Mike questions, send an email entitled “Ask Mike” to muso4hire@earthlink.net. Thu, 03/13/08 Ordway Center Saint Paul, MN session sensei GIGGING FOR DUMMIES Session Sensei finds that sometimes it’s best to review the basics. The following steps will guarantee wealth and success. Fear and doubt will melt away and you will be swamped with work. 1. Find and Get the Gig. Obvious, but remember you can’t play a gig you don’t have. Steps to take include activating your network, which may be one-on-one personal connections, social networking sites, or simply hanging around with your peers. In the old days, we used to call up fellow weekend warriors and say, “Got Saturday night? I’m looking if you hear anything.” There’s nothing wrong with asking. Making the work come to you can be an arduous process requiring everything from a simple query to an all-out schmooze attack. You need to let folks know what you do, that you can do it well, and that you are available — and interested. Get it on the hook and reel it in. 2. Do the Gig. Once you land the gig, panic may ensue; you really have to perform now. Don’t get caught staring blankly at a page in front of a band. Learn the tunes, make your own charts, record your practicing, and record your rehearsals. Know the music so well you could teach a course in it. Don’t forget that the creative potential of the job is inversely proportional to the amount you’re being paid, so make sure you’re providing the full service you’re hired to do, and don’t overstep your role. Assimilate the music, and always be early to rehearsal; many things are decided during the coffee klatch. 3. Own the Gig. It’s yours, so make it so. Repeat in your head before you play, “This is mine,” or “I got this tune down. I own it.” I know a famous drummer who makes mini charts with chord symbols so he can remind the non-readers (guitarists, mainly) what chord the bridge starts on. He’s an instant genius. Make it clear that you are in total control of your material, and only then can you start playing it your way. The best players are able to accomplish steps two and three at the same time. Amaze and impress your fellow gigsters while you’re flopping it on the boat. 4. Have a Blast. Playing an instrument for a living is the most fun a human can have outside of the hot tub. You are now free to lay back, smile, scan the front row, and enjoy the fruits of your labors — and don’t even think of leaving the club without being paid. 5. Repeat steps 1-4 many times and enjoy. Scott Healy Session Sensei would welcome your comments on this. Please visit myspace.com/sessionsensei — or write me care of Keyboard magazine at keyboard@music player.com — and tell me what you would do. Sat, 03/15/08 Carnegie Hall New York, NY KEITH JARRETT www.keithjarrett.org Wed, 03/05/08 Royce Hall Auditorium Los Angeles, CA MARCIA BALL www.rosebudus.com/ball Sat, 03/01/08 Cerritos Center Cerritos, CA Sun, 03/02/08 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA Mon, 03/03/08 Little Fox Redwood City, CA Wed, 03/05/08 McNears Mystic Theatre Petaluma, CA 16 keyboard 03-2008 http://www.g-rubalcaba.com http://www.themightyflyers.com http://www.langlang.com http://www.keithjarrett.org http://www.rosebudus.com/ball http://myspace.com/sessionsensei http://player.com
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