Rhythm Mandolin Boot Camp

[mandocrucian]

Last call/reminder re:Rhythm Mando Boot Camp w/Niles Hokkanen, which is this weekend. #(This material won't be offered agian in a group workshop setting until 2005 or 2006.)

Go beyond "the chop" in your backup vocabulary:
............Ry Cooder, Jethro Tull, Zep, SRV, funk, blues, R&B, western swing, Santana, Fats Domino, Hendrix, john Lee Hooker....etc., etc.

RHYTHM MANDOLIN BOOT CAMP
5:00 pm Friday May 7 - 2:00 pm Sunday May 9th
(Level: <span style='color:red'>Intermediate & above</span>)
#Northern Virginia 4-H Educational Center
#600 4-H Center Drive
#Front Royal, Virginia 22630
#(540)635-7171; #(540)635-6876 (fax)

More information & details (http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/northern/adult.html#rhythmbootcamp)
lajohns4@vt.edu

[BenE]

Niles....
I WILL attend one of your courses one of these days....Hopefully sooner than later...

Could you tell me what you would consider to be Intermediate and above?

[Tom C]

We'd love to see you up in the NY/NJ area one day.

[tiltman]

Hey Niles,
Do you ever make it out to the west coast?

[Sailermando]

Have Mando, Will Travel. Packing my crap as we speak!
See ya manana,
Jack

[mandocrucian]

Hey Niles, Do you ever make it out to the west coast?
It's pretty unlikely, given the realities of the music business and the distance involved. #If there was one of the multi-day music camps who wanted to bring me out to teach, that might be feasible. #However, getting out to the west coast otherwise is usually tied into performance/gig touring to which instructional workshops are added. Otherwise, the time/expenses of getting out there would make the fee a bit too pricey for many.

There is a catch-22 cycle. Without recordings out on a known label, it's difficult to get gigs outside of your local/regional homeground; the club clientele are for the most part non-players. Venues want acts that are known and can draw. Labels don't want to put out stuff if the act isn't actively touring. No touring &gt;no "mainstream" records (even if we're talking specialty/genre labels), but the reverse no "label" Cds means few gigs. #If you are young and have a long future shelf life, then you make your deals with the devil's representatives in the biz. You do the record deal (and make nothing) so you can tour and hopefully renegotiate a better deal in the future. #And you spend a couple years living out of a van, playing for peanuts so you can build a following among the general non-musician market your music is aimed at. Or you end up as a sideman for established acts for a number of years to get your name out somewhat known and make a lot biz connections so you can do your own thing later on. #There's a price one has to pay if that is the goal; the usual term used is "payin' your dues".

However, it's a big mistake to think that only the road warriors are real players. Most of them are real good - you won't survive too long in that rat race if you don't have something working for you. But there are plenty of top-notch players, who the public-at-large will never hear about. They've got a good day job/profession that is too lucrative or enjoyable to ever give up, family/financial requirements of a predictible cash flow..... some can make a decent living playing out locally, or teaching (privately or in the school system), without having the grind of touring. Make as much (or more) money (it's what you net after the expenses, not the gross) and sleep in their own beds at night rather than chasing the lottery ticket of mega-fame sleeping in a van down by the edge of the river. If you're under 30, you might have a chance for the bigger pay-off. Older than that.....? As Byron Beline and Country Gazette suggested with their 2nd album title...."Don't Give Up Your Day Job."


We'd love to see you up in the NY/NJ area one day.
On the other hand, for me, this lies within the 6-hour drive radius (from Winchester, VA) which makes doing something reasonably feasible. Doing a full-day (or 2-day) workshop in Pittsburgh, Philly, Scranton, Richmond, Raleigh, Syracuse - set it up, get the ball rolling. If you pay me, I will come. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Now, I've got to start getting my crap all packed up. Still have to decide whether to lug the bass pedals/synth and drum rig along. Having bass lines and percussion underneath the grooves always clarifies stuff.

Niles Hokkanen