How to grow a band?

[pettyman]

Hey guys.

Sorry about the title of the post - just seemed so fitting.

So here's the thing - I'm in the UK and I play mando, 10string zouk, and harmonica (plus a little guitar) but I really want to find myself some like minded folks and get together to jam a bit.

All I've found so far are banjo meets and thats not what I want - I eventually want to be part of a band playing celtic and bluegrass stuff.

So... how do i go about this?

Cheers
Matt

[ab4usa]

Matt,

I started going to a jam that grew into a band over time. It was put together by a banjo player. To read how he did it go here http://www.banjo-site.com/Subscription.htm and check out the April, August and November issues for articles by Andy McGeehan.

[MartinD_GibsonA]

Matt -- Same story as Alan's. #Here's how we explain it on our Web site:


We met at public jam sessions held at a local guitar shop and bookstore during the past ten years. Our playing styles and interests developed beyond what we were playing at those venues, and we began meeting at each other's homes to explore new horizons in music.
You might also go to some local instrument shops, tell the staff there what you're looking for and leave your name/phone number. #They likely see many more musicians than you do and can pass your info on to anyone they think might have a similar interest. #In addition, I'm not sure about the UK, but here in the States, most music shops have a bulletin board for folks to post this type of thing.

Don Smith

[adgefan]

Matt, the way to get involved in the UK bluegrass scene is to get yourself to festivals and, if possible, Sore Fingers Week. There are a limited number of people in the UK bluegrass scene and you'll soon have enough contacts to work on putting a band together or at the very least get jamming. I've only been playing mandolin 3 years but I've been sucked into the scene just by going to Sore Fingers and various festivals and picking weekends.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "banjo meets" but there are bluegrass jams in most parts of the country if you know where to look. Of course, "knowing where to look" is the hard bit, which is why I helped set up www.ukbluegrass.com to be the hub of all this information.

And if the web doesn't work out for you, try the old-fashioned method of putting a notice in music shops. When we first got interested in bluegrass we couldn't find anybody local to jam with so we stuck an ad in the local music shop and now we know dozens of people nearby (and through knowing them we now have contacts all over the country).

[pickinpox]

Start with a woman,you will need a lead singer...