... So, I joined the David Cross Band. There was never really any money in it, but they had a couple of gigs in Japan planned for 6 months down the line. We rehearsed every Tuesday at a University in London. I played the crappy music room kit and they keyboard player used a tiny toy keyboard. It wasn't quite as pro as I'd expected. Of course, later on we rehearsed properly, but the toy instruments were sufficient for getting the songs in our heads.
Even before the Japan gig arrived the bass player, Mick Paul, had recommended to another band he was working with. I ended up doing a couple of reunion gigs with this band - 'Jade'. The guitarist from that band was a guy called Jimmy Litherland who'd played with Colosseum back in the day. All of this work was great, but not much of it paid. I was still working part time in order to pay the rent.Sometime later I'd been out at the cinema with a friend. I turned my phone back on after we left and had a voicemail message. It was a cold call from someone I'd never met asking me to come and audition for a band he was putting together to back a new female artist. I returned his call. It turned out that Pete Brown (whom I'd also never met, and apparently wrote the lyrics to Sunshine of Your Love) had recommended me. Pete had heard of me via Jimmy Litherland; who knew me because I'd accepted a gig from Mick; who I'd met because I answered an ad in Loot; which I'd picked up because I was walking in London, where I'd been because I'd met Carl (the sax player) in a band I'd joined because I met Jake, who I knew because I joined a band with Gavin from the jam night band in Manchester. If I want to go further back it's easy to trace the events that led to me attending the jam night and having the confidence to get up and play. The gig I accepted in London was the first one that paid enough to allow me to quit my regular job. I was finally a professional musician. I guess it was a year between moving and landing that gig, but it might have been two. I'm not sure. The well paid gig didn't last forever, but I met people in that band that I keep in touch with. Now I come to think of it, joining Wishbone Ash isn't directly related to that series of events. But that is how I came to be a professional, and after that I didn't want to have to get another regular job. I kept my eyes peeled for other opportunities. Sometimes I paid rent with function gigs, other times it was through doing online sessions for people. One day, after rehearsing with a band at Middlesex uni, I was walking through the building and spotted someone packing up some drums. I went and introduced myself - "Hi, I'm Joe" - and we ended up trading some ideas. We exchanged numbers and a week later I called for a chat and ended up inviting him to a friend's leaving do. He brought an American girl with him and on the drive to the party we got chatting. It turned out she was from Colorado and at some point commented that if I ever wanted to go skiing then I could stay at her place in Colorado, which was only a couple of hours drive from the mountains. Whether she meant it or not, I said Yes (it was a phase - I highly recommend reading 'Yes Man' by Danny Wallace EVEN if you've seen the movie which is completely different.) 2 months later I was hanging out in Colorado with Sam and Jacqui - neither of whom, it turned out, were skiiers! While I was out in America, on my impromptu holiday, I began wondering how I was going to pay for it. Sam had studied at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and suggested I apply for a teaching job there. I knew of the school but teaching there had never crossed my mind. I didn't think I had the credentials. Even so, I figured I should at least contact someone and find out. As it happened I knew a guitarist and bass player who taught at the ACM (through other long winded random connections). I emailed both of them and they both told me to email Mike Sturgis who was head of the drum dept. At the time he was having health problems and he replied to my email but it didn't lead to anything. Six months later, out of the blue, I got an email from Mike saying he'd checked out my website, liked what he saw, and wondered if I wanted to come and take a look around the school. I ended up doing a bit of teaching there, covering for other teachers when they were off sick. Finally (we're nearly there) about a year after I'd started doing these odd bits of teaching I got a text from Mike asking me if I wanted to join Wishbone Ash.I had no idea who Wishbone Ash were, but it was a gig and I accepted it. It turned out to be the best thing that's happened to me. I love the guys in the band, we have enough gigs to make a living, I get to travel the world and be involved in writing new material. So, why did I begin this two two part article talking about meeting a random woman on a plane? When she sat down and I introduced myself with those three simple words, "Hi, I'm Joe", I didn't do it because I thought it would lead to a stimulating 7 1/2 hour conversation. Partly I did it because it feels rude to completely ignore someone who you'll be sharing the same space with for so long, but also because, as Forest Gump says, "life is like a box of chocolates…" Every memorable step of the journey that's taken me from sitting behind my first drum kit to making a living playing music I enjoy with people I care about, is memorable because it involved meeting somebody new. The most memorable incidents are those where I recall the internal debate that preceded my 3 word introduction - "why would they want to talk to me?", " what should I say?", "maybe I should just leave them alone - they look busy.", etc. Of course there will have been the odd occasion where I introduced myself and the person was too busy to talk. But I can honestly say that pretty much every person I've made the effort to introduce myself to has been kind and happy to have someone introduce themself. Networking (a horrible word) isn't about giving business cards to strangers and running away. It's about making new friends. And it's not about sitting at home thinking "who do I need to meet in order to get me this gig" and then stalking them. All of the people in my story were chance meetings and I had no idea where I was going. I was just enjoying meeting new people and making new connections. So, take those three words, and when you find yourself thinking you'd like to get to know somebody, use them. It's easy.Ok, I'm way over my 750 words for today. I hope you found my long winded tale insightful. Oh, and a note to the literal people out there… don't use those three exact words unless your name is actually Joe. I'd recommend setting Joe = your_name, before executing.
Even before the Japan gig arrived the bass player, Mick Paul, had recommended to another band he was working with. I ended up doing a couple of reunion gigs with this band - 'Jade'. The guitarist from that band was a guy called Jimmy Litherland who'd played with Colosseum back in the day. All of this work was great, but not much of it paid. I was still working part time in order to pay the rent.Sometime later I'd been out at the cinema with a friend. I turned my phone back on after we left and had a voicemail message. It was a cold call from someone I'd never met asking me to come and audition for a band he was putting together to back a new female artist. I returned his call. It turned out that Pete Brown (whom I'd also never met, and apparently wrote the lyrics to Sunshine of Your Love) had recommended me. Pete had heard of me via Jimmy Litherland; who knew me because I'd accepted a gig from Mick; who I'd met because I answered an ad in Loot; which I'd picked up because I was walking in London, where I'd been because I'd met Carl (the sax player) in a band I'd joined because I met Jake, who I knew because I joined a band with Gavin from the jam night band in Manchester. If I want to go further back it's easy to trace the events that led to me attending the jam night and having the confidence to get up and play. The gig I accepted in London was the first one that paid enough to allow me to quit my regular job. I was finally a professional musician. I guess it was a year between moving and landing that gig, but it might have been two. I'm not sure. The well paid gig didn't last forever, but I met people in that band that I keep in touch with. Now I come to think of it, joining Wishbone Ash isn't directly related to that series of events. But that is how I came to be a professional, and after that I didn't want to have to get another regular job. I kept my eyes peeled for other opportunities. Sometimes I paid rent with function gigs, other times it was through doing online sessions for people. One day, after rehearsing with a band at Middlesex uni, I was walking through the building and spotted someone packing up some drums. I went and introduced myself - "Hi, I'm Joe" - and we ended up trading some ideas. We exchanged numbers and a week later I called for a chat and ended up inviting him to a friend's leaving do. He brought an American girl with him and on the drive to the party we got chatting. It turned out she was from Colorado and at some point commented that if I ever wanted to go skiing then I could stay at her place in Colorado, which was only a couple of hours drive from the mountains. Whether she meant it or not, I said Yes (it was a phase - I highly recommend reading 'Yes Man' by Danny Wallace EVEN if you've seen the movie which is completely different.) 2 months later I was hanging out in Colorado with Sam and Jacqui - neither of whom, it turned out, were skiiers! While I was out in America, on my impromptu holiday, I began wondering how I was going to pay for it. Sam had studied at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and suggested I apply for a teaching job there. I knew of the school but teaching there had never crossed my mind. I didn't think I had the credentials. Even so, I figured I should at least contact someone and find out. As it happened I knew a guitarist and bass player who taught at the ACM (through other long winded random connections). I emailed both of them and they both told me to email Mike Sturgis who was head of the drum dept. At the time he was having health problems and he replied to my email but it didn't lead to anything. Six months later, out of the blue, I got an email from Mike saying he'd checked out my website, liked what he saw, and wondered if I wanted to come and take a look around the school. I ended up doing a bit of teaching there, covering for other teachers when they were off sick. Finally (we're nearly there) about a year after I'd started doing these odd bits of teaching I got a text from Mike asking me if I wanted to join Wishbone Ash.I had no idea who Wishbone Ash were, but it was a gig and I accepted it. It turned out to be the best thing that's happened to me. I love the guys in the band, we have enough gigs to make a living, I get to travel the world and be involved in writing new material. So, why did I begin this two two part article talking about meeting a random woman on a plane? When she sat down and I introduced myself with those three simple words, "Hi, I'm Joe", I didn't do it because I thought it would lead to a stimulating 7 1/2 hour conversation. Partly I did it because it feels rude to completely ignore someone who you'll be sharing the same space with for so long, but also because, as Forest Gump says, "life is like a box of chocolates…" Every memorable step of the journey that's taken me from sitting behind my first drum kit to making a living playing music I enjoy with people I care about, is memorable because it involved meeting somebody new. The most memorable incidents are those where I recall the internal debate that preceded my 3 word introduction - "why would they want to talk to me?", " what should I say?", "maybe I should just leave them alone - they look busy.", etc. Of course there will have been the odd occasion where I introduced myself and the person was too busy to talk. But I can honestly say that pretty much every person I've made the effort to introduce myself to has been kind and happy to have someone introduce themself. Networking (a horrible word) isn't about giving business cards to strangers and running away. It's about making new friends. And it's not about sitting at home thinking "who do I need to meet in order to get me this gig" and then stalking them. All of the people in my story were chance meetings and I had no idea where I was going. I was just enjoying meeting new people and making new connections. So, take those three words, and when you find yourself thinking you'd like to get to know somebody, use them. It's easy.Ok, I'm way over my 750 words for today. I hope you found my long winded tale insightful. Oh, and a note to the literal people out there… don't use those three exact words unless your name is actually Joe. I'd recommend setting Joe = your_name, before executing.
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