We are a 6 piece band ...which is big enough....but the fiddle player swaps to lap steel in some songs, accordion player ( Piano and Button )swaps to keyboard,rubboard player plays a little didgeridoo, bass player drums also, mando player swaps to bass at times when we don't need mando...and so on.
Vocals are me on lead with occasional leads and back up vocals from 4 others.
It all works..we've been doing it this way for 5 years now....but from a PA point of view, we have all instruments in the mix through our 24 channel mixing desk.I guess if we took the rubboard out of the mix altogether we'd gain something...for the poor sound engineer, I mean.LOL
Joel said it best, but the rest of the recommendations fall inline to what I have experienced. Rubboards are really more of a visual cue to the audience rather than something that they hang on every note (or scrape). They are loud instruments in the right hands. Sounds like a little ego may be in play, too. "I can't hear myself because of all you loud instruments not wanting to give me a breakdown..."
Just sayin'.
Rubboard players can go there. They've got ZERO load-in and they make an equal cut, right?
Ha Rick..what can I say ?? yep...just WHAT can I say ?...yes, yes and yes.
Our rubboard player , God bless him, does have that ,what they call, " value added " factor...he's got, and gets us, a lot of gigs when nobody else in the band, other than me, has made any contributions in that area.
He also has this certain something when we gig....lost count of how many times I've been asked when turning up to a gig "..is the rubboard player here..? .
He's a big 'ham'....but the punters love it...says something about human nature I guess.
...there's actually been an open discussion about also running a 3 - 4 piece alternative band, being formed from the present members, for smaller venue gigs...surprisingly it's been accepted well...even though the rubboard player would not be in that loop.
I could open a Discussion Board Post about band politics and in-fighting....BUT...it may be better to not go down that road ...!!!!!LOL
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
