MORE COWBELL

Yes, we have all seen the hilarious skit with Will Farrell and Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live. I laughed when I saw it, too. However, during every single one of our weddings for several years now, at least one drunken white dude stumbles up to the bandstand and shouts, “MORE COWBELL!” While alternatively grabbing for the instrument and/or playing “air cowbell.”

Note to “More Cowbell Dudes,” wherever you are: When you feel compelled to do this, Gino and I will avoid eye contact with you at all costs because encouraging you will inevitably lead to you falling into our equipment and possibly causing serious injury.

MY BAND

MY BAND

 

We are a seven-piece band that plays everything from Pitbull to Patsy Cline. We work around Boston, greater New England, and NYC.

 

The Bandleader: Dan plays bass in the band, but most notably he is the “go-to” guy whenever someone approaches with a request (for song or otherwise: see “More Cowbell”). He is the one who contacts agents and brides, sends out information to the rest of us, and negotiates with clients. Because of the extra work he puts in, he makes significantly more than the rest of us. Because this is his primary source of income, he often makes “deals” with agents and clients that frustrate the rest of us, such as having us drive for three hours each way without getting any money for gas. He also encourages us to wear elf hats with big ears for Christmas parties (unsuccessfully).

 

The Male Singer: Gino has traveled around the world as an arranger for some famous groups that you loved if you were 15-35 years old in the 90s, and like me is involved in teaching music during the day. Our friendship has been forged in the fire of too many weddings to count, including my own (he was our officiant). A classic ladies’ man, Gino is a multi-tasker as he performs, and is able to dance/sing/play instruments and search for any panties that are showing in the dance throng.

 

The Drummer: Mitch is a real salt-of-the-earth guy who runs a landscaping company during the day and plays with many other bands. A sweet guy at heart and an extremely subtle and talented drummer, he has also improved significantly over the years at not speaking loudly about his sweaty balls in the line for cocktails.

 

The Guitarist: Jon owns a music studio and has his name on Gold Records. A real industry professional, Jon has conquered former anger issues by taking up a regime of meditation, vegetarianism, and avoidance of alcohol. He now takes his anger out by turning his amp up to inhuman levels of sound and ignoring any guest who approaches him.

 

The Sax Player: (rotating cast) We are currently working with a fabulous sub who plays his ass off, is easy to work with, smiles and converses with the guests, and is generally the ideal GB sax player. Hopefully he will stay with us.*

 

*Sub sax player is filling in for our former player, a philosophy student who played one note for entire evenings as an experiment and asked questions like, “Is the saxophone obsolete?”

 

The Keyboard Player: Rich has been in and out of the band for over 20 years. He is wicked cute and has been my hubby for five years now. Yes, we met in the wedding band!

To begin...

To begin, I should introduce this blog by explaining that this is my second try at it. My husband, who also happens to be the keyboard player in my 7-piece East Coast band, is also a writer. After reading my initial entries, he told me that I should be more positive in my characterizations of other musicians, wedding guests, mother-of-the-brides, etc… Apparently, 500+ weddings have transformed me into a bit of a wedding snob. Who knew?

SO, I have begun from scratch, and in this *new and improved* series, I will attempt to approach the wedding industry experience with a more positive, “wine-glass-half-full” attitude.

I hope that you enjoy it – your comments are welcome!

Some of my fave locations for visual impact...