Chainfall – Sat Nov 6th – Sweeneys

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
By: Brandon Bailor

So, Sat Nov 6th will be my first show with Chainfall!  The show will be at Sweeneys Saloon on Philmont Ave in Philly @ 9pm.  We open for some friends in a band called Stygian.  Since we open, we will only be doing one set … about 14-15 songs.  I am really excited, I figured it out … it’s been about 17 years since I have been on stage.  We had a good practice last night, chose the set list.  This is going to be a fun show!  The music is starting to get really tight.  I am so glad I got back into music, and I am really glad I found Chainfall.  I am really grateful that they they allowed me to join.  They are great guys, and we really seem to be a good musical fit. 

So … those of you who can make it, I would be really happy to see you!  And if not … hopefully you can make it to a future show.  We have nothing lined up just yet, but we are still trying to expand our musical library.  Soon we will have enough music to be able to play a few sets.  That should buy us more flexibility for bookings.

I will try to keep everyone posted via this blog as well as my FaceBook page.  Wish me luck!

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Driving = Therapy (for me)

Monday, October 4th, 2010
By: Brandon Bailor

Last night I needed to clear my head.  I have gotten myself into a situation that is kind of tearing me apart inside, and it really started to get to me.  So, I decided to get some of my private therapy … go driving!  I figured I would head north on a local highway, aiming for an Interstate to head west on.  For some reason, I really only seem to plan the first leg of these trips.  It’s always pretty fun to see where I end up.  I ended up making it all the way to Akron Ohio before I headed back south.  All in all, 869 miles in 13.5 hours.  All that with only one RedBull 🙂  Not cured, but at least my head is in a better place. 

I spent almost the entire time listening to the 16 songs that we (Chainfall) are learning.  I have them in a play list on my iPod, and I set it to shuffle and repeat.  Just trying to memorize the changes …I want them to become second nature.  I switched it up to a bit more soothing music for the final couple hours of the trip.

On a side note, (I apologize for repeating myself, but I must reiterate) I really hate driving in the North East.  Too many slow speed limits, too many intersections, too much construction (and each state handles it differently), and way too much congestion.  The only way to drive in the NE is to do it like I did last night: drive in the middle of the night 🙂  Driving is much more therapeutic when you don’t have to battle for your fair share of the road, or be on constant guard to avoid stupidity.

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Chainfall

Friday, September 24th, 2010
By: Brandon Bailor

Well, I just realized that I haven’t posted in a while, and I haven’t posted that my Sunday audition (Sept 19th) with Chainfall resulted in me joining a band!  After jamming to the 5 or 6 songs they asked me to learn for the tryout, the guys were generous enough to offer me the spot! For me, after hearing the talent these guys have live, then jamming with them, I was genuinely excited about the opportunity to work with these guys, so I accepted!  If you are a friend of mine on FaceBook, you may have seen that I posted the news there.  The music is progressing well. We have had two practices now (including the tryout) and we have 7 to 9 covers that are just about stage ready. Our styles, and commitment really seem to mesh well, the music is just kind of coming comfortably and naturally.  Cool!  Tuesday will be our next practice, and I will be ready for about 7 more songs. Not too shabby for just dusting my chops off! 

After joining the band and learning a little more about them, I offered to set up a website for them (well … us). Here is the site: http://chainfallband.com.  This will be changing rapidly as we collectively decide as a band what we want our image to be.  We haven’t had any chance to discuss this, so I don’t mean to speak out of turn, but I believe we will use this site as a method to let everyone know when and where we are going to play, as well as post photos of shows, possibly sound bytes, and/or video clips. We shall see what my web host allows … if need be, I can always upgrade my hosting account.  Anyway … I encourage all to check it out often 🙂

On a personal level, I can’t believe how quickly all of this has come together.  I have been itching to play again for a couple years now.  A good friend of mine also has a blog … here is a post of his called “I wish I would” . Along these lines, I did what I needed to do … a few weeks ago I bought a drum set and answered some ads … then BOOM!  I am in a really cool band! Not sure what you call it … but it seems that I kind of projected to the world what I wanted, and I reached for it.  Not only did I reach, but the world listened, and coincidence or not … it all seems to be falling into place. SWEET!  Rock on!!

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Potential Bands

Sunday, September 12th, 2010
By: Brandon Bailor

Well, you know I went on an audition with Winston’s Dog already, and I am thinking that went pretty well. And may know I have two more auditions lined up. One on Thursday (Spet 16th) with Avoiding the Angel. I am kind of excited about this one … they seem like a fairly established local band. I think I have read that they have opened up for bands like Papa Roach in the past. But for some reason, I am a little nervous about that one. Not sure why. Possibly in part because my double-bass skills might not be up to snuff. For that I bought a new pedal, and a practice pad, and I am doing my workouts 🙂 The third band I will be auditioning with is a local band called Chainfall.

On Friday I was able to go see Winston’s Dog play a show. They did a really solid job. The venue was a place called Ringers in Shwenksville PA. Interesting room. They really went all out on the sound system and lighting. Very well done, but I think they had the volume way too loud. It was nice to see the guys and I think they really appreciated the fact that I was interested enough to come out and support them, as well as see if I can learn more about them … live performance style, sound, etc. I think that may have helped my chances with them.

Then last night, I drove out to Bensalem to catch Chainfall live. Unfortunately, they were plagued with technical difficulties … they needed to borrow a drum kit, that kit showed up late, and they had no time for sound checks. But I have to tell you, the singer and guitar player really impressed me right off the bat. Oddly enough, before the show started, some guy walked up to me and asked if I was Brandon … this really took me by surprise.  It turned out to be Ed, the singer.  I didn’t even expect them to remember I was coming … much less be able to pick me out of a crowd. So that was cool. They opened up with a Pearl Jam song … the singer sounded just like Eddy Vedder. I was floored. And the guitar player was very solid. I couldn’t really hear the bass player very much, and that might have been because I was on the wrong side of the stage, but he seemed to hold the bottom pretty well. The weakest part of this band was the drummer. I think I can see why these guys are looking for a new drummer.  I felt kinda bad for the guys, I could see the frustration on their faces. Fortunately I was able to see past the quality of the overall performance, and concentrate on the genuine talent that these guys had. I am positive if they had a stronger foundation that these guys will be really good. After the show, I ended up sticking around and hanging out with them for a while. And I have to tell you, I really like these guys. They seem really down to earth, they are super cool guys, they seem really connected in the music scene, and they already have a following. Well, I have an audition with these guys on Sunday the 19th. I am actually really looking forward to this. At this point I am most excited about my opportunities with Chainfall than either of the other two bands.

But I just want to play. If Chainfall isn’t going to want me, then hopefully one of the other bands will. And if not, then my search will continue. I just have to get back into this … it is too big of a part of my life to keep bottled up any more.

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Drummer Audition(s)

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
By: Brandon Bailor

Well, it’s been a week since I went on the audition with Winston’s Dog. The audition was for me to sit in at their studio and play three of their originals. I ended up missing a couple changes, but overall, I think I played pretty well. It felt like they liked me, and they seemed to like the feel I had with the band. Hopefully, if they saw any rough edges, they can realize that it was because I have been out of it for a while, and that it will not take long for me to polish myself off and get back into the full swing of it. The next day, they sent a thank you email, and let me know that they discussed my audition, and were generally pleased. But they have a long road ahead of them (understandably) to choose a new drummer. So I will sit tight. Hopefully things will work out, but if not, then I wish them the best.

Getting the chance to sit behind a drum kit and actually jam at volume with real musicians again was a real treat! I brought a friend of mine over who didn’t even know that I played the drums. She seemed surprised. She told me that I was really good, and sounded really good with them. She told me at one point, she looked over at me and I was just in my own world … smile from ear to ear. She was right. I was comfortable again … arms flailing around like a madman, feet stomping … I was back in my zone, my happy place, my world. And for three songs, all was right with my world again.

Winston’s Dog will actually be performing this Friday (Sept 10, 2010) at Ringers in Shwenksville PA (9:00pm). I will be going to check it out. See how they play out live, get the feel for it. Not to mention, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to show my face, and let them know that I am still interested. I will be sure to report my findings here on this site this weekend 🙂

I have a second audition also set up with a band called Chainfall. They seem to be more of a Metal cover band. They have chosen about a half a dozen songs for me to come over and jam out with them. This will be on Sunday Sept 19, 2010. I will post results of that audition as well.

Overall, I think getting back into this will be a good thing for me. Pool was fun, and I met some really cool people, but I think music is where I belong.

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