Ep189 How I Prepared for a 40-Song Cover Band Gig

So I played over the weekend for a private party.

We traveled about three and a half hours north into Kentucky, and it was like playing a wedding, but it was actually a 20th anniversary and vow renewal party.

But this was a big, beautiful house and a big, beautiful piece of property.

I posted a clip on my Instagram, if you follow Desi Serna Guitar on Instagram.

But it was like playing for a wedding.

So they had a little ceremony, and of course it was catered, and there was a band and a dance floor and a giant, huge tent, and people showed up dressed all spiffy.

And so I thought, let's talk about what that event was like, the songs that I had to learn and how I prepared and everything.

You might find this interesting and it's kind of a little inside look to what a more professional, higher level cover band looks like.

Maybe you've had opportunities to play with friends or play at your local pub or something like that.

This particular act doesn't play any bars or anything, so they're strictly going to be private events.

And they are, you know, not expensive.

They are affordable as a professional party band goes for private events, but they're not cheap.

One of the reasons why they wouldn't pay bars is because bars don't have the budget to, you know, to pay a band like this, but also because they get to pick and choose and play events that they prefer to play, I guess.

You can have some fun playing a bar now and then.

So they're called Party of Five, so it's a five-piece band.

So it is aptly named.

And they include some people who are like Belmont professors here at Belmont University in Nashville or Belmont alums and other people who are active in the music scene.

And, you know, to play with this band, they need people who are talented.

And so I thought the whole—this is my first time playing with them.

I thought the whole band was—they were talented, very musical, really good at thinking on the fly and improvising.

And we'll talk about that because our setlist plans got interrupted and we had to kind of— They improvise.

They're very professional.

So, you know, they show up on time and they look good and everything is in order and they know how to conduct themselves professionally.

And, you know, there was emceeing and stuff that needed to be done for this event.

And they were all very well spoken on the microphone and everything.