Hi, and thanks for stopping by. 

Nov. 20 2008 update:  GOOD NEWS!  I'm pleased to announce the Texas Prairie Band is reforming and we already have quite a big start.  Mike Clark, formally with the well known bluegrass band "Blue Valley Bluegrass" has joined me in this worthy effort!  Mike was rhythm guitar and vocal for the group.  Additionally, it appears we have a pretty promising thing going with a banjo picker who is well known in this region.  As soon as we get an official "ok" I'll announce his name! 

Now, we are looking for a very solid vocalist.  The vocalist should be good at both lead and harmony, and be comfortable shifting between different parts.  We are open to the instrument the vocalist plays.  Ideally the vocalist would play either bass, guitar, fiddle or dobro.

Things are looking up!!

Please Click here if you are interested in filling this role!

Now, for my philosophy on the band goals and my management style, read below!!!

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Philosphy Of The Band Manager

While I’ll give you plenty of background info in a minute, the bottom line is that right now we would like to find a very SOLID vocal.  Someone who has played bluegrass is preferable, but country background might work with a genuine goal to adapt.  He/she needs to have vocal melody and harmony capability.  I am vocal as well, and my primary instrument is the mandolin. 

Important!  Please don't make the mistake of assuming you're not good enough!  But, first of all, too many good vocalists do that, and it's only their self confidence that stands in the way.  Likely, if you're already playing and singing in a jam you're well on your way.  Good vocalists are not normally good "naturally", they are good because they practice - and practice we will.  So it may be that we can spot the potential there, and you have the right tool set - but you won't know until you try.  Yes, of course we want to be the best we can be, but I'm expecting a development period, even if we get the most experienced person.

Other Goals:

•             HAVE FUN!  If you can't have fun, why bother?  I have so many good memories of fun practices (honestly I think practices are more fun than performances - cutups, mess-ups...)             
•                 Dallas – Fort Worth Centric for the first 2-3 years.
•                 Target a practice site in the center point of which we all live, but all members will need to be ok with the idea that 20-25 miles may need to be travelled for practice, once a week or so.
•                 Venues will be just about any county surrounding the DFW metroplex, such as Dallas, Tarrant, Johnson, Ellis, Fannin, Parker, etc.  They will include community festivals, churches, private parties, opry’s and yes of course senior centers – that’s part of the job, giving back.
•                Occasionally we may go on a weekend festival – Mobeetie is a good example (Texas pan handle).
•                 First 6 months is a slow build of the core band – vocals, songs, maybe very “light” performances to keep the edge off.
•                 At the 3 month mark we'll have our other lead instrument coming in for regular practice..
•             At the 6 month level I'd like to introduce the first of "killer" technical songs.  Meaning, great entertainment value, real toe-tapping and modern fast paced bluegrass stuff.  I really like examples you would hear from groups like Blue Highway and Ricky Skaggs.

•                  At about the two year mark a goal may be to introduce a few corporate gigs, and that’s an important distinction: to secure about 6 of those a year or so  (every other month maybe?).  The paycheck on this is to the level that when we commit, we commit, and usually under contract.  Again, I don’t see that happening for the first 18 months to two years, but eventually it's really the distinction that's important to make with band goals.  What’s the reason why I think this is important?  No, it’s not because I have an idea I can quit my I.T. career, but I’ve drawn the conclusion that when you make decent money from the corporate gigs you can avoid the notion from members that they are “sacrificing” so much of their time or money just to play and sing (keeps the band intact).  Plus, we can use these funds to finance playing in the areas that can’t (or shouldn't) pay.
•                 I would like to see us record and get original music on the more modern points of purchase (XM, ITunes, etc.).

Please Click here if you are interested in being part of this rebuilding effort.  Even if you're not a vocalist please let me know who you are so that when we get to the lead instrumentation I can get back in touch.  Basically, tell me about yourself, what your goals are, your basic past, what town do you live, etc.

Now some very important background that might either entice you or possibly help you decide this is not a fit for you:  The Texas Prairie band was a relatively short lived and reasonably successful bluegrass entertainment band.  Our entire life span was approximately 2 years with the core, and about a year of that was a period where we had a very good continuous run of quality venues.  This was my first band, period, much less as manager of the band.  I took it very seriously and did all the extra things a band manager has to do.  The dissolution was a result of schedule breakdowns – all the members were getting along fine.  I would suppose however since the band never had early discussions on longer term goals that some members felt that where we were going ultimately may not have jibed with their personal musical goals.  I have extremely fond memories of all the wonderful times we had – and our talent was exceptional in my opinion (ok, maybe I was a little biased).  Anyway we had enough of a good time and success that what I experienced caused me to crave FAR more.  One of the things we eventually worked into was a good paying corporate gig.  So, while we were doing the standard church venues, the opry’s, City sponsored festivals and private parties, etc.; we figured out how to do the right marketing to take it a step further.  Although the corporate paycheck was a completely different level that seemed to really put a completely different expectation on the band. 

It was really kind of sad given the potential – yet what I took away from it were several “lessons learned”; and accordingly please read the goals and thought processes I list below to see if you’d be interested.  It’s not gospel, and I’m sure willing to discuss other variations.

Build the band slowly (personnel is EVERYTHING) – match up GOALS as best as possible!

Since I’ve been in corporate management for over 20 years I already knew this one, but it deserves repeating.  As manager I know that I must never abuse that “privilege”.  I also have to recognize that most likely the other members have been doing this a lot longer than me, and I stand to learn a lot more from them then the other way around.  So, you’ll definitely not see any autocratic tendencies from me in terms of the music production, arrangements, tempo, harmony, phrasing, etc.  I figure my role is the business side and seem to do pretty good there.

Seek out only truly dedicated people.  Those that love the music so much they will give it the priority that a truly successful band needs.  That means that if you get him/her to sign off on a gig then they need to handle their schedule so they won’t have to make the hard choices in the first place.  Things happen alright, but the presumption for the serious band should be that you really take care not to double-book – it can really be done so “sacrifices” are kept at a minimum – the key is communication.              

Start with finding the core vocals first: Especially in bluegrass, focus on great melody and great harmony!  I take a lesson from my friends at Bluefield Express who work really hard at this.  I noticed one day as they were walking away from a jam they were exploring a new song.  As they stood by a car and about to drive off they tried the song out A cappella first; instead of giving in to the normal temptation of playing an instrument to work things out.  The point is they realize that the value of the vocal and finding the harmony is paramount.  Then, once the vocals come the instrumentation comes next and is just that much better (and easier to do).

Have regular meetings on priorities, where are bands going, etc.  I got a lot of good advice by reading Pete Wernick’s book and it really helped me to not be timid about running the band more as a business, because ultimately if you do that it saves you from misunderstandings.  So always need to communicate what the $’s and split will be and how much the band needs to hold-back for promo or equipment.

All of this is basically in contrast to “eeking” a band together.  That’s my technical term for witnessing the usual way a band comes together.  It starts with “hey, come over sometime and let’s see if we can have some fun creating a band……” 

Well, as you can see I’ve given this a lot of study and thought; I hope you can see I’m committed to making it work – and if YOU have the same commitment the send me an email!!!

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 Click here to contact Patrick