From jeep99@bright.net Wed Jan 30 07:57:42 2002
Subject:RE: Two Keyboard Bands

I played in a weekend bar band about 10 years ago with a guy and his
wife. He was the lead guitarist and she played piano. She read
music real good, but was new to improvisation. Over the life of the
band, we accumulated a bunch of keyboard rigs between us. I played
Hammond, a little bit of synth, even a little bit of accordian for
effect and she played piano and some DX7. Because we both had full
range amplifiers for keyboards, it later progressed (regressed?) into
adding some acoustic electric guitars off and on between us, then me
bringing an electric guitar rig in addition to everything else just
for one set of rythmn guitar. So we ended up trying to cover too
much ground and the whole thing became a real chore to set up and
tear down. But there's something to be said about alternating hot
licks in a serious jam between guitar, piano, and Hammond if
everyone's on the same page. Also, you can invest in half as much
equipment for double the usage if both tastes are similar. I think
the two players have to compliment each other's weaknesses for it to
work. Recently a real good keyboardist friend of mine quit his band
out of "loud guitar" frustration and has proposed a new band with us
as two keyboardists. I've had alot of fun jamming with him as he is
a stronger pianist than me, but I'm anchored to Hammonds and he's
not. It would no doubt work, but what I have now is working and the
pay cut is bigger so it won't happen. But I'd recommend two players
to anyone that has an opportunity and isn't concerned (or gets paid a
hell of a lot more than we do in our area) about the pay cut and
clutter on stage.