Weird job offers, just when you thought you heard it all

Bo Legg · Posted 22 Jul 2014 11:15 pm

Well I got a call to go on tour with this Nashville recording artist. He said he thought I was the best on steel he had heard.
Right a way that threw up a red flag since it was obvious he was no judge of steel players.
Well I had never heard of him but I thought Iâ€™d meet with him to see what he had to offer.
While heâ€™s describing the bus he is going to buy the drummer he selected showed up with crud drawings of a view from above of the other band members he had auditioned for the job.
Nine piece band including 2 female harmony singers, me on steel and a piano etc. etc. etc.â€¦â€¦â€¦
Now it would have been impressive if it hadnâ€™t been drawn on a piece of cardboard torn from a box in crayola.
Did I mention both the female singers had red hair? I suppose he had limited colors to choose from.
You gotta hear the rest of this but first let me give you an opportunity to post some of the weird job offers you may have encountered over the years as a steel player.

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Some ten or so years ago, I got a call from a self described country sanger. He'd lived in Idaho and was a well known musician, he stated.

Like you, he'd heard that I was the best most versatile steel player in the area and he wanted me to appear on this show with him in the Longview, WA., area.

He name dropped dozens of musicians, some of whom I knew and others I'd never heard of. When he mentioned the dive we were to be playing in, I got suspicious so inquired what the pay was gonna be. He quite calmly informed me it was $100 for the night. I told him because I'd been previously initiated by other stars, I'd need the money up front.

I met with him and he promptly handed me the money and went on to describe his extensive musical history. It was impressive except it all happened in Idaho.?????

He was driving a beautiful Cadillac with REAL GOLD pin striping, including his name on the door.

We did the gig and all went well. A few days later I heard that the Caddy had been repo'd and you know the rest.

It was interesting to say the least. Laughing

James Kerr · From: Scotland, UK

This note appeared on one of my Hank Williams You Tubes,

Official Hank III 3 months ago

Any lap steel players that might wanna go on the road contact me at Buzzzd03@yahoo.com Thanks Hank Williams III I leave june 1st 2014

Its still there and I must admit my Mouse Pointer hovered there a few times.

James.ï»¿

Eddie Cunningham · From: Massachusetts, USA

I thought the best job I ever played was going to be a Big Rodeo in Boston in 1947. We were playing 5 nites a week with on a big radio station in Boston and a guy from the Rodeo came in and offered us a big $$$ contract to play the Rodeo for the week . It was a union contract all legal and correct so we grabbed it !! The big guy from the rodeo said our payment check would come from the home base in Texas !! We did the job and it was great fun but we are still waiting for the check !! The union tried to collect for us but never could !! But it was quite an experience !! olde geeze - AKA Eddie "C"

Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Banned in Boston. Oh Well

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Bo Legg · Posted 23 Jul 2014 6:15 pm

I just started to ask about the money when the drummer butted back in and said we will be playing a casino tour and that he had been making around $4,500 a week the last time he played.
He went on about how his sister-in-law was in charge of all these casinos world wide and as soon as we got the band together we were a cinch to start immediately on the Casino tour.
I was thinking Iâ€™ll just ask $2,000 a week guaranteed starting today and he should just jump at that instead of later having to pay me $4,500 a week.
While I was thinking the Nashville recording artist jumped back in and said we would need to learn everything on his CD note for note.
So Iâ€™m getting a little dizzy from turning my head back and forth listening to these guys but I didnâ€™t need much time for it to roll around in my head that we are going to take the time to learn all the songs note for note that a band from Arkansas played on a not yet released CD by an artist that no one has ever heard of and travel around in a brand new bus not yet purchased and go on a Casino tour booked by the sister-in-law of the drummer that is at least a couple of enchiladas and a taco short on his combination plate.

Don R Brown · From: Rochester, New York, USA

Bo - what could possibly go wrong?

Bo Legg · Posted 23 Jul 2014 8:45 pm

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

We were playing this little bar in Virginia Beach, and this guy wants to come back to the hotel to offer us a deal. He is a mile high on coke. We are the best band he has ever heard and he is going to charter a plane to New York the next day and fly us all there to get fitted for clothes and sign his contract. He says we must cancel all our gigs the next day. My bass player is eating this up. After listening to his BS for far longer than necessary, I told him, we wouldn't do anything right now but to send my lawyer a letter of intent with everything spelled out. He slowed down a bit and said he would do it. Never heard another word from him. He probably wound up being Lady GaGa's manager.
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Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Thanks Bo, that's clearly a priceless opportunity, and one which you have superbly documented for all posterity with Wit and Grace.

When you're done with them will you ask them to stop by my place for a while? Cool

Jerome Hawkes · From: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

didnt happen to me, but a guy i sold a guitar to...lesson to be learned

this was back in the 80's (pre-internet) and the guy had just moved to town and answered an ad looking for a guitarist for a touring band that had just been signed. must have pro equipment, right looks, play, etc. guy gets to the audition, (in a warehouse) and everyone loves him, say he is far better than all the others they have auditioned. they want to hire him on the spot and they are booked to start a tour and they will be making good cash & all the R&R 'perks'. guy agrees, and they tell him they are leaving in the morning for the tour and it will be necessary to leave his stuff so it will be packed up ready to go...
you know where this leads..
guy gets there at 10:00 the next am with the warehouse padlocked and the band gone - along with all his guitars (les paul / 2 strats) and marshall stack...never to be seen again.
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Jeff Garden · From: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

Tell them you don't actually have a pedal steel just yet and don't actually know how to play one but you'll be ready to go when they are, Bo Wink

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

I was told by the owner/producer of a local recording studio that he was managing a black hip-hop band and thought I might be able to add something. I was familiar with the location of his studio, which is in one of the worst crime-ridden areas of Oakland. He gave me a copy of their latest CD which hasn't been released yet. I doubted that I would fit in at all, but I said, "Why not. I have plenty of time." That was eighteen months ago and I've heard nothing from his since.

I'm kinda relieved. Very Happy

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