10/30/2010-HIRED GUN-Gig w/ White Noise (Bass)

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Wayne W. Johnson

Last night I once again did a Hired Gun gig w/ the band White Noise-filling in on bass. Originally this was going to be like the other shows, but apparently there was a double booking involved, so the night was split between White Noise & Acoustic act Bill Oeinck. Bill went on 1st, then White Noise and then Bill closed the night.

I was originally going to wear a bald cap but we didn’t have all the materials needed for it — or the time, actually. By chance, Jen (my lovely, beautiful sexy girlfriend who I love so much), happened to find in my makeup box (which has my KISS makeup in it) two cans of spray-on dark blonde hair dye. She then came up with this great idea to use them–on me(!) I said, “Sure!” not knowing what was going to happen later. My hair turned out more gold than blonde, and then Jen decided that I should have it braided. I came up with the headband. (What a hunk of man, right?) I have no idea what I was supposed to be, but it made people laugh, so it was cool with me.

Anyway, we arrived at Greene’s Ale House while Bill was playing. We got the gear in, and settled down before playing. We ran into some old friends and played a little bit of catch up. Here’s tonight’s set list:

Set One

Hey Jealousy (The Gin Blossoms)
When I Come Around (Green Day)
8675309 (Tommy Tuotone)
The Ballad of Mary Jane (Tom Petty)
You Really Got Me (The Kinks)
Talking in Your Sleep (The Romantics)
Rock in the USA (John Mellencamp)
Something So Strong (Crowded House)
I Ran (Flock of Seagulls)
Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong (Spin Doctors)
Living After Midnight (Judas Priest)
I Saw Her Standing There (The Beatles)
Kryptonite (3 Doors Down)
Hash Pipe (Weezer)

Set Two

Found Out About You (The Gin Blossoms)
Surrender (Cheap Trick)
The Monster Mash (?)
Cumbersome (Seven Mary Three)
She Hates Me (Puddle of Mudd)
Play that Funky Music (Wild Cherry)
Every Rose Has its Thorn (Poison)

We started at around eleven o’clock. I later found out that there would be a costume contest inbetween the sets. The bar got more and more crowded as we went through the first set. No surprises in the first set, and it went off as well as expected. Because of the way I was dressed up, I was being quite the cornball on stage doing stuff that I normally don’t do–ever.

Please note that for this gig, I did buy a light for my music stand so I had no problems with seeing my sheet music. Ironically enough, I didn’t look at the sheet music very much throughout the night. By the time the first set ended, Greene’s was pretty packed with costumed people waiting for the contest to begin. At one point, for some reason, the microphone was handed to me to run the festivities. Not only did I not know what was going on, but it was my first time being in the bar–but I tried to do the best I could. At some point, things got a little hectic when people in the crowd got a hold of the mic and started running the contest themselves. Eventually the winners were announced and we continued on to set two, which saw more than half the people leaving the bar–probably in search of another costume contest. (Side note: Jen should have won the sexiest costume award–not that I’m biased or anything…)

We started the second set, and, of course, this wouldn’t be a White Noise show without George throwing in a song that I had no idea was on the list–let alone knew how to play. The only surprise was that it was limited to one. (Hurray! HA!) That was The Monster Mash, which he admitted to having thought about adding to the set earlier that day. One thing that was really cool about the night was the last song, which George dedicated to his parents–who were there and celebrating their forty-seventh wedding anniversary. The second set ended shorter than expected, and I went about searching for Jen’s lost cellphone, which turned out to be in the bottom of her purse the entire time. At the end of the night, we said our goodbyes, I got paid, and we went home.

I’d like to thank White Noise for having me fill in for them again. It’s always fun and as long as I am not busy, I’m available for future fill-ins if needed. This was my first time to Greene’s Ale House and it’s a pretty cool place. I also want to thank all the people who came out this night. It was great to see some familiar faces that we haven’t seen in awhile. Pics should be up shortly. Warning–there’s a lot of them–and please feel free to laugh at my expense. 🙂 It was a fun night and I had a great time, even more so because I was able to spend it with my baby Jen.

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10/24/2010-ACTING-First Day Filming on “Fallen Angels”

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Wayne W. Johnson

-This was my 1st day on the Fallen Angels filming set. Filming had started shortly after the initial meet & greet.

-When I got there, filming was already underway for one scene-while others were getting ready via costuming &/or makeup. I kinda just wandered around for awhile-talking & getting to know various members of the cast & crew.

-I didn’t get called into wardrobe until a few hours after I arrived. The 1st thing that became apparent were the size of the pants-they were HUGE! That was good for a few jokes. Glad I brought a belt! 🙂 Then I had a number of people calling me “Sub-Zero” (Mortal Kombat). I played up to it-I was having fun!

-Then there was more waiting until you get to your scene. I didn’t mind-I’ve done this before so I kinda knew what to expect. At one point, they were filming in the lower levels and, whenever filming, we have to be really quiet due to the sensitive mic being used to pic up audio. I was told that at a previous day, shooting ground to a halt because J.T. had to hunt down a fly due to the noise it was making.

-On top of that, all the power (lights) were needed for the scene so not only were we 2 floors up, but in the dark-in an abandoned brewery that looks (& feels) like a horror movie. Course, being me, I was whispering cornball jokes most of the time. Did I mention that it was also cold and many of the actors & crew-when not needed-were in the makeup area huddled over an electric heater? Not that I’m complaining-doing stuff like this is way more enjoyable than my normal job.

-I was in 2 scenes this day. One of them I came in at the end with some dialog. Not much-but I’ll have more in later shoots. I was in the room that had a lot of “ghost orbs” in the pic from the last time I was there. The 2nd scene was just me & 4 others walking down a corridor. I had to be at the end due to my height. It was pretty dark at the end of that row. We did a few takes-in one of them one of the bodyguards tripped and we were all laughing. That was the last scene of the day-most of the others had gone home at this point. I was out by around 11 or so (I showed up at 3:30 btw).

-I had a great time and it was a lot of fun to do. It was also great to see the process of all this going on-as well as meeting new people & watching how they performed. I’m looking forward to my next time being here-which will be soon. Pics can be seen on the WWJ PAGE ON FACEBOOK

FALLEN ANGELS WEBSITE
FALLEN ANGELS ON FACEBOOK

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10/17/2010-BAND PRIMER-Band Names

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Wayne W. Johnson

BAND PRIMER

OCTOBER 2010

BAND NAMES

-When you’re starting out, one of the 1st things you want to do is come up w/ a name for your band. Sounds pretty basic right? You would think so. Come up w/ a name so people can identify your band so when you do promo, people know where to go in regards to your band. Here’s a few things to keep in mind.

-1st & foremost, when you pick a name, you have to make sure no one else is using it. Again, you would think this is basic, but you wouldn’t believe how many bands I’ve seen w/ the same name. We’re not just talking something like bands in different countries or states. I mean, bands even in the same region of the same state. There are so many bands out nowadays that it’s really hard not to pick a name that isn’t already taken. Fortunately you have the internet. Do your research. Check to see if there’s another band using the name you’ve picked. If there is, check to see if that band is still active-and what they’ve done. If it was some local bar band that hasn’t been out long, released no product, and has broken up-you may be in luck. You still have to do your due diligence though. The last thing you want to happen is to see your band taking off, having a good sized fan base, and reaching higher & higher…only to get hit with a ceist & desist order from a band who has the same name yet was around before you and/or has the name trademarked. It happens a lot-even for signed bands.

-You might think you can get away with the same name but a different spelling. Not really. The main question will be is there confusion with the public when the 2 bands in question are brought up? If there is-there’s a problem.I know of 2 bands-one in CNY and the other in NNY-who have the exact sounding name-yet spelled differently. Does that matter? Yes. Although printed promo with look different, audio promo will have the names sounding exactly alike. If, for ex., the NNY band came into CNY to do a show, there would be confusion-because everyone in CNY will think it’s the CNY band playing. This can even cause legal issues-which are not only stressful but costly.

-When you’re starting out & picking names, don’t get too attached to a name until you’ve done your research. Even if you find a name that no one has, you’re not off the hook. The best thing would be to trademark it-but that can be costly. Most starter bands don’t have the money to do this. What I would suggest is to get that name associated w/ your band as much, and as fast, as possible.Release product w/ your band name & logo and get it out as far as you can. Save & document everything that has the band name/logo on it. You still need to check the internet from time to time to make sure that someone hasn’t picked up the name. You don’t need someone causing confusion w/ your fan base. Contact a music/entertainment lawyer for more info on this.

FOURTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE WEBSITE
FOURTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE ON FACEBOOK

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9/22/2010-VOTING-Vote for me at “Heavy Metal Hotties”-Thanks!

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Wayne W. Johnson

Hi everyone!

-I just recently found out that I’m now a contestant at the Heavy Metal Hotties Page on My Space. Each person has 2 votes & votes by leaving 1 comment per vote underneath a contestant’s pic. So far I’m in a tie for 2nd place. Thanks in advance & hope everyone is having a great week!

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9/20/2010-BAND PRIMER-Tips on Promoting Online Part 2

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Wayne W. Johnson

BAND PRIMER

SEPTEMBER 2010

TIPS ON PROMOTING ONLINE PART 2

-Last month I shot out a few tips on band promoting online. As I said in that article, some of these are pretty basic &,you’d think, would be common knowledge. However, I see bands time after time doing stuff that just makes people want to hit their delete buttons. Yes, I’ve made some of these mistakes myself. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes & advice.

-On sites like Facebook & My Space you have what’s known as an Events area. This is most commonly used to promo your shows-although it can also be used for meet & greets, contests, CD release parties & more. When do you start doing the promo? I’ve seen bands & promoters sending out event invites 4-5 months in advance. Unless you’re a huge name, I wouldn’t recommend that. Why? Think of how people are these days-very busy and w/ short attention spans for the most part. Sending an event invite that far in advance will disappear in a person’s daily routine very quickly. So just send them the same thing every week right? Wrong. Do that and you’ll start to get people annoyed and then “delete.”

-I will say though that the above is better than what I’ve also seen a lot of bands do-wait until the day before the gig-or worse-the day of the show to send out their FIRST event invite (or email). Then they wonder why no one was there. Like all your fans/friends log on at the same time right? Worst yet are bands who are doing this thru your cell phone via text. I’ve never done this-and this was before I heard a HUGE number of people complaining about this. Not everyone has free texting for one thing.

-My suggestion is to 1st make sure the event is listed on your online calendars as soon as it’s confirmed. Then, 2 weeks before the event, send out the 1st invite. Wait a week before sending out the 2nd as a reminder. You can then get away with sending a 3rd one the day of the event.

-This is a little different than status updates or bulletins (which you can do a little more often-not too much though) because those are among all the other ones that all their friends update/send & people can see the topic and then choose if they want to look at it or not. With an event invite, it goes directly to that person. This brings up another point-targeting. Most event pages allow you to target who to send your invites to. You don’t want to send someone from Australia an invite to your gig in Syracuse, NY. Do that a number of times and “delete.”

-I also have to mention that online promo is great to do & cost effective (the trade off is you have to put a lot of time into it) but you still need to do traditional promo as well. That means making sure the event is listed in the local papers. Flyers up at the place you’re playing. Small flyers to hand out at clubs. Interviews/ads on local radio shows/papers if you can. Go all out. While it can be time consuming, it’s really not that hard. See you next month!

FOURTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE WEBSITE
FOURTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE ON FACEBOOK

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9/18/2010-HIRED GUN-Gig w/ White Noise (Bass)

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Wayne W. Johnson

-About 9 days ago I received a message from George-the singer/guitarist for White Noise-asking if I could fill in on bass for 2 shows. One is on 10/30 and the other is on 9/18-only 9 days away. This would be 3 sets of cover tunes. I said sure-I’ve jammed w/ them 2 times in the past and they’re great guys.Plus i could use the money 🙂 I received the set list 4 days before the show from Jim (drummer) and went to work. There were a bunch of repeats from the last 2 shows-but also some new songs. I was a little sick this past week so I didn’t really dive into it until Thursday-2 days before the show.

-Whenever doing hired gun shows, the main thing to remember is the knowing the key of the songs and any changes to the arrangements. White Noise tunes to Eb so that was cool (I normally play in Eb)-but most of the songs they cover are in standard tuning. Not a problem-except I showed up to the show w/ my bass in standard tuning. Luckily I asked some questions about key during set up and quickly fixed that. One thing that helps reduce the pressure at White Noise shows is I can bring a music stand so if I don’t have the song down, I can just read the music while playing along.

-Dominick’s moved since the last time I was there. It’s now where Cheers used to be in Scriba. I got there a little later than I wanted to but it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere so I just got things set up. First issue was lights-there basically weren’t any :). Not that I was expecting some big light show-but the only lights were 4 of them in the ceiling-and I couldn’t aim the light to my stand. I actually had to get the dome light from my car to use (see photos for a pic of this). The 2nd problem was where to put my camera-which was now acting like a camcorder since my actual one isn’t working. No biggie though.

-We started at around 9:40 or so. Here’s the set list

SET 1
-When I Come Around-Green Day
-You Really Got Me-The Kinks
-Keep Your Hands to Yourself-Georgia Satellites
-I Ran-Flock of Seagulls
-Last Dance W/ Mary Jane-Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
-Talking in Your Sleep-The Romantics
-Something So Strong-Crowded House
-Only Wanna Be With You-Hootie & the Blowfish
-Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong-The Spin Doctors
-Bad Moon Rising-CCR
-R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.-John Mellencamp
-Found Out About You-Gin Blossems
-Hash Pipe-Weezer

SET 2
-Hey Jealousy-Gin Blossems
-Evil Ways-Santana
-The Breakup Song-Greg Kihn
-No Matter What-Badfinger
-867-5309-Tommy Tuotone
-Living After Midnight-Judas Priest
-Runaround-Blues Traveller
-Purple Rain-Prince
-All Day & All of the Night-The Kinks
-Surrender-Cheap Trick
-Play That Funky Music-Wild Cherry
-Cumbersome-Seven Mary Three
-Kryptonite-Three Doors Down
-Rockin in the Free World-Neil Young

SET 3
-Word Up-Cameo
-500 Miles-The proclaimers
-She Hates Me-Puddle of Mudd
-I Saw Her Standing There-The Beatles
-Born on the Baijo-CCR
-I Used to Love Her-Guns N Roses
-Turn the Page-Bob Seger
-We’re an American Band-Grand Funk Railroad
-Fight For Your Right-Beastie Boys

ENCORE
-Paranoid-Black Sabbath

-For the most part, I knew what the changes were in regards to keys. For ex., with the Hootie song, it’s in F# but they do it in G. 500 Miles is in E but they do it in A. I didn’t know till we hit the stage that “You Really Got Me”-which is in G-was being performed in A. Not a problem. There were a few times where I would say “So that’s how you guys end the song.” 🙂

-I had a problem hearing the monitors thru out the night. Having ear plugs didn’t help but I have to wear them-I don’t want to damage my hearing further. In one of the pics I made a goofy face at one of them 🙂

-George told me that he’s read my reviews from the last 2 times I filled in and enjoyed them-especially the parts about sudden key transpositions on stage and performing songs that I was totally unprepared for. Did that happen at this show? Do fish like water? (HA!). That will tend to happen at almost any hired gun gig where you don’t get together to jam at least once before the show-which is how it is when I work w/ these guys. They hire me and I come in as prepared as I can. In the 3rd set, they started playing “I Used to Love Her” and I’m like-“What’s that?” I was basically taught the song on stage as we were playing it. I snagged it before the 2nd chorus.

-In the 2nd set, a woman asked me if we did any ballads. On the list was “Every Rose has it’s Thorn” so I told her we did it and went and told the guys what she wanted. George mentioned “Purple Rain” and said the chords but unless I’m going deaf (well, I am but that’s another story-HA!), I don’t recall hearing that we were going to play it. So we get ready to play it and they start “Purple Rain”. I was like “This doesn’t sound right-and then figured out it was a different song when they hit the F# chord. So I basically had to learn the song on the spot. Their arrangements are pretty simple so it’s not that hard-per say-to pick up. Having said that….

-I think they were getting their frustrations w/ their past bassists out on me cause then they called out a Beatles song. Just kidding 🙂 Before I got the list I started going over the old list and that was one of them. It’s a cool-and busy-bass line. While I didn’t play it as well as if I’d come in prepared for it. I think I did OK. I should memorize it-just great bass playing on that song.

-Dominick’s is a small place-had a decent crowd there. One guy recognized me from CAROLINE BLUE & asked me “Isn’t this stuff pretty “light” for you?” I don’t mind-I like a pretty wide range of music. Plus I was getting paid 🙂 Also, as I said earlier, George & Jim are cool low key guys-no ego/substance abuse/arrogance here. We did get an encore. “Paranoid” wasn’t on the list but I’d performed that with CAROLINE BLUE so-while I wasn’t playing the proper bass line-I got by while playing the guitar part. Camera ran out of power a few times. We actually had a power issue on stage before the 2nd set. We couldn’t get power to the amps.

-I want to thank both George & Jim for calling me to fill in this night. I’ll be playing w/ them on 10/30 at Greene’s in Oswego. They already told me they’ll be loading up on 80’s stuff. Should be a lot of fun. Hope you like the pics

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9/5/2010-CHARITY-I’ll be on the MDA Telethon in Syracuse, NY on Ch. 9 @ 10 PM

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Wayne W. Johnson

-I’ll be joining the band Stix & Stonz & others at the MDA Telethon 2nite at 10 PM-Ch. 9 (Syracuse,NY) 2 support “Bands Together 4 MDA.” Tune in & call a pledge 4 your support!

-You can also make a donation online at The MDA Website

UPDATE-Weeks ago, I saw a bulletin from Tim (Stixs & Stonz) in regards to putting together a comp. CD of local music w/ all benefits going to the local Syracuse MDA chapter. I contacted Tim and sent him some CAROLINE BLUE songs to help out. Tim then contacted me a few days ago asking if I’d like to join them for a short spot on the MDA telethon-local channels. I said sure-anything I can do to help out.

-On the way there my right contact began acting up-so much that I had to take it off when I got to the studio so I was on the air half blind :). When you enter you have to sign in and part of that is saying what you are in regards to the event. The only box to be checked that would fit was “celebrity” so that was a trip to do 🙂 My girlfriend Jen was here so she managed to snap off the pics that are up here. I had a camcorder too, but it didn’t work-it’s finally starting to go. However, I did talk w/ one of the producers and gave my mailing address in hopes to getting a copy of the segment via DVD.

-The actual filming didn’t take long. I didn’t say anything. That was Tim & Mark. Tim is the organizer of the events we’re in and Mark-as well as Nick-both have forms of MD themselves. There were suppose to be members from other bands here but they couldn’t make it.

-As you can see from the pics, on the way out I had a little fun with some Billy Fuccillo bobble heads. What can I say-they’re HUUUUU…….GA! 🙂

-Thanks to Tim, Nick & Mark for giving me an opportunity to help out in all this. if you wish to make a donation online, please do so at http://www.mda.org/telethon/2010telethon/

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