Fortitude, my funk band.

Well months ago, well a year ago, I posted about trying to get a band together, and how hard it was finding musicians. Well I found out that I had to be patient, and I now have a 13 piece band complete with horns, and everything is falling into place, the name of my band is Fortitude, and we are a funk band, playing funk from around 1970 to 1985. I went through a lot of trial and error with forming this band, I have had to let some people go, or people would come over and audition and loved playing with us, but did not want to start out with a new band, and sometimes they would hide from you because they did not have the heart to just say no. I had to get rid of 4 people all at once, one time, because they wanted to take the band in another direction, other than what I started this band for. But now I am glad to say that I have my core group, and we sound darned good. And we are now working on our first set, which is.

Git It All - Mandrill
Ape Is High - Mandrill
Bustin' Loose - Chuck Brown
Until You Come Back to Me - Aretha Franklin
Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin
Candy - Cameo
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Slide - Slave
Make It Funky - James Brown
Car Wash - Rose Royce
Love Don't Live Here Anymore - Rose Royce
The Jam - Graham Central Station
Joe Tex, by Buddy Miles, sliding right on into, Take it off him and put it on me, by Buddy Miles.
Hypnotized-by Linda Jones

I already have the second set list for later, but I have some great players in this group, and I will post some stuff from us soon. I have already purchased a website for this band mostly for promotion. And what I like about this core group of musicians, is that we all want to succeed at this. My horn players get together on their own to work stuff out, and I like that for commitment. I also have 3 good singers 2 male and one female, and my keyboard player who is female sings too, as well as most of the group for tunes like Mandrill or whatever. So I will keep you guy's posted.
[img][/img]

I think Fortitude is a great name, and a great quality that will be needed to succeed. I like the Logo too - simple , but clear, and memorable.

While I knew all the artists you're covering, I must admit to not knowing a few of the tunes as they were not the "hits" by that particular artist. But that's my shortcoming, not yours. I'm sure they are good tunes.

What I really like is that you stuck to your guns , and did not settle for doing something you did not wish to do Spanky, and that takes strength and intestinal FOrtitude ! Exactly !

I would guess that your aiming to work in the corporate party/wedding circuit because 13 people is a lot to pay, and though I don't know Philly market -wise , I would guess that most bars don't pay that kind of money, or have the room to handle a band that size.

I look forward to hearing some music when you post it, and I wish you great success with Fortitude !


PS How are you feeling ??





Peace, TED

Thanks Ted, yes we are looking at weddings and especially New Jersey clubs, and Delaware clubs who love good sounding bands, and pay for them, the Atlantic City casino's do too. I am getting ready to hire someone to specialize in that department. And yes Ted I was saying wow, it is 13 of us, but what made me keep everybody, is how great we sound with the horns. Like on our second set we are going to do What Is Hip- Tower Of Power, and the horn players except for the trombone player, all plays 2 to 3 different type horns. And we are all in our 50's and are on the same page. My keyboard player is only 18 she is a classical piano player, who is fantastic, and we love her, so she is the baby in the group, and we look out for her. I wanted a band with females and different ethnicities and that's what I got and I am pleased, for right now anyway.[img][/img]

Sounds cool
Spanky.


I like your playlist


Many bands are going back to Funk Jazz
is UK and Europe.


Keep On Keeping On
Spanky



_____________________________

Outtasight
Colin.

yeah Spanky!
this is real funk! Mandrill,Rose royce,Cameo,Slave...some of my favourite funk bands!Hope to hear your music here!Peace,Stef

Yeah Spank, that's one hell of a playlist!! Brought me back to my High School/College days! It's a major shame that those types of bands are few and far between nowadays...

I have family that I visit in the Willingboro/Burlington NJ area, so let me know when the band is playing this summer, and I'll come and check you out!

Bet the music will sound as good as your logos. Like the art work. Keep it happening with you all......and guard your ears from possible over exposure of horns.

rac

Good luck with your project, Spanky.

Thanks all, and thank you Billy.

Way cool, Spanky... I'm looking forward to hearing some great things from this unit.

Intestinal Fortitude!!!

Your list of songs are great stuff. But will you be doing anything from 'Blood Sweat and Tears?' That seems to fit your band I would think?

rac

Thank you all again, and Billy, Robin Russell, the original drummer and still the drummer, for New Birth, told me to say hello to you, he has a lot of respect for you.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rrussell007/

Drum Beats
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/robinrussell
Part 1

Part 2

Racman wrote:Your list of songs are great stuff. But will you be doing anything from 'Blood Sweat and Tears?' That seems to fit your band I would think?

rac

Well Rac, Blood Sweat & Tears, is not Funk music. We like to the groove and jump up out of your chair and dance, power that Funk music brings. you should see how people react when they hear, or see and hear a Funk band playing, the people who were a part of that era, go crazy, with joy and dancing. From James Brown, to The Ohio Players is what we do. Now we also have slow songs , like Linda Jones-1967, or some Aretha Franklin, Till my baby comes back to me, and we will also do some other slow stuff like Rufus, featuring Chaka, and Tenna Marie. you name it. Now if we had to do a gig like say a wedding or something, and they requested some Blood Sweat & Tears, we are not going to turn down some money, we will play Spinning Wheel, with the quickness. I will be also doing a tribute song to my friend Robin Russell's New Birth, song I Can Understand It, for being one of the premier Funk drummers.
I Can Understand It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuK5MYDvm9w

Well people about 3 weeks ago the horn players started arguing with each other, and they just could not seem to get it together, so they are no longer with me, which for right now is working out real beautiful. I now have a core group of 6 knocked down from 13, and I am really pleased and delighted with these very good musicians, and we also made some changes, we now do 2 genres of music, we are rehearsing Rock sets for those clubs or concerts, and Funk sets for those clubs or concerts. And what is good about this is, we all want to play both genres, we are all on the same page. The lead guitar player is a kickbutt and take names guitar player, and so is the bass player. So I now have 2 guitar players and the rhythm guitar player sings, a bass player, a singer who also plays sax, and I on drums who also sings, and a female singer. I feel real good about this group and they are totally dedicated. The vision that I wanted is in sight and I have my hand on it. We now rehearse 2 times a week so that we can start to do gigs late next month. And now that sets of Rock songs have been added we are more flexible. We are doing Led Zep, Soundgarden, Jimi Hendrix, Alice -N-Chains, Rare Earth, Lenny Kravitz, Pink Floyd, and stuff like the Funkadelics song, Maggot Brain. So I am pleased with running a Funk and Rock group, it feels right. And also we don't have to split the money up with 13 people, even though I liked the way we sounded with all those horns, it was not to be for right now, but everybody in this band called Fortitude is happy with the direction that we are pointed in, and that is all that matters. And in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas there are much, much more rock & Pop clubs than there are Funk and R&B clubs, and that was not always the case in Philadelphia, but it is now. And I decided to hire a booking agent to keep us going.
[img][/img]

13 people in the band is a lot. If you gearing up to be a corporate band then it's okay, but in clubs you're not going to make any money with that amount of people. Members will begin to get tired of not earning a decent fee and it would have been only a matter of time before they would begin to drop off.

I personally think 9 members for a large band is ideal, while 13 is a bit overkill... I think things will work out much better for you since you scaled down. And if you later added a sax, trumpet and trombone player you'd be well on your way to a much more easily managed full sized band.

All the best to you and Fortitude, Spank! Get us some audio or video clips when you can.

Getting people on the same page is a major part of the battle so I"m glad to see that's starting to come about. And the fact that you've modified the repertoire to increase your work opportunity is also a very wise move. A cover band has to cover many bases in order to try and appeal to everyone, so good job.

Horn players are weird guys in general, so I'm not surprised they didn't get along. I would suggest that you might want to pluck the best 3 and keep them on the side as the Spankalicious Horns or something in case you get the opportunity to do a gig where they would enhance your presentation. So you pay them by the gig, no problem. It also gives your agent more flexibility in looking for gigs for you.

Looking forward to hearing your demo when you create one !



Peace, TED

Thanks guy's, and a demo will be coming as soon as I can, because I want to put it on my site, that I am building, and I have to finish the site, by putting everybody's bio and pictures and stuff on there. I did something in the control panel and got the front page all out of whack.
http://www.thefortitudeband.com
[img][/img]

Very nice site Spanky.
Do you gain at some point financially by advertising for the artists and companies? I'm well aware of the time involved in constructing websites.

Rac asked

Ted E. Bear wrote:
Horn players are weird guys in general, so I'm not surprised they didn't get along.
Peace, TED

Classic. Spanky, I look forward to hearing some Fortitude. Great name for the band, too.

thanks woofus, rac, I am going to promote the site especially the forums. And I will use it to promote the band, because club owners and others can check out our videos Rock & Funk, on the site. And when so many people click on the advertisements, I get paid. And also when I put my videos on the site it automatically goes to you tube. So I will try to finish the site by the end of the week. And then I have to wait to make a video for both genres. So now all I have to do is register with search engines and do a little promoting myself. I owned 2 Christian sites before and I made Don a administrator on the last one that I had, so I know what it takes to promote them, it is a pain in the behind, but it is worth it. And I am thinking about building a page for music news and events, from metal to gospel. Now if I do it locally, and promote it, people will come to the site to see where all the bands are playing, thus drawing people to the site. So I am thinking about it. And yes Ted they were acting crazy.

Spanky -

"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not calamity to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11


Rac