Naming The Band

At the end of summer, some of my mates from Peak City Sound decided to branch out and start a smaller band to play some smaller venues where the 14 member Peak City Sound band simply wouldn’t fit. They asked me if I would be interested in joining the group. Being a full time musician (a.k.a. no steady paycheck) and that they are all fun people to play with, I said “Of course.” So during our first practice our drummer Jack says “I got us a gig.” What? 

Half of the band members live in Apex and they frequently go to a place called Rudy’s Pub and Grill. They got to know the owners and Jack asked them if we could play there. They said yes. But since they had never heard us play they said we could play for free dinner. Basically an audition. Knowing that one gig often leads to another, we said yes and set the gig date for November 14. 

We got busy getting music ready for the gig. Our bass player was previously the trombone player in Peak City Sound so he had the most work to do learning about 30 songs on bass. I helped him by notating out the songs for him so he could focus on practicing them. Due to scheduling we were only able to practice four times. So we focused on songs we all knew from Peak City Sound, and only added a handful of new songs. I was a little concerned we would be ready in time until the third practice when everything sounded really good. By the fourth practice, three days before the gig, I was confident we could pull off the gig. 

We had been so focused on the music that we didn't even bother to pick a name for the band. So we decided to have some fun with it and let the audience pick our band name at the gig. We are not legally bound to use the winners name, but we thought if we a got cool enough suggestion why not? Our host (Rudy’s) offered the winner a $25 gift card and $25 cash.

Throughout the gig people filled out band name suggestions and put them in a pitcher. We took a break during the gig and read the suggestions. We picked four we thought were best. Then we let the audience pick the winner by applause. They chose Six Pack Of Soul. Since we have six members and we play a mix of rock and soul, it fit us pretty good. 

The crowd seemed to really enjoy the show and Rudy’s wants us back to play again. This time for money. So overall it was a great night for a new band with no name and only four practices under our belt.