On my blog recently there's been a conversation starting about the "rules" of being a contemporary rockabilly band. In among my posts I admitted that when I first began playing in a rockabilly band years back, I didn't even understand enough about rockabilly to realize that my bass guitar wasn't "authentic" rockabilly equipment. All I understood is that I liked the sound of the music and I wished to play it. I quickly discovered that there were a lot of fans who felt that we couldn't be a real rockabilly band since I wasn't playing slap bass on an upright bass fiddle. A reader in the UK relates a comparable experience due to the fact that he does not play the " best" guitar for rockabilly. This all brings up an old sore area with me and opens the conversation as soon as again about what's important: The look or the music ?
Choosing the look
Naturally, it's enjoyable to dress like the original rockabilly cats and chicks from the mid to late 1950s when rockabilly was brand-new and fresh and Elvis was taking the world by storm in addition to all of the other artists he inspired. And by and large, it doesn't cost a great deal of cash to attain the rockabilly look. You can find all sort of great clothes at garage and rummage sales along with pre-owned shops. Just rifling through the far back of your moms and dads' (or grandparents'!) closets can gain terrific benefits for rockabilly clothing.
Things get more complicated when you're in the band. Now it's not simply the clothes that make the rockabilly look. It's the instruments. And it's a lot more pricey to set yourself up with a classic instrument from the 50s age. And brand-new instruments made to look like the old ones are not exactly low-cost either. So what's a brand-new aspiring rockabilly act to do? They're not taken seriously if they don't feature a standup bass and a Gretsch 6120 hollow-body guitar (like the one Eddie Cochran played). They're considered as imposters, not genuine "rockabillies".
The original rockabilly club was not exclusive
Nothing could be even more from the spirit of initial rockabilly! Rockabilly was not an special club that was open only to those kids that originated from rich households that could manage the " ideal" instruments. No chance! By and large, our heroes were dirt bad. These guys were dynamic, young gamers who took whatever they happened to have at hand and made music with it! And as modern rockabilly fans, we've all enjoyed the feast of remarkable music that these musicians made on those instruments.
Now, it just so takes place that hollow-body electric guitars and stand-up basses are the instruments that a great deal of these guys owned back then. Those were the exact same instruments utilized by country musicians of the day and since rockabilly was so strongly rooted in nation, it made sense that rockabilly musicians-- numerous of whom started out playing nation first-- utilized those same instruments. But not all of them followed that mold.
For example, as far as guitar players go, they used many different guitars to make their music And they weren't all hollow-body guitars. No one thinks less of Carl Perkins due to the fact that his smash hit "Blue Suede Shoes" was tape-recorded with a solid-body Les Paul guitar. Pal Holly played a solid-body Fender Stratocaster on his wonderful early rockabilly and no one at the time discounted him. Cliff Gallup, who bet Gene Vincent's Blue Caps used a solid Gretsch DuoJet guitar and most rockabilly fans consider his guitar work as some of the absolute best rockabilly playing of all time.
It's not the look, it's the music.
To put it simply, it wasn't about the "look" at that time. It was about the noise and it had to do with the energy. It's fun to have the "look" these days and most bands attempt to put their own spin on the classic look. But eventually when I go to a rockabilly program, I'm far less concerned with what the band looks like as I am with what they sound like. If they rock and their music makes me move and smile the method rockabilly does, well then, that's excellent enough for me! The rockabilly neighborhood might really utilize with less concern about the look and more issue about releasing and delighting in the noises. That's what it's really all about anyhow.
If you're a group of kids and you don't have heaps of dough, but you desire to begin a rockabilly band, you'll most likely face the self-appointed "authentic-look" police eventually. Do not let them stop you. Get the instruments you crash and get more info have into those first strains of a great rockabilly tune. It's their loss ... not yours if they can't see previous your look to listen to and take pleasure in the music!
In one of my posts I admitted that when I first started playing in a rockabilly band years earlier, I didn't even understand adequate about rockabilly to recognize that my bass guitar wasn't " genuine" rockabilly gear. Cliff Gallup, who played for Gene Vincent's Blue Caps utilized a solid Gretsch DuoJet guitar and most rockabilly fans consider his guitar work as some of the absolute best rockabilly playing of all time.
Robert Gordon was doing straight-out rockabilly and having a bit of success while bands like The Blasters were utilizing rockabilly impact heavily to form a brand-new "roots rock" noise.
These fans don't simply buy rockabilly records and go to rockabilly programs. The rockabillies utilize the trappings of 1950s style to express their love for rockabilly music and the excellent parts of the rockabilly way of life.