TheAlterBridgeNation.com

My metal band is up and running again and we just did our first gig in 2 years. It's rough footage but we're happy to be out there rocking again.

Hell yeah, man! I saw that come through my Youtube subscriptions the other day. Haven't had a chance to sit down and watch it yet, but I will soon! Glad you're getting back out on the scene.

Yeah it's awesome to be so active in a couple of bands at the moment. It's all playing to like 3 people at a time but it's great fun.

On the other side of things. I had some equipment failure at a recent gig... was certainly a life lesson:

The power supply to my Line 6 HX Stomp got too hot in the sun and the damn thing crapped out on me . By the time I got round to going direct to my amp I was too flustered to perform the solo well so it was a real bugger. It's the second to last song in the set and the 'big finish' before the nice emotional closer.

Still it was a fun gig, just more eventful than planned .

Crumbso wrote: The power supply to my Line 6 HX Stomp got too hot in the sun and the damn thing crapped out on me . By the time I got round to going direct to my amp I was too flustered to perform the solo well so it was a real bugger. It's the second to last song in the set and the 'big finish' before the nice emotional closer.

Still it was a fun gig, just more eventful than planned .

"This is a real Spinal Tap moment!" - Myles Kennedy

My wife and I started a little variety YouTube channel a couple months ago, mostly dealing with our pets and our hobbies and such, and so I did a little music for one of the videos. Uploaded it to my Moonrise channel as well, since I haven't had anything new to put up there for almost a year now (oops). The song itself is over 10 years old now, dating back to my first band, but I've kept it alive with this project and it continues to be one of my favorites. Here's me sitting in my living room, playing a song called I'll Be Yours.

My band got in a final 2019 gig! Here's the full set:

Crumbso wrote:My band got in a final 2019 gig! Here's the full set:

That's pretty neat man.

Another original song that I recently got added to my channel. Older video from a year and a half ago or so, but I've been trying to get some of these songs that I've never had online uploaded while I'm not out playing new gigs. Beyond Blind Eyes... enjoy!

(wrong thread)

I know our acoustic videos have sort of migrated to that "acoustic covers repertoire" thread, but I was just digging through this dusty old forum and saw that nothing had been posted here on this thread in exactly a year (well, it's past midnight here now so over a year), which is a shame. So here's one I did a while back - anyone remember the band Stereo Fuse that used to be on Wind-Up, opened up for Creed for a while on the Weathered tour? I loved that band, that CD was chock full of bangers, including this one, their big hit (which was actually their cover of a song by someone else). I even tracked down Colin (the lead singer) on Facebook and sent this his way, and he gave me his seal of approval, which is always fun to hear even if you go begging for it. Enjoy!

As a newbie here, I'm trying to become active in a lot of forums.

Here's my band playing some stuff. (I am the dark-haired kid with the black guitar.) I play Alter Bridge songs as well, but I don't have any video recordings of me doing so.

maximzub wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 3:18 pm As a newbie here, I'm trying to become active in a lot of forums.

Here's my band playing some stuff. I play Alter Bridge songs as well, but I don't have any video recordings of me doing so.

Your drumming is rather good. That's quite a nice varied set but someone always needs to be on that bass and the drums need to be louder

Crumbso wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:24 amYour drumming is rather good. That's quite a nice varied set but someone always needs to be on that bass and the drums need to be louder

Thanks! Unfortunately, since it's just the three of us, we can't always have somebody on bass. Also, I mixed this in the middle of the night using only the laptop computer speakers, so the drumming isn't as loud as it should be. What do you think of my other instrument skills?

maximzub wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:21 am

Crumbso wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:24 amYour drumming is rather good. That's quite a nice varied set but someone always needs to be on that bass and the drums need to be louder

Thanks! Unfortunately, since it's just the three of us, we can't always have somebody on bass. Also, I mixed this in the middle of the night using only the laptop computer speakers, so the drumming isn't as loud as it should be. What do you think of my other instrument skills?

You've certainly got some speed on guitar. If I was to offer some constructive criticism, you need to concentrate on making sure your lick patterns are in the correct key when you improv/solo as sometimes it falls out of the key. Your singing is pretty much on key so that's cool.

The whole band is going in the right direction for sure but maybe it seems you're all trying too hard to push yourselves beyond what you currently know, which is all cool for rehearsal (you have to push boundaries to improve) but when you're gigging it's best to reign it in a bit to what you guys can more comfortably do. The bass really is sorely missed too, though I know it's a bastard to find band members sometimes.

Keep going. You guys have the beginnings of something cool

Crumbso wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:48 pm

maximzub wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:21 am

Crumbso wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:24 amYour drumming is rather good. That's quite a nice varied set but someone always needs to be on that bass and the drums need to be louder

Thanks! Unfortunately, since it's just the three of us, we can't always have somebody on bass. Also, I mixed this in the middle of the night using only the laptop computer speakers, so the drumming isn't as loud as it should be. What do you think of my other instrument skills?

You've certainly got some speed on guitar. If I was to offer some constructive criticism, you need to concentrate on making sure your lick patterns are in the correct key when you improv/solo as sometimes it falls out of the key. Your singing is pretty much on key so that's cool.

The whole band is going in the right direction for sure but maybe it seems you're all trying too hard to push yourselves beyond what you currently know, which is all cool for rehearsal (you have to push boundaries to improve) but when you're gigging it's best to reign it in a bit to what you guys can more comfortably do. The bass really is sorely missed too, though I know it's a bastard to find band members sometimes.

Keep going. You guys have the beginnings of something cool

On the topic of improvising solos, I actually tried to imitate Kirk Hammett's solo for Fade To Black from Lincoln 2018, which is an improvised version. I can tell he's soloing in E pentatonic even though James is playing B minor riffs, but I still like how it sounds.

On the topic of bassists: We are getting closer and closer to having a bassist! There's a girl I met in early January this year named Grace, and she plays guitar (just chords, nothing special) and also sings really well. I asked her if she wanted to learn bass so she can join us, and she said yes! I consulted with the other band members as well, and they said yes. Now, keep in mind, Grace plays in a duo with her sister, and they've opened for local bands a lot. However, her sister is going off to college, and Grace needs somebody to jam with once she's not in the duo anymore. So the three main points to overcome are travel restrictions (the four of us all live quite far from each other), equipment (she doesn't own a bass yet), and time (it's already a hassle to plan one band practice a month with three band members, let alone four).

I thought I would finally post recordings of me playing Alter Bridge songs on here. Unfortunately there is no video, just audio.

The first video starts with Watch Over You. It's rearranged for standard tuning, and then tuned down a half-step. I had trouble hitting the falsetto notes, but I managed to get it out that day.



The second video is Cry Of Achilles. It's tuned down to D Tuning. For this video I recorded vocal harmonies and extra guitar parts on top. No click track, so sometimes the vocals are out of sync. Also, the higher harmonies were really a stretch for me.



The third video starts with The Writing On The Wall and Come To Life. For these two, I also recorded vocals and guitars on top of the original recording. Interestingly, for The Writing On The Wall, the main guitar is in half-step down tuning, but the lead guitar is in C Tuning. Come To Life is rearranged for C Tuning as well.



Enjoy!

Was just sorting through my YouTube channel, and saw this performance of Turn The Page. Sad that it only has 10 views(!), as I think it's one of my better sounding videos aside from a couple of times where the wind picked up. This was one of the rare times where I really got to plug into a good pro sound system, doing an opening slot for some friends of mine as we played the after party for the local Harley Davidson place's Make-a-Wish Foundation fundraiser ride.

Going to throw in the other two videos I got that day, Every Rose and Zombie. I must have been going for a little bit more of a "classic" vibe that day to hold the bikers' attention.

So I've been going to this bar about 15 minutes from home to play at an Open Jam that they host every Thursday. I made video compilations of the first two times I was there, and I thought I might share it here.

maximzub wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 2:44 pm So I've been going to this bar about 15 minutes from home to play at an Open Jam that they host every Thursday. I made video compilations of the first two times I was there, and I thought I might share it here.

Nice! Sounds good, man! I love playing at open mics, seems like people are a little bit more engaged there. Probably get some appreciation from the other artists rather than playing your own show and trying to get coffee shop patrons to pay attention. lol

As some followers of the Total Randomness Thread may know, I'm in the school musical production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. When they held the callback auditions, I was one of the five chosen to audition for Snoop Dogg...I mean Snoopy. So I had to learn part of the song called "Snoopy". I didn't make it, and I'm just in the chorus now. But I had to do this because I like the song so much!



The musical director let me show it at the end of practice, so by that time most people had already left. But I got really good reactions from those who were there!