Between Sets - CCB's Blog

It has been a nice break, but we’ve missed you!

Friday night, the Chris Collat Band returns from hiatus with a special night of epic funk! Joining us on keyboards is the amazing John Chordy Teagle. Chordy is an accomplished keys player who plays with the Monster Band and icoVer. He’s worked with CCB several times and the result is always sweet. Joining us on bass is none other than MTE, Mike Tony Echols. Mike is a favorite on the local scene, member of several successful local bands, and a masterful bassist who always brings the funk. We are thrilled to have these two exceptional musicians join us for a special night at Lion and Bull Friday. Don’t miss it!

I first heard of the Chris Collat Band and the CCB magic in the winter of 2010.  At the time I was nursing a left arm injury, but wished I could experience the magic at some point. In April of 2011, I received an unexpected call from my good friend Teo. He invited me to sit in with CCB at the Hard Times Cafe in Germantown where they were booked to open for the Kelly Bell Band. I agreed and participated in two rehearsals/jam sessions to prepare for the gig. During that prep time, I learned exactly what the CCB magic was all about: pure chemistry, organic talent, and incredible team work.  Everyone provided creative input in the set list, and how the music would be played. Even I was able to bring drumming ideas that didn’t previously exist in the music. The show was amazing and the crowd loved us. It felt like we had been performing together for years.

About a month later, Teo called me and asked if I’d like to become CCB’s drummer. Without hesitation, an Earth shattering “hell yeah” proceeded from my mouth.

Since joining the band, we have performed at amazing venues from Champions in Frederick to the east coast’s most influentual live music venue, the 9:30 club. Performing at these places have been exciting, but what makes it worthwhile is experiencing it with this band of brothers.  We are a close knit group in and outside of the band. We support each other’s personal ventures and keep in touch throughout the week. There is nothing greater in the world than experiencing success with family. I’m looking forward to the road ahead with the CCB.   

-Justin

Check out DC-101 tonight between 10-11pm when they play our new track I Will on Local Lix! Listen to 101.1FM radio, online at DC101.com, or on the iHeartRadio app.

If you missed it, you can “see” it played on DC101 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-ibeyr0q5fA

Going from being primarily a solo/duo artist to leading a 5-piece band has had its share of challenges. In these last 8 months I have had to learn so many different roles in a band. I have also learned some things the hard way.  I’ve found things that worked and things that did not. My experiences mind you are not anything to use as guidance! But hopefully they’re an eye opener and possibly similar to something you’ve experienced.

There is playing in a band and there is being the leader of the band, El Jefe.

Running a band is a lot like running a business in my opinion. Every business needs a goal or something you’re working towards. Do you have a goal? It’s taken me 8 months to actually develop this list of goals. Hey CCB band members, “Our goal meeting is next Monday!”  LOL. What about the members in your band…what are their goals? Does everyone have compatible goals?

If I could give only one piece of advice about leading a band, it would be to communicate and then communicate again. Stay connected individually with each person in your band. It’s part of not only building a working relationship, but also developing friendships. Ever had to call in a favor to someone your not close with?  It doesn’t work well does it? Who are you going to call when you need 10 posters delivered to a club across town, and you’re stuck at home with your sick child? Who you gonna call, “Ghostbusters?” Nope your going to call people you are close with.

The CCB is a lot like family. We spend lots of time together making music & building a sound.  Yes, there’s business to deal with, but over the last several months I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that communication is essential to CCB’s success.

This is part 1 of my series on being The Leader of the Pack. Stay tuned for more!

—Chris

Photo courtesy of Christie Zepeda

I Will was released today, and you can download it & name your price (including free). We are so grateful for all the support and encouragement of our fans! Everytime we play live we’re asked if or when we have a CD and it feels good to be able to give you all something for your iPods & mp3 players! I know it’s not a CD, but it’s a start.  We have more studio time planned, so stay tuned!

Rich came up with this great blog title Between Sets and it’s accurate. Just last weekend we played 4 heart racing sets, 1 on Friday & 3 on Saturday. Four hours of music all said and done. I was wasted from exhaustion for 2 days. If you’ve ever seen us in action, you know we leave it all on the stage. It’s fun, but the rush & drain of adrenalin is physically taxing, but worth it!

So we are between sets until we hit again in July. It’s our 1st 2-week block without a gig in some time. We are using the break to work on new material & polish up “works in progress”. We had one of our best rehearsals this week, have a number of big shows coming up & we intend to light each stage on FIRE! We are playing some really important venues and the word is spreading on what I call “this little band that could”. 

Playing in this band has been an unexpected thrill for me. Going into this, I had no expectations at all beyond having another occasional gig. This band (for all intents & purposes) was born at the Guinness Battle of the Bands at the end of 2010. At that time, CCB only had one gig (as a trio) in its rear view mirror. We felt like we needed more horse power to be competitive so I asked my buddy Aaro to join on keys. His first gig was the 1st round of the battle. To our amazement, we won the 1st round! The competition was stiff so we decided to bulk up again for the final round. My next door neighbor & friend Rich was interested. His 1st gig was the battle’s championship. The addition was timely, we won the battle and a trip to the inner circle of the DC Indie Music Scene!

What a RIDE, we feel like we are in the Twilight Zone here, playing major venues, just finished our 1st single “I Will” at Innovation Studios with Dave Mallen, and we’re Starr Hill’s Band of the Month for June in On Tap Magazine. 

The progress this band has made, the brotherhood & creative chemistry we have usually takes years, not months to develop. I can’t wait until the next “Set” because something magical will happen before we pack our gear for the night. 

—Teo

photo by Frank Wilson

To me, there’s basically two kinds of tired. There’s tired where all you want to do is sleep…and then there’s tired where all you want to do is sleep, but you’ve got a smile on your face and can’t sleep right away because you’re so pumped up.  That last one describes me after this past weekend.

Friday night’s show at Jammin Java with our friends Future was amazing. We’ve played Java before (2 rounds of Band Battle IV), but this was our first time playing there outside of a competition. I tell ya, something about playing at Java just feels like home. Its a great room, the crowd is always fantastic, the staff is so cool (everyone, but especially Jammin Java Door Gal & Justin), the sound & soundguy are amazing, and they have great beer & food. Not to mention the old school Centipede & Donkey Kong video games! It was great to hear Future tear it up after our set. They are a must-see live band! Lots of mutual love & respect between our bands, I hope to do more with them in the future (pun intended!).

The Champions show Saturday night was a blast! We played a lot more covers there (almost all covers), and had so much fun with the crowd. Again, the staff was incredibly cool and we’d love to be back there soon. The sound system & stage are impressive, especially for a billiards & sports bar.  It’s a pro setup and they obviously take the music seriously! So nice.

Anyway, it was a killer weekend. Thanks for coming out & supporting us! The band has a few weeks here between performances, but we’ll be working some new tunes out for ya.

Peace,
Rich
chriscollatband.com