The Insta-band

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Last summer, a woman called me with a desperate plea and a gig offer.  I had played for her a couple of times before, both with different line-ups of musicians.  This time, she was having a party in four days, and the band she’d planned for bailed on her.

My first introduction to her parties was her gigantic family reunion, where her dear old dad kept us playing till three in the morning so he could dance.  For her, I could do this.

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The musicians I like to play music with are very busy people.  Most of them work with two or three (or more!) music projects at a time.  Rather than try to keep a band of busy boys together, whenever I’m asked to do a band gig, I’ve taken to hiring from a pool of those musicians who know my music.

Four hours after that desperate phone call, I had three of the best players in town (IMHO!) agreeing to play in four days time.  Two of them gave up family time for the gig, and our party host generously made it worth their while, even inviting them to bring their families to the party.  (I think she might have had second thoughts when our drummer’s kid walked off with most of the game prizes.)

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photo by Ray Perrault

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After this event, a friend remarked that I should promote myself as “Dodie Goldney and the Insta-band.”  And that’s actually the entire true story of how the Instamatics were born.

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I created the band logo using LibreOffice Draw.  I also used Draw for the Treehouse banner at the top of the page.  Handy bit of free open source software, if you are looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office.

And yes, the Instamatics are named after the camera.  I hope Kodak doesn’t send me a cease and desist letter.

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Here is the last incarnation of Dodie Goldney & the Instamatics.  It was a different gig than the one mentioned above (two of us were there).  And it’s not guaranteed to be the next incarnation, either.

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left to right:  Gary Mockford, Scott Skulmoski, Dodie Goldney, Drummy Pryce

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I’ve heard several longtimers in the business say that nobody likes taking band photos, because it’s jinxed:  as soon as you do the photo, the band breaks up.

Jinx or not, I can say the evidence has pointed this way for me!  I have two really brilliant band photos I can’t use anymore.  Perhaps that’s why I only have this grainy shot of the last incarnation.  These are the guys I want to play with next time.

Not that I’m superstitious or anything.

I’m not.

Look, why would I have a black cat if I were superstitious?

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Dodie Goldney

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related posts by Dodie Goldney:

Kali the Destroyer:  Cereal Killer Version

Dodie Goldney and the Instamatics

Mission Control

Poster Girl

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