For Those About to Rock: A Road Map to Being in a Band - Softcover

Bidini, Dave

3.54

35 ratings by Goodreads

9780887766534: For Those About to Rock: A Road Map to Being in a Band

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0887766536 ISBN 13: 9780887766534

Publisher: Tundra Books, 2004

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Playing in a rock band is the stuff of dreams. What is the reality? Dave Bidini, rhythm guitarist with the Rheostatics and acclaimed author of On a Cold Road, knows firsthand. In this wise, witty, and often irreverent book, he tackles the questions that any kid with a penchant to be on stage has asked. How do you decide what to play? How do you deal with tensions among the musicians? What happens when one person becomes more popular than the others? How do you get to gigs, and what do you wear?

Bidini handles his material with honesty and authority. From the serious considerations to the frivolous issues, Bidini takes young readers through forming a band, practices, performing, and the business of show business. Interspersed with advice and observations are hilarious anecdotes pulled from his own experience and the experiences of musicians he knows.

This is a sure-fire winner for all young musicians, even if their instrument of choice is the air guitar and their only venue is their shower stall.

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About the Author:

Author and musician Dave Bidini is the only person to have been nominated for a Gemini, Genie and Juno as well CBC's Canada Reads. A founding member of Rheostatics, he has written 10 books, including On a Cold Road, Tropic of Hockey, Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs, and Home and Away. He has made two Gemini Award-nominated documentaries and his play, the Five Hole Stories, was staged by One Yellow Rabbit Performance Company, touring the country in 2008. His third book, Baseballissimo, is being developed for the screen by Jay Baruchel, and, in 2010, he won his third National Magazine Award, for "Travels in Narnia." He writes a weekly column for the Saturday Post and, in 2011, he published his latest book, Writing Gordon Lightfoot.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up–While this book is billed as a road map to the future, it is more like a look back at the author's own career and experiences. Bidini tells tales about his own band and the trials and tribulations he had along the way. He blames himself for disasters and apologizes for hurting people in his past; he describes the worst gigs and tours possible, complete with dance floors full of vomit; and he explains why used-clothing stores are the best places to shop for stage outfits. Readers interested in a memoir of a Canadian rocker will find this an entertaining read. However, those who are looking for information about how to get into the music business will find the book a little too narrow and dated. Amy Nathan's The Young Musician's Survival Guide (Oxford, 2000) is aimed at musicians in general, with more of an emphasis on classical training. It offers better information about what is involved in a career in music. David Ellefson's Making Music Your Business (Backbeat, 1997) has more practical information for rockers, but may also be getting a little dated. Wait for something better than Bidini's book to come along to update it.–Carol Durusau, Newton County Public Library, Covington, GA
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