Eric Baines on Getting the Chicago Gig and Keeping It (Episode 165)

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Eric Baines grew up in Broomfield, Colorado, studied at Berklee, scraped by playing blues in Denver bars, and moved to Los Angeles in 2000. He has since toured with Dwight Yoakam, spent 12 years as music director for Keiko Matsui, and is now the singing bassist for the legendary band Chicago. He also hosts the Dive Bar Rock Star podcast.

In Episode 165, Eric and Nomad talk about how a small-town player wins in the big leagues: networking when it doesn't come naturally, being honest about your strengths, preparation, and how to keep the gig once you have it.

Don't fan out

When Eric first got to town, networking felt like being a vacuum cleaner salesman. But if you go out every night, within two weeks you start seeing the same people. (You'll also be "the new guy" for about ten years.) Nomad's version when he moved to LA in 2005: emails and calls from a coffee shop every morning, clubs every night. As he puts it, your net worth is directly related to your network.

A few months in, at a benefit show for drummer Rayford Griffin, Eric found himself in a room full of heroes, with his demo in his pocket and Babyface a few feet away. He walked up and said, "Oh my God, you're Babyface," and froze. He spent three days telling himself that if he blew it like that every time, he might as well go home.

Nomad, who worked with Babyface for 12 years, pulled out the lesson: don't fan out. View everybody as an equal. If you put yourself down, people sense it, and you sabotage yourself. Babyface started out as a musician himself, and he was there for his drummer friend. Eric adds that you can still enjoy being a fan. He was a Chicago fan from birth, and it took him two weeks in the band to talk to founding member Robert Lamm. He still played the show.

The phone can ring at any time

The Chicago call came by text. The band needed a bassist who could sing, and there aren't many. A guitarist Eric hadn't talked to in about 15 years, from one of his first LA gigs, gave the band two names. One was his.

"The reason you live here and you put up with the traffic is because the phone can ring, or the text can buzz nowadays, at any given time, and your whole life can change."

Eric Baines, 10:20

He didn't burn bridges, and it paid off years later. Work begets work. He also had to know when to jump. The Dwight Yoakam gig was stable and paid well, but his whole body told him this was his future. Then the classic part: five days to learn over two hours of Chicago's music, with all those chords and background vocals. When the phone rings, you have to be ready to go Friday.

He was hired as a background singer, then kept getting handed leads when bandmates got sick. One day he had a single morning in a hotel room to learn two new parts, with his mom in town for the show. Under the gun, it's amazing what you can pull off.

Every gig counts

That guitarist connection holds a second lesson for Eric: take every gig seriously.

"No matter where you're playing, if it's in public, and nowadays with YouTube everything is online all the time, you just can't afford to have a bad night."

Eric Baines, 32:00

Everything you do is an audition.

Be honest about what you do best

Eric was a singer first. He started playing bass only because nobody else in his high school would. At Berklee, bass was what he could read best, so that's what he studied. He wanted to be a star, but after years of leading a band in Denver he was burned out. Now he writes and releases his own music on the side, and singing plus bass gives him an edge, because a band that hires him has one less salary, flight and hotel room to pay for.

Moving to LA, he made a deliberate choice. Breaking into sessions and breaking into touring would each take all his energy, and he loves the road, so he focused on touring. Nomad's advice is the same: be 100 percent honest with yourself early about your strengths, then pursue them wholeheartedly. That is Objectivity from the ETHOS code.

Confidence matters too. Eric said yes to his first LA wedding band gig when asked if he could read. Then came a big band chart with no chord symbols, just walking bass lines, and a drummer who had no patience for mistakes. His good pocket got him through, and he went home and read everything he could. If you feel awkward and under pressure, he says, you are probably doing the right thing. Get out of your comfort zone.

Preparation is the one thing you control

Eric played a gig with Ambrosia expecting their four big hits. It turned out to be progressive rock in 13/8, and the soundcheck got moved so late they never rehearsed. Chicago rarely soundchecks at all.

"I get to control how well I know this music before I show up."

Eric Baines, 46:20

You can't control flights, weather or anyone else around you. You can control that. It shows you care, and the artist always feels it. His goal is to show up sounding like he has played the gig for 20 years.

He also learned the look matters. Coming from jazz, he thought playing was everything. In pop, you need to be a great player and look the part. Dress for the audition you're going to.

Make the good decision, and send your best sub

One night, Eric was preparing four songs for an audition for Taylor Hicks when a friend called. Another bassist had dropped out of a Rickey Minor gig, with an audition in the same building half an hour later. Eric learned all seven songs and stayed up until 2 a.m. He played two songs for Ricky and got the gig, then crossed the hall to tell the other MD himself. It turned into arenas, stadiums in South America, three years with Corbin Bleu, and meeting his wife.

Taking the bigger gig meant three months of weddings and holiday parties to cover. His rule: if he can't sub out, he can't take your gig.

"Send the best guy you can, because that guy's busy. He's not gonna take your gig, but he might be available now, and he's gonna make you look really good."

Eric Baines, 54:30

For one complicated cover band date, he stayed up until 3 a.m. charting every arrangement so his sub could read the gig. And when he writes charts, his job is to communicate the music as clearly as possible so nobody screws up the gig.

Keeping the gig

Eric has been lucky with loyal artists. Keiko Matsui let him sub out for other tours because he was her guy. But it is not hard to lose any gig. Be a good hang, because you are on stage two hours and around people the rest of the day. Your job is to make the artist look and sound as great as possible, not to push your opinions. And respect that the business is hard. Nobody in a big music town is waiting to hand you gigs. That is Humility, and it is how you stay.

The takeaway

Network until people know your name. Stay cool around your heroes. Know your strengths and own them. Prepare until you could play the show in your sleep. And handle every crossroads with diplomacy, including the sub you send. When your text buzzes, be ready with the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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