music on cruise ships

Dear Musicians,

In the coming weeks I’ll be posting interviews with some of our clients and friends that work on cruise ships. This way you’ll get some first hand accounts on what these gigs are all about.

Today, I’ll talk to George Adams, a guitar/vocalist who has recently added cruise ship gigs to his successful land-based career. He’ll tell us about his first gig on a cruise ship. You can learn more about George and listen to his music on his page on Reverb Nation.

Here’s my conversation with him.

 

 Interview with a guitar/vocalist - Episode 19: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dear Musicians,

Just a quick note to let you know that you no longer need to worry about whether our domain end in .com or .ca because both of them work now.

Dear Musicians,

We get many demos from artists that have a bit of a false sense of entitlement when it comes to cruise ship jobs. Often, this entitlement comes from the fact that these entertainers have already worked on ships before and thus think that what was good enough once will always be good enough.

This is not so, unfortunately. [Read more →]

Dear Musicians,

This is an article I was hoping I would never have to write. But here I am, typing away, because common sense is, apparently, a lot less common than you’d think. Wikipedia says: “common sense” equates to the knowledge and experience which most people allegedly have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have.

Let me explain. [Read more →]

Dear Musicians,

Memorizing repertoire is an important part of your performance and can be the deciding factor for cruise lines to, or not to, hire you. This affects literally all lounge entertainers, whether you’re a classical ensemble, cover band, cocktail pianist, piano vocalist, guitar vocalist etc.

Now, for some of the above-mentioned entertainers this has been a given. Cover bands, for example, rarely read music while they play and it would be pretty funny to see them read “Stairway to heaven”…But it’s not as obvious for some other entertainers like classical ensembles, for example. [Read more →]

Dear Musicians,

I had previously mentioned that I would post separate episodes for trumpet and trombone, but given that these procedures are so similar, I’ve lumped them together into one podcast.

To find all podcast episodes, click on the podcast link to the right or go to the podcast page on our main site.

Here is a list of all episodes starting with the most recent.

18 – Orchestra Auditions – Trumpet & Trombone
17 – Orchestra Auditions – Saxophone, Flute & Clarinet
16 – Orchestra Auditions – Drums
15 – Orchestra Auditions – Bass
14 – Orchestra Auditions – Guitar
13 – Orchestra Auditions – Piano
12 – Auditions – Solo Entertainer & Bands
11 – Auditions Revisited
10 – Solo Entertainers, Ensembles & Bands
9 – An interview with a Musical Director
8 – Advantages & Disadvantages
7 – The Musical Director
6 – Rules & Regulations
5 – Day in the life of a cruise ship musician
4 – Auditions
3 – Myths & Misconceptions 2
2 – Myths & Misconceptions 1
1 – Introduction to “Music on Cruise Ships”

 

 Orchestra Auditions - Trumpet & Trombone Episode 18: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dear Musicians,

You’ll love this one, I know it…

A friend passed this along. Funny. You can learn more about the artist on his site.

Artist: David Tull
Album: I just want to get paid
Song: The minutes pass like hours when you sing

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Just a quick note to point out that Carnival Cruises reported that their third quarter earnings are up. Cruise bookings are up and fuel costs are down. Maybe we can start being a bit more optimistic about the economy, although Carnival’s Chief Operating Officer Howard Frank says Carnival is cautious about 2010 because of expectations that high unemployment could hinder consumer spending.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Carnival’s rival, rose 73 cents or 3.1% to $23.97.

Dear Musicians,

I have another real gem for you today. I’ve already posted a song by the unique Belgian band Aka Moon before but I had to post this one as well. I just came upon this live recording today and thought it was just too good to pass up.

Band: Aka Moon
Album: Aka Moon: Live at Vooruit
Song: Sa

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Dear Musicians,

Today we’ll take a closer look at the orchestra auditions for saxophone players. For your convenience I’ve listed below all the recent podcast episodes about auditions.

Episode 11 – General remarks about auditions
Episode 12 – Solo Entertainers and Bands
Episode 13 – Piano (orchestra auditions)
Episode 14 – Guitar (orchestra auditions)
Episode 15 – Bass (orchestra auditions)
Episode 16 – Drums (orchestra auditions)
Episode 17 – Saxophone, flute and clarinet (orchestra auditions)
Episode 18 – Trumpet (orchestra auditions)
Episode 19 – Trombone (orchestra auditions)

 

 Enhanced Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dear Musicians,

In this episode we’ll talk about the audition procedure for those drummers looking to be a part of the orchestra on ships. If you play a different instrument and would like to audition, check the list below to find the right episode for you to listen to. Don’t forget that we have a number of episodes dedicated to life on ships, becoming a musical director and more.

Episode 11 – General remarks about auditions
Episode 12 – Solo Entertainers and Bands
Episode 13 – Piano (orchestra auditions)
Episode 14 – Guitar (orchestra auditions)
Episode 15 – Bass (orchestra auditions)
Episode 16 – Drums (orchestra auditions)
Episode 17 – Saxophone, flute and clarinet (orchestra auditions)
Episode 18 – Trumpet (orchestra auditions)
Episode 19 – Trombone (orchestra auditions)

 

 Orchestra Auditions - Drums: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dear Musicians,

On June 2nd, we posted a quick note about Roz Savage, the courageous woman who’s rowing across the Pacific to raise awareness to the pollution of our oceans. She’s been at Sea for 97 days now and is getting ready to make landfall around September 9th. This is an exciting event and you can follow it all on her blog rozsavage.com.

There you can find information about the adventure, her mission and what you can do to help. I’m sure you’ll find it inspiring.

Here’s a movie that sums up who she is and what she does.