The journey begins

I traveled east on the 10 freeway towards Palm Springs and pulled up at the Spa Casino. I called Steve the keyboardist. They were playing gig in the lounge and on the break he came out to greet me. He seemed to mirror my own excitement. He had a sweet happy smile as he greeted me cheerfully. I sensed his excitement and I immediately felt at ease as I parked my truck and walked into the lounge. Though the club was crowded. the whole band looked at me. It's funny how a band has a dynamic all of its own, a certain group energy. Hard to explain but nevertheless is there. I sat down and watched the rest of the show. I met the band and as I chatted with their singer, I got the sense that I was going to be doing this for awhile. The next morning I drove with their bassist and headed for Nevada. It was like jumping on a moving train. The day after we headed out for Laughlin, a small casino town an hour south of Las Vegas. I checked into my room after unloading the van. After setup and sound check, I had just enough time to get ready to go to the gig to play. I was in for a surprise. No one had mentioned the choreography to the show and I found myself stumbling over my guitar cable in my attempts to follow along as I was expected to. Steve the keyboardist shouted "Hey!" at me and pointed to the other girls as they did their side to side dancing. I thought I was only going to play guitar first and learn some steps eventually and instead trying to follow dance steps as I was reading my charts of 5 sets of music. Steve had mentioned over the phone something about having to dance during the gig. I had somehow got the idea that I would be taught the steps at a rehearsal. It was never mentioned at rehearsal the day before. I was trying to keep up and not trip over my guitar cable. As I write this, I am reminded of how I once took a ballet class as a child. I vaguely remember running out of breath while trying to to catch up with the others as the teacher banged on a large bass drum while leading the class in a ring formation. It was a real challenge to stay in formation and I threw up after class. Needless to say I decided not to attend dance class again and only danced for fun. So here I was with a road gig and trying to dance while playing guitar and probably looking the way I did when I had that first dance class in kindergarten. No wonder a musician has to practice alot. That way it's all second nature while learning how to shake your booty so to speak while on stage. Well somehow my old piano teacher who often reminded me of the critical importance of practicing daily never mentioned it to me.

Getting ready

I packed up my bags on a saturday. I couldn't leave right away that day. I was going away for 5 weeks. A last minute cancelation from another band and they now were going to be playing in Palm Springs. I was asked to come and see the show and get a better idea of what to expect and what to do. Ok, here it goes. I'm about to get in my pickup truck and drive to Palm Springs to meet with a band I've never met or played with and replace their guitarist who agreed to do this last show. I looked around. Everything I needed was packed. Guitars, clothes, boots. It was soon time to go. I felt this shift inside of me. Whenever I change something big in life like a job, relationship or a place to live I often get a sense that I'm leaving something behind. For me that something is a sense of a former self. Like the way a snake sheds its old skin. I grabbed my guitars and baggage. I walked down the hall and counted backwards from 10. As soon as I counted to 1, I was going to open that hall door and leave my jobs behind. I was going on the road. I had worked many jobs at many times such as retail, in a hotel, in a couple of restaurants, telephone marketing etc.. Now I was about to work as a musician. A job I had thought about doing many times. I had done some freelance gigs as a musician here and there. Now I was about to do it full time.

A phoned in audition

It was a Wednesday in March 09. Today was the day. I had auditioned for Johnny and Steve on a 3 way cell phone call. I had to play as many Van Halen licks as I could remember that morning. "Do you finger tap?" Asked Johnny. "Can you play Journey?" So I played something that resembled tapping. What they were really asking was that being a girl, could I really play like their guy? What if I couldn't really play? They had to hear for themselves. "I'm not worried about playing" I said. "I am more concerned as how to get to Vegas and where I am going to stay". They seemed to be satisfied with my playing. "Fine." said Johnny. " We will get back to you." Somehow I knew I got the gig. I knew I was going on the road for the first time. They didn't say yes for sure but I knew I had it. I had another part time job I was doing. I remember taking the train to downtown and knowing that I had the gig. I just knew that day. it's interesting how you can really know an outcome even before it's been confirmed. Maybe it's just a feeling. Maybe just intuition. It's hard to describe. I just think of it like a knowing the way you know where you live and what your routine is everyday. Later that day as I was taking the train home I looked at my cell phone. I got a text saying in bold letters: THE GIG IS YOURS IF YOU WANT IT. I just stared at it. It's funny how you just know before you know....

Introduction

In March 09 I went on the road with a top 40 band based in Las Vegas by answering a Craigslist ad. I live in LA and had only been to Vegas twice briefly and just had a vague recollection of the Strip. I had never been on the road for any extended amount of time and was looking to find a gig. The old guitarist had apparently quit and needed to find some one right away. I sent an email and got a quick response from Steve, the CEO and keyboardist. He said he'd have to get back to me since they were looking to audition another girl in Las Vegas. He asked if I could drive to Vegas to audition but I couldn't since I was busy looking for work and had a part time job teaching music. He and their drummer Johnny got back to me to ask me if I could travel and go on the road. Of course I wanted to go on the road. I had thought about going on the road all my life. I could just imagine private jets, 5 star hotels and gourmet restaurants. Doesn't everyone travel like that? Yes I had heard of going on the road. I had heard mixed things. I had heard of traveling by van, sharing hotel rooms and endless hours of traveling that was grueling. Some people love it and some hate it. I had heard it was really tough, and I had also heard it was a blast. It held a mystique for me since I heard so many different things about it. Now I was really about to find out. I was going to know once and for all If I was going to be the one of those who loved or or hated it. And.....I love it.

A little bit about me..

Hello friends and fans. In case you don't know me my name is Betty Navas. I am a singer/songwriter. I am also a guitarist and have been playing guitar since I was twelve. I am a professional musician currently working on the road. I got a gig with a group based out of Las Vegas called Common Ground LV (Las Vegas). I started my blog as a way to keeping in touch and sharing what I've been up to. I've been on the road, off and on for over a year after answering a Craigslist ad for a full-time gig playing lead guitar. It was interesting for me as I had never played full time on the road for weeks at a time in a top 40 band before. I have been a full-time working musician and it has been a really great experience. I've been traveling all over the country playing about six nights a week. I travel, play gigs, see lots of different places and meet lots of different people. My friends and family often ask me about my job and I thought an easy way to share my experience is to have a blog online. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy!