Trooper057 + Musician in Portland, OR

SEEKING

ABOUT

Check out my Reverbnation page for more samples: s://./billyroberts

I've been playing guitar for 21 years. I write a lot of guitar-driven, radio-friendly progressive rock stuff, but I've been branching out into more acoustic, folksy stuff and jazz-inspired stuff too. I used to be a shredder, but my acoustic playing made me crave heavier strings and I love to improvise blues and rock solos, so now I'm closer to a Stevie Ray sound than a Satriani sound.

I am here on Bandmix to get more involved in the music scene, find cool people to jam with and hopefully find some studio work, paying or just for fun. I enjoy writing and improvising on the spot or sticking to exactly what you want played. I can read music and chord sheets, but playing by ear is always much, much faster.

For an original project, I am looking for creative musicians to help me take my song ideas to the next level. I have a few completed songs and tons of riffs and ideas sitting around that need a full band to flesh it all out. I think bringing horns and a big band feel back to rock music would be really cool and different. I imagine horns playing some of my Iron Maiden-inspired harmonized leads. I picture playing a rock song like a jazz number where the band plays a passage together and then passes around solos. If I can somehow hit the target between Frank Zappa, Rush, and Iron Maiden, and have a live show with improv, audience participation and even some obscure or wacky covers, I'll be thrilled. Send me a message if any of this sounds cool to you. I have a paid membership here for another month or so and I'd like to meet at least one person to jam, write or record with. If, and it's a big if, I can put together a group I'm proud of, my brother is an incredible independent producer/engineer and works for Sony Music Entertainment, so we could have that coveted "industry connection".

Venues played:

FORT WORTH:
Lola's Sixth St.
The Grotto
The Cellar
The Aardvark
Butterfly Connection
Moon Bar
Mambo’s

DALLAS:
Gypsy Tea Room
O’Riley’s
Curtain Club/Liquid Lounge
Poor David’s Pub
City Tavern
Buzz Brews Lemmon St.
Jack’s Backyard/The Foundry
Hard Rock Café (opening night!)
The Barley House
AT&T Victory Plaza

ARLINGTON:
Six Flags Over Texas
J. Gilligan’s
Arlington Improv and Dos Pianos Bar

Screen name:

Trooper057

Member since:

Mar 30 2012

Active over 1 month ago

Level of commitment:

Very Committed

Years playing music:

20

Gigs played:

Over 100

Tend to practice:

More than 3 times per week

Available to gig:

2-3 nights a week

Most available:

Nights

Influences

Frank Zappa, Dream Theater, Rush, Iron Maiden, King's X, Pain of Salvation, Van Halen, Joe Satriani, UFO, Django Reinhardt, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Pass, Future Folk, The Sword

Instrument experience:

Rhythm Guitar:

Expert

Lead Guitar:

Expert

Acoustic Guitar:

Expert

Vocalist:

Moderate

Vocalist - Baritone:

Moderate

Vocalist - Tenor:

Moderate

Bass Guitar:

Moderate

Banjo:

Moderate

Mandolin:

Moderate

EQUIPMENT

American Standard Fender Stratocaster, Parker Fly Classic, Gibson SG, Self-built Dreadnought Acoustic, Ovation Acoustic/Electric, Alvarez Banjo, Gibson Mandolin, Fender Twin Reverb, lots of cool pedals, etc. I'm good on gear. I also like to swap stuff on Craigslist a lot to try out new stuff.

MUSIC