Where are we playing this weekend? We’re booked for a private wedding reception in Greenville.

We received an email from someone wanting to catch a Dockside show this coming weekend, unfortunately I had to inform them that we are not playing at a bar, club, festival or other public event.

Instead, we are playing for a wedding reception here in Greenville that will keep us busy both Friday and Saturday nights.  This should be a lot of fun as we know the bride and groom, and their family and we were  fortunate enough to play for their engagement party too!

So, if you are wanting to catch some great live music, then I’m afraid you will have to wait until the following weekend, May 5th (Cinco De Mayo party anyone?!?!). We will be playing at the Upstate’s coolest Cajun place, Bleu Voodoo in Easley. It’s not just some bar, it is a restaurant with authentic New Orleans decor, vibe and food.   We start at 7pm during the dining time and play until 10pm.  We’ll do all your favorite rock, beach and country tunes, and throw in a few of our own originals. This is a smoke free venue!

Should you be searching for the best live entertainment in the Upstate for your wedding reception, engagement party or anniversary party, please call us. We will do everything we can to make your gathering as memorable and fun as possible.

We’re not limited to just Greenville, Anderson, Clemson, Spartanburg, Pickens, Simpsonville and the rest of the Upstate, we can travel to the coast or to the mountains! Charleston anyone? We’re especially interested in your Hawaii destination wedding!

Hire a professional band today by calling 864.979.1224 or using our booking page.

John M. Hoyt – Bass guitar / Vocal

UPDATE: The Dockside Band is no more… But, for a fun and funky, dance and party band for your Upstate area event, be sure to check out the new HOT AS A PEPPER site!

Greenville live music community helps restore my faith in our profession

I have lived in LA on the West Coast, and Fayetteville Arkansas in the heart of The Country, and since 1998, here in the Upstate of South Carolina (Easley).

Growing up in Arkansas and playing in bands there, we had a tight community, with the 80s being incredible for bands and music performers in every genre. There was always a gig, always something fun going on. Musicians helped one another out in every way you can imagine. From helping other bands getting booked into venues, to sticking together on social and political issues that affected the live music scene, and in times of trouble, say a sick band member, there were half a dozen people ready to sit in and help.

Then, I moved to Los Angeles…  Talk about culture shock. We had to pay to play at many clubs (yes, you could buy a roll of tickets and sell them for a dollar each and make a dollar, or buy the roll from the bar or club and give them away, etc), and bands would cut your throat if you horned in on their established places to play. If you needed someone to sit in, and you were making 100 bucks each, that person would say he wanted 200 dollars to cover the session for the evening.   So each band member had to pony up a few extra dollars to cover the missing player’s replacement.

Forget about fundraisers. Every band who was good would only play a fundraiser if you paid them, and usually, it was their going rate. So if someone’s family had cancer and they wanted to have a charity event, they had to pay to rent the venue, pay for the band, pay for food, and for the swag involved, and then hope they had some money left over.  Those who could not afford publicity and relied on word-of-mouth were screwed, they rarely made much money, UNLESS they paid for the best band around that was guaranteed to pull in a big crowd.

In essence, bands there were very “professional” and were in it purely for the money. It was every man for himself (or herself).

Then I moved back to Fayetteville Arkansas after about 7 and half years to find that my hometown had become somewhat similar. Very money oriented. And I have heard this from friends of mine all over the country, wherever they live.

Finally, after moving here to the Upstate, I have begun to experience a little of what it was like back in the old days. Sure, venues here pay very little as opposed to what they did in the 80s, something that I will not go into now, but, the bands, musicians, entertainers, performers, for the most part, they all seem to want to lend a hand!

Let me list a couple cases that come to mind as I write this:

  • Decadent Daze members helped get our band booked into at least one venue, putting in a good word for us.
  • Decadent Daze bassist, Mark Bennett volunteered his services to help out on a charity event where our drummer could not make it.
  • Everlasting Earle‘s drummer, Travis Rygg also volunteered to assist with the same gig (We took him up on his offer).
  • Bennie Waddell, a singer who has worked with us before has always volunteered to sit in on gigs.
  • Kip Tomlinson, the original lead vocalist of TDB has sat in when we needed him.
  • Decadent Daze and a slew of great bands came forward to help out with a fundraiser for a venue owner who has cancer.
  • TDB, $2 Pistol and The Bottom Line Band volunteered for the Pickens County Cancer Association’s Pig Pickin’ in Easley.
  • When Delaney’s Pub in Spartanburg, SC burned, bands came forward to play a fundrasier to give back to the place that they had played.
Those are just a few, I kept thinking of more, but it would get rather long if I kept on!
Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I do understand that not every band can always play a fundraiser without receiving some kind of compensation. Music gear is very expensive, travel expenses are getting higher all the time, and if you have to hire in sound gear, lighting and personnel to operate that, then of course a small band cannot afford that, especially  when you consider they are likely taking off work and possibly losing money there.
It is certainly a breath of fresh air when bands and individual musicians, as well as club/bar/venue owners work together though!
Thank you to the Upstate music community for helping restore my faith in what this profession can be!

John M. Hoyt – Bassist and vocalist for The Dockside Band

UPDATE: The Dockside Band is no more… But, for a fun and funky, dance and party band for your Upstate area event, be sure to check out the new HOT AS A PEPPER site!

Dockside Band is playing a charity event in Easley tomorrow, April 14th #livemusic #easley #greenville @DocksideBand

Want to help out a great cause?

Come to the Pickens County Cancer Associations’s “Pig Pickin” tomorrow, Saturday, April 14th!

Three great bands will be playing there… Up first is The Bottom Line Band, then at 1:30, The Dockside Band, and finally, at 3:30, $2 Pistol. TDB will be performing originals, and a lot of our country material, unless otherwise requested once we get there.

It’s all you can eat wings, a beer garden and live music. Some of the area’s best BBQ cookers will be there, such as our friends over at Nard’s.

The location is the Easley Town Center Square area, around the clock belltower. Bring your sunscreen, an appetite, and a wallet with some folding money to help out the PCCA!

After this event, we will load up and head over to Rendezvous on Pelham Road in Greenville, SC for a gig where we’ll play all your favorites, from country to rock, to beach, to originals, and help get the party started!

UPDATE: The Dockside Band is no more… But, for a fun and funky, dance and party band for your Upstate area event, be sure to check out the new HOT AS A PEPPER site!