Where do I look for musicians to work with?

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It's been a few years and I'm ready to start writing & get a band going again. Other than craigslist where are the best places to look/post ads?

I actually kind of dread this part because I've always had trouble finding people to work with.

I've used MySpace with some success in the past. It can be a pretty good way to find local bands and they even have musician group directories.

How do you use myspace to look for people? I haven't logged on there in years.

Its been years for me too so I am not sure if it is the same, but I recall there being a search feature that allowed you to refine it down to location. There were also groups set up by users like the "Montreal Musicians Directory (example)" where people could get in touch

I've been on the music scene for 20 years and I've gotten 9 out of 10 gigs through word of mouth. The best bands do not advertise on Craigslist, because if someone quits the band, they are typically replaced by someone the band already knows and trusts through their network. Most of the ads I see on Craigslist are along the lines of "guitarist seeks singer, bass, drummer, and keys with pro gear and reliable transportation to play in my garage for no pay," yeah good luck with that, buddy!

So what's the answer? Jam with other musicians as often as you can, even if you're not 100% into their music or at the same level of ability. For example I recently did 1 gig sitting in with a reggae band, and based on that, got the call for a kick-ass metal band! Go to as many gigs, jams, open mics, etc as you can find, with a cell phone and business card, don't be shy about saying "you sound great, can we jam sometime?"

Now if I understand correctly that you are looking to be bandleader and songwriter, that complicates the situation slightly. If you want good "sideman" musicians you need to offer pay and gigs. If you're not at that stage yet, then you need to at least provide pizza, beer, and gas money for rehearsals, and maybe find an acoustic guitarist so you can do some small singer/songwriter venues and get your name out there. "Looking for a drummer, I played these 3 venues last month and have 4 gigs lined up for next month" will get you a lot farther than "looking for a drummer, let's jam and see where it goes."

There's a dedicated section on the Basschat forum, but that's UK-based so you might be better off trying Guitargeek.com and starting a thread there. I've been a member there for a while so can vouch for the majority of the members being friendly and helpful. It also has people from the US, Europe and even Australia regularly posting, so you should be able to talk to someone who will have contacts nearby.

I agree that the best way by far though is to get to local jam/open mic nights, if only to see what the people are like as musicians and, well, as people! I've seen a few ads on the walls of local musical instrument stores, but I'm not sure how successful a route that is.

Best of luck!