open mike report
Jan. 10th, 2003 10:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jfbMission City Coffee Roasting Company, 2003-01-08
First of two frustrating nights at places I haven't been for a while.
I sat in on lap steel with The Grateful Dudes--not the band that you'll find on Google, a different band. That was fun.
For my set, I drafted Kristina to sing harmony vocals, which was cool. But I set the capo too low on "One and the Same", and I couldn't hit the low notes. Also the chorus is kind of lame, although having a harmony singer mostly saves it.
For the second song I attempted Natalie Imbruglia's song "Satellite".
I feel I should say a few words about Natalie Imbruglia. She is best known for a cover of an Ednaswap song, which means she is best known among music geeks as someone who "doesn't write her own songs." On her second album, though, she co-wrote everything. (I don't know for sure but I get the feeling she doesn't play an instrument, which would explain the co-.) She writes some strong melodies, and her lyrics are interesting and ambitious--and flawed, but the flaws mark the difference between someone honestly trying to be a songwriter and someone who works for a hit factory, which Imbruglia (a former soap opera actress on a major label) could easily do. Plus, she has a voice that could sing the phone book and I'd listen at least through the C's.
"Satellite" has a breezy pop sound and a catchy, seductive vocal line with lyrics that I can't relate to at all. But listening to the song fills me with simple glee, and I've been looking for more songs that make me happy and not sad, so I thought I'd give it a try. Experiment revealed that the easiest way to play it was on a mandolin, and the electric mandolin was in approximately the right range.
Rehearsal out in back of the cafe went fine--Kristina learned the nice harmony line that I lifted from the record, and I was singing in fairly fine form, although I was playing the guitar and so I couldn't get all the instrumental parts right.
On stage, though, with the electric mandolin, all energy fled. I was stiff, my voice was weak, the strumming was punchless. We got all the notes right, but the song just wasn't there. I'm trying not to let this one experience prevent me from adding the song to my repertoire. It may be, though, that what I need for this one is a band.
On the bright side, Raffy asked me about booking an upcoming Friday at Mission City (but I didn't set a date with him before he left), and M.G. offered me an opening slot at one of his upcoming shows (but again, we didn't get specific). So, nothing certain, but I may have an actual gig coming up.
First of two frustrating nights at places I haven't been for a while.
I sat in on lap steel with The Grateful Dudes--not the band that you'll find on Google, a different band. That was fun.
For my set, I drafted Kristina to sing harmony vocals, which was cool. But I set the capo too low on "One and the Same", and I couldn't hit the low notes. Also the chorus is kind of lame, although having a harmony singer mostly saves it.
For the second song I attempted Natalie Imbruglia's song "Satellite".
I feel I should say a few words about Natalie Imbruglia. She is best known for a cover of an Ednaswap song, which means she is best known among music geeks as someone who "doesn't write her own songs." On her second album, though, she co-wrote everything. (I don't know for sure but I get the feeling she doesn't play an instrument, which would explain the co-.) She writes some strong melodies, and her lyrics are interesting and ambitious--and flawed, but the flaws mark the difference between someone honestly trying to be a songwriter and someone who works for a hit factory, which Imbruglia (a former soap opera actress on a major label) could easily do. Plus, she has a voice that could sing the phone book and I'd listen at least through the C's.
"Satellite" has a breezy pop sound and a catchy, seductive vocal line with lyrics that I can't relate to at all. But listening to the song fills me with simple glee, and I've been looking for more songs that make me happy and not sad, so I thought I'd give it a try. Experiment revealed that the easiest way to play it was on a mandolin, and the electric mandolin was in approximately the right range.
Rehearsal out in back of the cafe went fine--Kristina learned the nice harmony line that I lifted from the record, and I was singing in fairly fine form, although I was playing the guitar and so I couldn't get all the instrumental parts right.
On stage, though, with the electric mandolin, all energy fled. I was stiff, my voice was weak, the strumming was punchless. We got all the notes right, but the song just wasn't there. I'm trying not to let this one experience prevent me from adding the song to my repertoire. It may be, though, that what I need for this one is a band.
On the bright side, Raffy asked me about booking an upcoming Friday at Mission City (but I didn't set a date with him before he left), and M.G. offered me an opening slot at one of his upcoming shows (but again, we didn't get specific). So, nothing certain, but I may have an actual gig coming up.
