weekend report
Jun. 13th, 2004 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jfbSaturday: I thought we were pretty good, but Dan thought we were much better than that, so I will defer to his superior judgement. I have only two things to add:
Sunday: I was a little worried about the Brain Wash gig--I had visions of playing to dozens of spinning washing machines and no people at all. But I had a really good time. The laundry was in another room, and there were plenty of people, several of whom were actually listening. In particular, the first band and most of their audience stuck around for my set, for which I was really grateful.
It's been months since I've played a real solo show, mostly because I really like playing with other people. I like the way we fill out each other's songs, I like the constant give and take, I like the camaraderie. But a solo show, when it's going well, gives me a sort of freedom that I also love--things like, I can dig out songs I haven't played lately without having to worry about the band. I'm going to have to remember to book these once in a while.
Anyway, I met a bunch of great musicians, got some names for the mailing list, and ate a delicious "This Is Your Brain On Drugs Egg Sandwich". A fine night.
This was the twelfth night in a row I've gone out and made music: Three gigs, one audition, two rehearsals, and seven open mikes. (Doing the math? Both rehearsals were on the same day.) I've been loving it, because, you know, making music is great. But I think I'm going to need a night off soon.
- I love harmony singing, but usually when I'm backing someone up I play a lot more than I sing. With Pamela, though, I focused a lot more on singing than on playing--partly because she writes melodies I've wanted to harmonize since the first time I heard them, and partly because it turns out she plays them in keys that are strange and unfamiliar to a lowly mandolinist. So I got to sing more, which made me happy.
- Russell and I made up a set list--actually we just grabbed the set list from last time, and planned to skip stuff because we had less time to fill. But I steered us off the list with the second song, and we never really got back to it. This led to some awkward pauses between songs, but I was really happy with the choices we made.
Sunday: I was a little worried about the Brain Wash gig--I had visions of playing to dozens of spinning washing machines and no people at all. But I had a really good time. The laundry was in another room, and there were plenty of people, several of whom were actually listening. In particular, the first band and most of their audience stuck around for my set, for which I was really grateful.
It's been months since I've played a real solo show, mostly because I really like playing with other people. I like the way we fill out each other's songs, I like the constant give and take, I like the camaraderie. But a solo show, when it's going well, gives me a sort of freedom that I also love--things like, I can dig out songs I haven't played lately without having to worry about the band. I'm going to have to remember to book these once in a while.
Anyway, I met a bunch of great musicians, got some names for the mailing list, and ate a delicious "This Is Your Brain On Drugs Egg Sandwich". A fine night.
This was the twelfth night in a row I've gone out and made music: Three gigs, one audition, two rehearsals, and seven open mikes. (Doing the math? Both rehearsals were on the same day.) I've been loving it, because, you know, making music is great. But I think I'm going to need a night off soon.
