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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
last night's gig
last night's gig
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Randy G. Blues
40 posts
Jul 19, 2009
10:04 PM
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With the main town within earshot [OK... I'll stop] being a college town, it's not the best time of year to book gigs. Sure, they can be had, but the room ends up being mostly empty. While it is a freakin' hassle to haul gear, I am thankful that I play harp and get everything I bring from car to stage in one trip. Still, even with near-empty rooms, a few gigs like that is good practice.. or at least, that's what I am told. Still, playing with the Boyz is great fun and we are starting to meld pretty well.
For those who don't play in a group, it takes a serious commitment, but the rewards can be great. I am still standing on a lower rung of the harmonica ladder, but I have improved greatly in the last 8 months. I have been working hard to create different tones. We do Hootchie Coochie Man, and I rattle the walls with some down-and-dirty Chicago sounds. I've been practicing hitting the draw-2 bend until my lips are raw. For other songs I play extremely clean and sweet.
After the gig one of the audience came over to me as I was closing up my pedal board and asked me if I had used a synthesizer. Our last number was "Little Wing" and we close it off with a segue into reggae. I get a tone which is somewhat flute-like by using a deep reverb delay and playing somewhat staccato. He was surprised when I traced out my signal path. Wireless receiver - 10 band EQ - digital reverb - boost stomp for solo volume increase. He was surprised as he was sure I was synthesizing my sound.
Another member come up to say how unique my sound was, and how impressed she was. I jokingly told her a comment like that could be taken in more than one way, but she assured me that she was quite impressed.
It was a bit disheartening when we went up on stage to play to such a small crowd, but those two folks more than made up for it. Hopefully, when school is back in session, we can get booked into that room again.
The hardest thing was trying to speak coherently and in full sentences after playing for that long.
One thing I learned last night was a side benefit to playing wirelessly. I went out into the 'crowd" (well, more accurately, I walked off the stage) and walked around the room during one of my solos. I found that my amp was far more directional than I knew. The sound in front of the amp was vary different from that off to the sides. I am going to make it a point of mic'ing it from now on. I am contemplating selling it and getting a harp amp, but for now just may use my Epiphone 10 as my monitor and sending the line out to the PA. That temporary solution will also save my back as my current amp weighs 53 pounds and my back isn't getting any younger....
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Bluzdude46
74 posts
Jul 19, 2009
10:24 PM
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You're right, Randy. Playing in a band is a whole different set of circumstances and responsibilities. You have too not only look at your own sound but try to talk 3-5 other guys into meshing it all together, not always easy. I also do vocals and have had volume disagreements with guitarists, tone discussions the works. I've played empty rooms during off seasons and torrential downpours. I once played a fairly full house in an amazing room for acoustics at a place that was a combo Motel/restraunt/bar during a blizzard. Captive audience, the motel owner was so pleased he comped us rooms when no one could get outta there. Was a great gig. They all add up and you just hope they get better as you go.
Last Edited by on Jul 19, 2009 10:24 PM
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Randy G. Blues
41 posts
Jul 20, 2009
6:27 AM
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Bluzdude,
Fortunately for me, the other members of the group are quite experienced, and a full year's+ of open mic jams gave me enough experience that it has worked out well with the group. During Hootchie Coochie man, I took a solo and let it develop. When I got to the point that enough was enough, I glanced at the guitar player, gave a little nod, played a short end phrase, and after the 4th bar of that we went right back to the verse quite smoothly. MAN, that's a good feeling!
I forgot to mention that it was a paying gig... my first! I haven't gotten paid yet, but some rough calculations would seem to indicate that I made about $2.00!
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XHarp
114 posts
Jul 20, 2009
9:29 AM
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Good story Randy G. Getting the accolades is what makes it all worth while.
Hey and getting $2.00 is Ok too, you're still up on the night and it sounds like the ladies are impressed.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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dfwdlg
43 posts
Jul 20, 2009
1:36 PM
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I made a buck last week sitting in with my friend's classic rock band. The prettiest girl in the bar told me how well I played and tipped me $1.00.
I found out later she was a stripper and pole dancer at another club. Turns out she fancies the ladies and not the gents, so the good news is I earned a buck on my harp playing and not my looks. The bad news is, I think I know where that dollar bill has been. I threw it in the band's tip jar and decided I was happy enough with a compliment on my playing.
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