raffkey Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Started up with a country band that wants to do new country, ala Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, etc. but am having trouble finding dance-able songs. Most country songs out there now seem to fall in under 110 BPMs making them too slow for fast dancing, too fast for slow dancing.. Is anyone else out there doing newer country and what does your set list look like? What songs have you found success with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I played in an ass kicking country band till last January. Your whole thought process on bpm and danceability doesn't work in new music. Country Girl Shake It Whole Lotta Boot left to fill Work Hard Play Harder Save a Horse Etc..... Very danceable. It is about downbeats and backbeats. Big sound and light production and having a bad ass attitude helps a lot. Kick the beat in the ass if you have to. Country is Rock. When New Wave and Hair bands came on the scene rock got weird. Rockers started turning to Nashville. It is the same tonk feel Skynyrd was selling on 70s rock radio. Attitude is every thing. Having a great female lead is a real strong suit. Women love man hatin' songs. And opens up over twice the material. We had two strong female vocals. The harmonies were fantasic and I loved covering Skynyrd because nailing the honkette parts just blew 90% of Skynyrd covers out of the water. Country aint disco. The shit kicker dances often run from 90 to 115 bpm. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEMcCut Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 We just closed down a band like this. Songs that worked well and people danced to were Hicktown, She's Country by Jason Aldean, How I Got to Be by Justin Moore, Save a Horse byBig and Rich, Stay and Cruise by Florida Georgia Line, Wagon Wheel by Darious Rucker, and Copperhead Road by Steve Earl. They have a special dance for Copperhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CEB Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 We did all of those also. "It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne "A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allan_evett Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 ..... It is about downbeats and backbeats. Big sound and light production and having a bad ass attitude helps a lot. Kick the beat in the ass if you have to. Country aint disco. The shit kicker dances often run from 90 to 115 bpm. The modern country band I played with, earlier in the year, was all over the above. While there were a handful of uptempo, driving tunes mixed in - with atypical rock and honky-tonk piano, the keyboard parts consisted mostly of tonewheels, Wurlie, fiddle doubling, and a brief, accordion journey. Current country is a very different animal. 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 We just closed down a band like this. Songs that worked well and people danced to were Hicktown, She's Country by Jason Aldean, How I Got to Be by Justin Moore, Save a Horse byBig and Rich, Stay and Cruise by Florida Georgia Line, Wagon Wheel by Darious Rucker, and Copperhead Road by Steve Earl. They have a special dance for Copperhead. I never liked or played country before, but a couple weeks ago I played bass in an acoustic band that did a couple country songs. Cruise and Wagon wheel were both on the list and worked - though we did the old crow medicine man version of wagon wheel. However, our drummer's 19yr old niece sat in on violin and it kicked ass. Dan Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEMcCut Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 CEB, I forgot Country Girl Shake It for Me. That always get them on the floor. J. Dan our version was more like Old Crow as well. I usually played a harmonica solo, tho. Harmonica always gets a big reaction even when it is played as poorly as I pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Current country is a very different animal. Current country dancers are too. They pack the floor dancing to Florida Georgia Line, and most of that stuff clocks in at around 70bpm. When I watch what they do, they kind of double time it. For a little more uptempo (around 110bpm) don't forget the powerhouse combo of Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind Of Night" into Chris Young's "Aw Naw" - both very danceable and practically the same song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffkey Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Interesting comments, thanks guys. Yes we're doing That's My Kind of Night, Country Girl-Shake It (love doin that synth bass in the beginning)two or three by Jason Aldean and the like, but it seems the songs that went over the best were Dwight's Fast As You and Alan Jackson's Good Time, B&D's Boot Scoot, which aren't new country! I guess we just need to give it time, perhaps.. Never did well with Copperhead Road. Played it in my last classic rock band-I played the mando-loved doing it, but not many dancers to that one. I think the intro was too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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