Being a musician is hard?

[Cliffk]

I was just reading the fascinating 'How many of you guys can't "play"' thread, as well as the other forum comments essentially denigrating Bob Moog as someone who's responsible for the decrease in playing skills - and this brought something to mind.

 

I'm getting ready (physically and mentally) to go out playing solo - I've mostly played in bands before; solo stints have been one-off gigs.

 

I'm extremely competent vocally and good at live playing, but the whole live enterprise, which is going to demand all my skills - including sequencing etc. - is daunting right now.

 

Any advice for a nervous muso?

[MikeT156]

Cliffk:

 

Although I haven't played live in 10 years (that's going to change this coming weekend), I'be been playing as a solo act since the seventies.

 

I don't know what kind of KB rig you have, but a couple things come to mind:

 

Being that you're carrying the load yourself, be sure you have your chops up to snuff. Practice everyday for no less than 2 or 3 hours so your playing will be the least of your worries.

 

Get organized, be sure you have your set lists down cold. It helps if you have entire sets loaded into your sequencer so you can go from one song to the next without very much delay between songs. The natives get restless pretty quick.

 

I don't know what kind of room you're playing, but it helps to have a variety of songs to play in most cases. I like to mix up sequenced songs, songs with just piano and vocals, or Rhodes, bass, drums and vocals. That keeps things simple. If the room tends to fill up later, save enough upbeat dance tunes for later after people have been drinking and want to dance.

 

Play to the age group of the crowd. Try to be ready for a variety of different age groups with different kinds of music on your song list.

 

Try to be entertaining without being a comedian. Whatever you do, don't play too loud. Most of all, enjoy yourself.

 

Good luck, solo is a lot better than trying to deal with 4 or 5 different personalities in a band.

 

 

Mike T.

[resigned]

I would suggest targeting one specific local restaurant or club where other solo acts normally perform and work up your songlist and act to fit the room accordingly. Establishing yourself at one gig can be a great springboard to other gigs... it'll build your setlist and your confidence, it'll get you used to setting up your gear and running it as a soloist, and you can use the room as a reference to get other gigs. You'll also get some useful feedback on how good of a potential solo act you are.

[Cliffk]

Thanks guys - doing this solo stuff is proving much more of a task than I thought it would be when I initially had the 'bright' idea of leaving my band

[MikeT156]

Cliffk:

 

The PRO gave you some good advice. He's been a full time player for ages so he can be a big help. His suggestion at targeting one specific place to play and working up your songlist to fit the room is a good idea. It wouldn't hurt to talk to him more, Jim's always good about giving others the benefit of his experience.

 

It does take some organization prep work to get a solo act off the ground. The better organized you are, the less trouble you'll run into on a gig. The more variety you have in your music, the wider the audience appeal you'll have and with that, the more places you can play. You could start to build a song list gradually and start working toward a solo act if you're not quite ready now.

 

When I was playing full time 10 years ago, I got a number of gigs because club owners knew that I had a lot of variety in my songlist and I could shift gears quickly, depending on the crowd they had a given night.

 

 

Mike T.