[jimbomonkeypie]

It was fantastic! First of all, they were expecting like 120 people to show up...you would not believe the look on my face when I walked into the hall it was stationed at and saw at least 500 people there, and this was before any of the bands started playing, more showed up later.


Some of you might remember me posting a week or so ago about this gig, saying that my bassist and keyboardist were both unavailable so it was just going to be myself and my drummer playing this one.


We decided to make it an instrumental show off-fest, with myself on acoustic guitar and the drummer on bongos, congos, cow bell, a kit and a few other tidbits of percussive instruments.


The fantastic part was, the two bands before us SUCKED! Like I mean really sucked, it seemed like it was the first time any of them had ever played together. So when we got up and played a funky acoustic instrumental track, they crowd went NUTS!



But what impressed me most was the crowds response to the cover that we played, Mustang Sally. We changed it around a fair bit and had a totally mad drum solo in the middle. But singing it was just so much fun, the crowd was totally into it and everyone was clapping and singing along as well, words cannot describe how much of a good time I had playing this gig.




So, to cut to the chase, I've decided I'd like to do this a whole lot more often...playing without a bassist just gives me so much more freedom, I can add keychanges and do chordal improvisation with so much more ease as I dont need to worry about whether the bassist will pick up on it all or not.

So what i'd like are some suggestions. I've decided that I really love singing soul songs, such as Mustang Sally and Take Me to the River. But the only real music of this sort that I know of is from "The Commitments" soundtrack, so I need some more sources or inspiration.

I plan on taking most of my riffs and adapting them to an acoustic sound, and then changing the vocals to a more soulful feel.

In addition to that, can someone recommend some advanced acoustic arists? Like Kaki King but with a more up-beat feel to it (i've only heard a bit of her stuff, if there's more thats up beat and could get a crowd going, i'd love to know some song names ) and Justin King and maybe Ani Difranco as well, but I'm not too familiar with her stuff.





The thing is, I havent had much exposure to great acoustic players who can really get a crowd going, so if anyone could lead me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.


Cheers,
James

[KaZu]

It sounded awesome...
Keep on Jammin' Jimbo

[evileye]

James, do you know Kaki's "Happy as a dead pig in the mud"? That's pretty upbeat, and I have most of it tabbed. Also, try some michael hedges. There are tabs of his stuff online, and some of it is somewhat easy.
Edit: Oh, glad to hear you got on well.

This post has been edited by evileye: 01 August 2004 - 02:49 PM

[wannalearn01]

I do remember you posting back then abotu this and it is awesome that it went well!

See when life gives you an challenge you can either stand to one side and let it go by you or you can stand right in front and smile after it hits you.

It is awesome to hear that the gig went big and it went good...I'm jealous :0

Do you think your bassist is holding you back...or that any bassist would be?

T^roy

[station]

Glad to hear that the gig went so well. Nothing like that feeling when you are playing and doing your thing and the whole crowd is into it and cheering you on and what not.

However because I am a bassist before anything else, I must say I am insulted
Seriously, a good bassist really enhances the sound and can really drive a song. You do put up a good point that you can change keys without having to worry, but good pre-show communication and a good bassist will cover this problem.


As for a good upbeat acoustic artist....hmm. Look at some of Jim Croce's stuff. He has a few really awesome upbeat stuff, but also some really beautiful slower stuff.

[dadfad]

Sounds great, Jimbo. I know what you mean about those sort of groove-oriented extremely rhythmic and danceable kind of tunes. Mustang Sally's one of my favorites like that too. A couple of others.... Midnight Hour, Walkin' The Dog, Youngblood (those old-school R 'n B guys had that sort of thing NAILED) and, for a slightly different approach but (believe me) the same kind of rhythm-thing going on, the slightly more country Don't Hand Me No Lines (and keep your hands to yourself). That one will have most crowds joining in for that stopped-time vocal line as you sing it. In a slightly bluesier vein... Let It Roll is a good one (Elvis called it Beepin' and Hidin') or Rock Me Baby. When you play tunes like these, conceptually play to that subconscous "one-and-two" hand-clap. That's the "groove" the drummer should be using too. You need tunes like this to "work" a crowd (especially in a band or combo situation). Simple extremely rhythmic good-time tunes. Anyway, congratulations on your gig. Sounds like it turned out great.