Bo Eder
Platinum Member
I have this feeling this whole quarantine thing is re-sparking my former career as a one-man-band. Heck, it even makes sense during this time of social distancing. After July 4th's show, I've been fielding requests from the neighbors, and one inquiry asked about me doing a private event in August. But what really separates the men from the boys is the requests. How far will you go to play music? Being in a band is pretty easy when it comes to requests, you can either do songs as a group, or not. But in my unique situation, the audience knows there's not additional musicians involved to get anything together. Having a songlist that tops out at 250+ means I can seriously play for four hours straight without stopping or repeating anything, and still have songs I haven't had to perform. I was chuckling at myself when I looked at the list of songs the neighbors would like me to do at the next one:
Mandy
Copacabana
Pretty Woman
IGY (Donald Fagen)
Tie a Yellow Ribbon
Songs asked for but turned down:
Flight of the Icarus (yeah right - Iron Maiden)
I write the songs
And oddly enough, somebody told me they liked what I was doing so much, they don't even mind the country & western!
You think having to muddle through Mustang Sally is bad?
I pat my self on the back for being able to enjoy it all and to deliver it with conviction, but this brings me back to my younger-stupider days when I wouldn't bite my tongue about what I thought of certain songs, and swore under my breath that I'd never do them. I think I even swore back then I'd never play country! And then Disney happened, where I was playing an upbeat "If I could talk to the animals" in cut time at least seven times a day (I swear reading stuff in cut time took me a while to get used to). And then hanging out with more educated working guys who would wordlessly ask me why I was playing so many ghost notes, or why my time wasn't better....etc.,.... Jeez, I think about those days and I'm so grateful people gave me a chance so I could learn how to keep my mouth shut and do the job! And I discovered that I worked pretty consistently when you worry more about playing whatever music you have to play right, rather than bitch about what you're not getting to play to show off how great you are. I count my self so lucky to be able to do what I get to do, and grateful to have done what I've gotten to do (I mean, who wouldn't want to put on a mouse costume and slam away on some drums for 45 minutes a day?)
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I think I'll resurrect The Beer Barrel Polka and The Hokey Pokey too. Time to get back to work!
Mandy
Copacabana
Pretty Woman
IGY (Donald Fagen)
Tie a Yellow Ribbon
Songs asked for but turned down:
Flight of the Icarus (yeah right - Iron Maiden)
I write the songs
And oddly enough, somebody told me they liked what I was doing so much, they don't even mind the country & western!
You think having to muddle through Mustang Sally is bad?
I pat my self on the back for being able to enjoy it all and to deliver it with conviction, but this brings me back to my younger-stupider days when I wouldn't bite my tongue about what I thought of certain songs, and swore under my breath that I'd never do them. I think I even swore back then I'd never play country! And then Disney happened, where I was playing an upbeat "If I could talk to the animals" in cut time at least seven times a day (I swear reading stuff in cut time took me a while to get used to). And then hanging out with more educated working guys who would wordlessly ask me why I was playing so many ghost notes, or why my time wasn't better....etc.,.... Jeez, I think about those days and I'm so grateful people gave me a chance so I could learn how to keep my mouth shut and do the job! And I discovered that I worked pretty consistently when you worry more about playing whatever music you have to play right, rather than bitch about what you're not getting to play to show off how great you are. I count my self so lucky to be able to do what I get to do, and grateful to have done what I've gotten to do (I mean, who wouldn't want to put on a mouse costume and slam away on some drums for 45 minutes a day?)
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I think I'll resurrect The Beer Barrel Polka and The Hokey Pokey too. Time to get back to work!