Acoustic Progress Report
I know I’m back doing acoustic stuff because I worked on more songs today, the day after my first show back.
And I talked to the bookers, and they said they’re ready to do more based on talking through the playlist a little bit.
What really worked was the anchor, like ’90s Jayhawks and kind of the Wilco stuff—the alt-country. So, to bring in more familiar stuff, I am going to go up the charts a little bit in the ’90s. A few Gin Blossoms songs that I like. Absolutely no Toad the Wet Sprocket, unfortunately. Probably very proficient and good, just not for me.
But also go back to these things that influenced these alt-country bands, like The Byrds, Neil Young, and stuff like that. Even out to Jackson Browne, kind of all that super-sweet ’70s LA stuff, but not go as far as the Eagles.
Not that there’s anything wrong with the Eagles. There are just so many people doing it, and I’m going to be the guy who’s not playing Eagles songs.
Actually, the only one I would consider is “Take It to the Limit,” because I can sing it. But that’s more of an “I can sing this and you can’t” thing. So, this is not sports.
And speaking of that, I do see a lot of cover artists trying to do everything, and it is not an achievement-sports thing. It’s feel, and I’m up there to be cool and make the place cool.
But yeah, kind of going a little backward to bolster this ’80s and ’90s thing is really going to work. I played through some songs today, and that was great.
And best of all, I got a check in the mail from the booking agency, and they’re starting to come more often.
So now I have the DJ thing. I have the acoustic thing. And I have the Buckdancer thing.
Daphne Falls is a no-money thing. But even with that, I’m learning to go really deep on the MPC. Not that I don’t get anything out of doing it, but also there’s some practical value there for me too, which has to be there.
And, you know, I’ll say that today, sitting down and learning songs is easier than it was two weeks ago, when I was essentially cramming all my old knowledge and trying to figure out what I knew and what I didn’t know.
So the old adage is true: if you want to learn songs faster, learn more songs.
Some songs I can chart in about two minutes. Others I can chart surely under ten. Anything that takes me more than ten minutes to chart, I probably shouldn’t be playing live.
So, that’s the progress report. Have a great rest of your weekend.