Playing on the Big Stage

One of the true joys of playing music is performing for an appreciative audience.   Over my short musical career I've enjoyed playing for all types of audiences, including those gigs where the music is just wallpaper for whatever event happens to be going on.    By far the most fun is when the crowd is actively involved.  

It happens a lot in smaller settings like coffeehouses, libraries, and house concerts where the folks are coming there just to listen.   But many other venues don't give a musician that type of feedback, and you tend to play for your own enjoyment.

Becky, Susan, me, Wayne - the Flophouse String Band

Last week, my good friends in the Flophouse String Band came to town to open for Rhonda Vincent at the Capitol Theater in Rome.    By far, our biggest gig ever, and a privilege to open for such a talented group.   The big stage!!!!    A great venue, a large crowd coming to listen, and the pressure to play well for the folks coming on  next.   All the things you hope for in a gig rolled into one incredible half hour.  

The Capitol is an old 20's moviehouse that has recently been undergoing restoration and now a lively and active community center for movies and the performing arts.   The director, Art Pierce, and his team have brought in a wide variety of local, regional, and National Acts as well as some pretty cool flicks.   The building is a perfect setting for a concert, with the original silent movie organ built in, it was made for sound.    It's become one of the best stages in the region to play.

The Flophouse String Band has been together since 2006, and we enjoy playing a gig every year.    The Band got together to play the Mohawk Valley Bluegrass Association Festival that year, and has been going since.   We've had a lot of fun and also some great experiences like recording our CD, release in 2010.   But we've never played a big stage.    The band consists of Becky and Wayne Kelly from Hattiesburg MS, and Susan Donohue from New Jersey respectively on Appalachian Dulcimer, Guitar and Mandolin and Fiddle.    I play a bit of mandolin and Guitar and we all help out with vocals.   The stuff we play is American Roots - Cajun, Old Time, Celtic,  and Country Blues, along with a few more modern songs in the genres.   Good stuff and a lot of fun to play.

Practicing for the show was fun, but it did carry a bit of an edge.   We knew we would all have to be at our best to show well.    And we did put in a lot of good practice hours honing the 6 songs and tunes we would play on stage.   My goal, when I hit that stage, was not to be thinking about what I was playing, but to be totally in the moment and to put out my best performance.   After 2 1/2 days of it I think we were ready to roll.

Leading up, and perhaps adding to the pressure, were the promos in the newspaper highlighting our group, and the countdown as we got closer to the show.   Now all the little things started to get bigger - what to wear, what to say, what if a string breaks, etc.   I usually don't get too anxious before a show but was feeling it for this one.

The day of the show went so fast it was a blur - I know we practiced, went for a walk to get some air, and maybe ate some food - but the minds were focused on what was coming.   Sound check at 4PM - performance at 7:30.    We got there in plenty of time for the sound check, and the volunteers from the Capitol, Ed and Ray were great.   We also have to thank Rhonda for letting us use her equipment, which was great.   As soon as we played our first song through the system into the empty theater I knew we would be fine - the band sounded great, and the sound team and system made it doubly so.   It felt really good to be up on that stage and playing music.   After a quick run through of our set, it was time to relax and get ready to for the show.

Can't say I really relaxed though, and I don't think the rest of the band was.   It was more like anticipation building and building.   It felt pretty good actually knowing what was coming.    We went out for a quick bite with our roadie, Miss Claire (my lovely bride), and got back to the theater to get ready to go on.  

Milling around backstage before a show is big fun - noodlin on the instruments, run through of the set,  tuning, talking to the folks - all the while knowing the clock is ticking.    A few minutes before goin on you get up in the wings and the emcee goes out to introduce you (the great Bill Knowlton) and its a blur as you walk out.

We knew our spots, but its different when the room is alive with people - you feel it!   The lights are blinding, but you can make out the shapes of people in the first few rows, and now it's time to deliver the first song as you settle into the stage.   It felt really good delivering it, the band was tight, but you don't know until you stop how it's going to be received.    Then the applause hits you like a wave and any anxiety that was left disappears.   The tightness goes away.    The hands move easily around the neck of the guitar.    Hey, this is fun!!!!

The set was short, and was over before we knew it.   Got a lot of nice applause, and it was cool to have Rhonda's Band in the wings telling us how they enjoyed our set and naming some of the stuff they liked.    Talk about feeling and being alive and in the moment - this is it - it doesn't get an better than this.

We then got to watch Rhonda and her band perform - what pro's - you know there is still another level or two or three to get where they are musically, but that's cool.   I may never get there, but at least I know we can stand up and deliver on the big stage when the time comes.  

And to put a cap on  a great evening we got to spend some time with Rhonda and her band - I guess it can always get a little better......

A Bluegrass History Tour

Kelly and me

One of the things I really enjoy about playing music is the opportunity to do musical projects - one time shows, gigs - that focus on a specific topic or type of music.   My Daughter Kelly and I have done a show on the Carter Family - me doing a talk on the history and importance of the Carters to American Music, and Kelly doing the singing of some of the classic songs and tunes from the Carters to accompany the talk - in the style of the Carters.   Plus, we would add songs from more contemporary singer songwriters to illustrate the influence the Carters hold on today's music. 

What is enjoyable to me is combining the things I love - history, music, and performance into one - generally for just one or two shows.   It gets me to read and research topics I would not normally dig deeply into, and it also introduces new songs and tunes (and musical styles) into my bag of tricks.    And you tend to meet and make new friends along the way.

The Christmas Carol Band


Over the past few years I've been involved in  setting up the music for things like a reading of Dickens Christmas Carol, a reading on the Alcott's, the early History of Orville Gibson and his contributions, and an O Henry Christmas story.    Each project involved learning new stuff musically.   Plus I've worked with some really good musicians on the projects and they all have contributed and added to the output - folks like Mike Hoke, Mike Carroll, Conrad, Skip Mansur, and Bruce Wightman.  

Flophouse String Band

Last week I had the good fortune to work on another project that was pretty close to home - a lecture demonstration on the musical styles that influenced the development of Bluegrass Music.   What made the project really neat was that the Flophouse String Band (FSB)- Wayne and Becky Kelly, Susan Donohue, and yours truly was together for a gig the next night opening for Rhonda Vincent at the Capitol Theater (more on that in another blog).    The FSB plays a very eclectic style of mostly American Roots music from the early 1900's to today's Americana - encompassing Old Time, Cajun, Blues, and Early Country.    We were pretty well setup to do the musical demo.

Becky, Susan, Lydia

Lydia Hammessley, a professor of Musicology at Hamilton, was doing the talk, and she had laid out a basic outline of what she wanted to demonstrate, and from there we developed a list of tunes to illustrate her talking points.   We also needed a Bluegrass Banjo player and were lucky enough to have Phil Husted, one of the best around these parts join us on banjo and dobro.   Lydia also plays a mean Clawhammer banjo, which was a perfect addition to the group.   A bonus to all this was that we would also be doing in before the Seldom Scene played their concert at Hamilton!  (how does a weekend get any better).



Phil and Bill

One of the things that happens on projects like these is that when you get six musicians together in a room, the ideas start to flow.  And they have a lot of fun playing music.   It usually means something good will happen.   As with all projects the collaboration added a few new wrinkles, tunes, and arrangements, and voila!   And I think it helped Lydia further develop her talking points around the music we were playing - playing always fires up my creative juices.  We had a great set list that included an overture suggested by Phil where we opened with Old Joe Clark in an Old Time Style and finished with Bluegrass and Chromatic Banjo.   We played a while after we had finished our project set list and really didn't want to stop.  Funny how often that happens playing good music with good musicians.


Lydia's lecture wove a lot of different musical threads to come together at the end at Bluegrass and she did it in a very effective manner - and as much as I know and take for granted about Bluegrass I learned a few things!   It was pretty clear that the audience enjoyed Lydia's talk (I think people really welcome and apprecatie this approach) and the music we put to it - OT, Appalachian, Celtic, Carter Family and Blues -- all in the musical stew that is today's Bluegrass.   Can't wait for my next project......