Having played (and still play) in rock'n'roll bands for 35+ years I've started a 10 year plan to get my acoustic gigging chops up to speed, in order that when I'm old and grey and I can still gig but without all that gear and noise...
So last night was solo gig # 3. A 45 minute support slot for a friend's duo as part of my local rhythm'n'blues festival.
It went really well, way better than I could have hoped or expected. I took on some learning from my first couple of solo gigs, and from what folks have written on the forum here. Actually, I think the biggest factor in this gig being an improvement on #1 and #2 was my choosing to sit down rather than stand. I always play sat down at home and the last couple of gigs (where I stood up) my playing wasn't anywhere near where it should have been. Last night I felt much more comfortable and though I missed plenty of notes I was way closer to where I wanted to be playing wise.
I played a set of Mississippi JH style fingerpicking, some John Prine, Kristofferson, a little swing, and some country fingerpicking - Mystery Train type stuff. Was lucky enough to collar a great harp player to get up on a few numbers.
It went well enough that the landlord took my card (well, my rock'n'roll band's card with my number hastily written on the back) insisting that I'll be ideal to do a whole evening for them sometime soon. This is great news... except now I'm thinking PA's, setting up sound, other gear I might need - mic stands, cables, reverb... etc etc. I know enough people to be able to borrow stuff if needs be, but along with stage craft, patter, the playing itself, etc I suddenly realised I'm going to have to learn all about sound set-up, too.
It's a nice problem to have, and there's no rush, as the plan really is to build this over a ten year period and I don't want to leap in and buy anything if this turns out to be as far as it goes. But nevertheless any hints or tips on gear for solo performers or setting up a good sound(*) will be welcome. I always assumed I'd simply get one of those acoustic amps that take an acoustic guitar and a microphone feed, and keep it simple. But does such simplicity really work in the real world?
Kind regards
Derek
(*) I've never had to worry about this stuff with the band as my drummer does it all for a living