Got my first gig!!

[Juiced06GTO]

That is awesome man! I hear ya on the three songs, it was a bit nerve wracking realizing I was carrying the entire 2 hours. They asked if I wanted to do 3 hours, but I didn't think I was ready for that either.

One cool thing about this whole thing is I've found a bunch of people I knew, not well, but they also play guitar. I've got a bunch of people that I can jam with now which is awesome too!

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Thanks Joe.

I've just got back from playing 3 songs at the local open mic'. Kimberly Rew from Katrina and the Waves was in the bar - the guy who wrote Walking on Sunshine - so no pressure there then!!! Everyone before me was plugged in. There were keyboard, drums, electric guitars, bass. Then I stood up with a D-18 with no pick up. Lol!!! Still I had folks singing along to the first song, I silenced the bar with the second, and the 3rd was just one of those moments that sometimes happens. I had sent the video of John Prine and Nancy Griffiths singing The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness to a friend's daughter two weeks ago. She is a great singer and fronts our local house band. Then I sent her a video of me playing and singing the song (in A rather than G) and she messaged back saying that she wanted to do the song with me at the open mic' and was sure we'd be fine without a rehearsal. So she came up on stage tonight and we did the song. Her harmonies were wonderful - and it turned the performance into something so much more than I had imagined.

But 3 songs is definitely my limit at present. I'm so not ready for a full solo set yet!

[rllink]

Pretty darn good, a hit first time out. Good job.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by Juiced06GTO

That is awesome man! I hear ya on the three songs, it was a bit nerve wracking realizing I was carrying the entire 2 hours. They asked if I wanted to do 3 hours, but I didn't think I was ready for that either.

One cool thing about this whole thing is I've found a bunch of people I knew, not well, but they also play guitar. I've got a bunch of people that I can jam with now which is awesome too!

A 2 hour set for your first gig! OMG!!! That's really impressive! I've got around 40+ songs memorised to "campfire" standard at the moment, but I'm not confident that I could hold an audience for anything like that long as a solo stage act. I'm really still just learning that craft. It is all the stuff around the edges where I feel inexperienced - "stage craft" I suppose you would call it.

I'm used to standing in front of an audience for like 2 days solid and delivering workshops, seminars, courses etc (including music workshops, sports coaching or management consultant type blah...). But as a solo act singing with a guitar, well, that's just a whole new skill set, and a completely new experience. Just finding work arounds for things like adrenaline affecting my fine motor skills, and trusting my subconscious to find the next verse are still raw. Even technical aspects such as "working" a vocal mic', and getting used to pitching my voice from the monitor feed etc I need more practice at in "live" situations.

I have to say though, seeing as this is a guitar forum, I've always been happy with the sound out front simply using a mic' on my guitars. Even going on after groups who have plugged in acoustics or electrics, in the bar room or large auditorium where the local open mic' is sometimes held, my guitar sound has been good out front. And as well as strumming, I single note flat pick and fingerpick a lot of quieter songs. No one has ever said "you should have plugged in". But I have had quite a few "your guitar playing sounds lovely" comments. So I'm in no rush yet to reach for the guitar lead that the sound guy tries to hand me as I get up on stage! Using a standard stage mic' for guitar is working out just fine. If I need to hear more of my own guitar when the venue is noisy then I point at the sound guy, then point at my guitar, then point at the monitor, then point at the ceiling - it works like magic! Lol!!!

[LiveMusic]

Originally Posted by Juiced06GTO

Well, the first gig is in the books! Cleared $246 bucks in tips, had a bunch of free beers and had a blast!! I'm on the list for any weekend gig that cancels between now and labor day and can play any Thursday I want haha!

On a serious note, I had a huge turnout of friends and their friends, and their friends friends, so it was a bit of a rigged game! The place loved it though and they probably had their best Thursday night ever!

I saw the other thread that spurred off of mine regarding drinking before a gig.....I definitely played a lot looser after I had a few in me to kill the nerves! I held off for the rest until after I was done!

Thanks again guys for the words of wisdom and advice!

Another thought is that if I had done what you did, I would have said to them, "If I bring in patrons and you have a good night, you need to agree to hit my tip jar in a big way." And if they don't, don't go back. (Or maybe they DID tip you?) Congrats on your gig!

[Juiced06GTO]

So a little update to this thread, I might be addicted to this whole gigging thing!

I got a call from the brewery 2 weeks ago saying they had an act back out and were wondering if I could fill the Saturday slot this past weekend, 4-7pm, paid this time haha. I jumped at it!

I assembled my song binder (I havent figured out how to put everything on an Ipad yet, nor do I have one to put it on), packed up my gear, and brought the family out along with a whole lot of friends and their friends and so on. We packed the place, probably 75-100 people, and sold them out of a lot of beer!

It was a great time, and I'm itching to try some new venues now! I even reached out to a beach bar up at Lake Winnipesaukee in NH that we go to while on vacation and am in the process of booking a gig there while we are on vacation!

Thanks to all for the words of advice and support, it is a great feeling watching everyone hang out and have a good time, while I get to provide the music for everyone. Looking forward to getting out there again soon!! I have a link to my instagram of some of the vids from the weekend, not sure if I can share that here or not? But here are some pictures at least!

[lpa53]

Originally Posted by Juiced06GTO

...I assembled my song binder (I havent figured out how to put everything on an Ipad yet, nor do I have one to put it on)...

Congratulations on the successful gig. That tip take was enormous!

Regarding getting rid of your binder, instead of an expensive iPad consider a more affordable Android tablet with an app like MobileSheets. Until you can make new documents, you could quickly scan your hardcopy to pdf (on your printer or use a phone app like vFlat) and import them.

[The Orb]

Which Tom Petty and Beatles songs do you play live?

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

The best way to get paid (unfortunately IMO) is to bring in drinkers.

A friend of mine wrote a song called "I'm Just Here to Sell Beer".

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Juiced06GTO

So a little update to this thread, I might be addicted to this whole gigging thing!

I got a call from the brewery 2 weeks ago saying they had an act back out and were wondering if I could fill the Saturday slot this past weekend, 4-7pm, paid this time haha. I jumped at it!

I assembled my song binder (I havent figured out how to put everything on an Ipad yet, nor do I have one to put it on), packed up my gear, and brought the family out along with a whole lot of friends and their friends and so on. We packed the place, probably 75-100 people, and sold them out of a lot of beer!

It was a great time, and I'm itching to try some new venues now! I even reached out to a beach bar up at Lake Winnipesaukee in NH that we go to while on vacation and am in the process of booking a gig there while we are on vacation!

Thanks to all for the words of advice and support, it is a great feeling watching everyone hang out and have a good time, while I get to provide the music for everyone. Looking forward to getting out there again soon!! I have a link to my instagram of some of the vids from the weekend, not sure if I can share that here or not? But here are some pictures at least!

Your photos aren't showing up on my computer for some reason. Yes, please post a link to the videos on your Instagram. As for putting your songs on a tablet - see my comments below! What place (and when) are looking to book at at Lake Winnipesaukee? That's just a bit north of me and we ride our motorcycle up around there a lot in the summer. It would be cool to check out your show.

Originally Posted by lpa53

Congratulations on the successful gig. That tip take was enormous!

Regarding getting rid of your binder, instead of an expensive iPad consider a more affordable Android tablet with an app like Mobilesheets.

I second this suggestion. I use an inexpensive Samsung tablet and Mobilesheets Pro and it has been an outstanding app. I've even done two video reviews of it. Highly recommended.

[Juiced06GTO]

Bringing this back from the dead a little bit and things really progressed for me over the past few months!! I wish I had seen the comments back earlier, but I missed them!

I ended up playing at two places at Weirs while up on vacation over the summer. I went to the open jam Sunday night at Tower Hill Tavern and ended up pretty much playing a set with their band for the night, it was awesome, we had people coming in off the street to jam out. Then I was able to schedule a Thursday evening at Boardwalk Beach Bar, which was really fun. They didn't normally plan for Thurs night entertainment, and I agreed to play that one for tips. We ended up with a decent crowd and they hooked me up with a 60 dollar tip, food for me and my family and free drinks which i thought was more than fair.

I've become a regular at one of the Nashville style bars in Worcester's open mics that is really pushing the local music scene. They asked me to play in their writers round, which was a little scary because at the time they asked me I had only ever written two songs and I needed to have 4 originals to get through the set. I also just played a Sunday afternoon slot in their restaurant and have a Sat evening slot in Jan.

Another restaurant just decided to start having live music at their bar/restaurant and asked me to kick it off next Thursday night too which was really cool to be asked to do that.

My wife is just warning me to not let this become another job now as I have trouble saying no to things....it is still fun for now and I want to keep it that way!

https://www.instagram.com/anthony.deyoe/

[Juiced06GTO]

Originally Posted by The Orb

Which Tom Petty and Beatles songs do you play live?

Free Falling, Learning to Fly, You Don't know How it Feels are my go to songs for Petty.

One of my wife's favorite songs for me to sing is Let it Be, so that makes every set. I'll some time do You've got to hide your Love Away, and Norwegian Wood sometimes depending on the crowd/atmosphere.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Congrats! Glad it went well.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

. . . I stood up with a D-18 with no pick up. Lol!!! Still I had folks singing along to the first song, I silenced the bar with the second, and the 3rd was just one of those moments that sometimes happens. . . .

Heh heh. It took me two years, but I finally got the guy who runs the music at the local Grange coffee house to leave his PA at home. The stage is four feet high, and room already has good acoustics.

Everyone sounds so much better now — and the music host loves not having to fool with mics and a PA.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

Heh heh. It took me two years, but I finally got the guy who runs the music at the local Grange coffee house to leave his PA at home. The stage is four feet high, and room already has good acoustics.

Everyone sounds so much better now — and the music host loves not having to fool with mics and a PA.

It's a liberating way to play if the venue allows. A neighbour popped round this afternoon. There's a Christmas concert on at a local hotel tonight. He is going to play and sing Blue Christmas and asked if I could support with dobro. We'll have an audience of 70+ and no p.a. - but it will actually be no problem in that space.