Singers who play solo with electric guitar?

[twistedblues]

Any good artists who primarily play electric guitar while singing? With No other musicians playing?

[agfsteve]

Richard Shindell is a fantastic singer / songwriter who plays mostly acoustic, but also electric, e.g.

[Silly Moustache]

In my humble opinion, a solo electric guitar backing vocals sound thin and harsh.

[Davis Webb]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

In my humble opinion, a solo electric guitar backing vocals sound thin and harsh.

Yes, and this is why you see so little of it. I did it for a couple years with my Telecaster. It was okay, for country, but you cannot do most of what you want to do, add a kick and some driving rhythm.

A sweet, soft female voice over a 335 can be heaven. But unless your voice is the primary reason that people come, I would not base a whole gig on it. Try it out for a few songs, see how it feels.

D.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by twistedblues

Any good artists who primarily play electric guitar while singing? With No other musicians playing?

Glittering generalities aside.

While it is true that solo electric is the exception for solo work, it is not because of some sound deficiency, but more from simple tradition and the logistics of having to have almost double the equipment and possibly double the cost of both a good PA system and good guitar amp.
As an electric guitar through a PA does not flatter the electric, and a vocal through a good electric amp does not flatter the vocal.

However when done well with the right equipment and knowledge of how to play an electric for solo/vocal work, can be very good, interesting, and quite entertaining with the added bonus of an increased tonal palette.

[Pualee]

You can do it, there is a guy who I cannot remember for the life of me right now...

It sounds good, but the techniques are so far different from playing either acoustic or electric with band mates.

It really makes you step back and rethink how you are doing things. The role of the instrument changes quite a bit.

It is probably not used much because it is not considered 'normal' and thus not taught. So anyone who does it has to re-invent the wheel a bit - which isn't bad - but is more effort than some are willing to put forth.

[HHP]

John Lee Hooker pulled it off ok.

So did Johnny Rivers

[s2y]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

In my humble opinion, a solo electric guitar backing vocals sound thin and harsh.

No argument here. Also "feels" strange compared to an acoustic.

[The Watchman]

Hollowbody jazz guitar can sound good by itself. Saw a guy named Charlie Butler play on a cruise ship and had a big crowd every night.

[bzl]

Billy Bragg

[jmcdonough120]

Margaret Glaspy

[twistedblues]

Courtney Barnett

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv-FOSJIwrU

Seasick Steve

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a33sB3ck28A

Angel Olsen

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G7NapIZ1xGE

[Mr. Paul]

I saw John Hiatt do an entire show solo with a strat and it sounded fantastic.

I could do it easily with my Godin, but we unfortunately included the word "acoustic" in our name, so I'm kinda stuck.

[Marley]

Taj Mahal but he typically does it with more of a hollowbody but I've heard him with a solid body and it sounds just as awesome.

This link was a one time only deal for Sublime but when the other 2 guys in the band were late for a gig, Bradley Nowell jumped on stage with someone else's guitar and stack and ripped out about 30 minutes worth of Sublime tunes with just the Strat and a mic.

You may have to like Sublime in order to appreciate this video but this is what it would sound like with just an electric and a mic. I know it's just because it's Bradley, but I could listen to him play like that all night. BUT what made Brad so awesome (besides his awesome guitar skills) was his voice. He could be acapella in this video and people would love it. https://youtu.be/CP--BQ6fTEA

There's stuff with Jerry Garcia and his electric and it's pretty great.