Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel cover) LIVE in a wine bar

[ColinB]

Grab a listen while it's there - it may be coming down soon, due to the echoey room acoustics and camcorder mic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUbyMMz27G4

[andrewjw]

Colin..you are patently a talented singer/guitarist...I just don't understand the pleasure of playing in a venue like that...even the bottles of wine are empty [possibly similar to the heads of the "audience"].
I'm ready to be enlightened!

Cheers, Andrew

[ColinB]

Thank you for the compliment, Andrew, and you know, that's a really good question.

I guess the short answer is it's a regular, paid gig every Thursday night. The venue owner has been very supportive and I've played there almost every Thursday for about a year now.

I do wish the acoustics were better - it's not that big a place, but it's all hard surfaces and a high ceiling. It's better if there are more bodies in there to absorb the sound, such as when there's a wine tasting event on, but a lot of the time the clientele traffic is sparse and there's not a lot of seating anyway. They are primarily a winery so a lot of their business is people coming in to make and bottle their own wine in the back.

So I'm balancing the challenges with the benefits of having a weekly, paid, plugged-in rehearsal in front of an audience - keeps me rehearsed and used to hauling the gear, provides experience at coping with difficult acoustics and it's an opportunity to try out new songs.

But it is an interesting and persistent question when deciding which gigs one considers are worth playing, especially when trying to find good playing work these days.

[BUDSTER]

Collin, Really well done and you are very talented. I can really relate to some of your thoughts on playing in a venue like this but I have found that little things turn into big things so keep up the faith !

Bud

[marty bradbury]

Very nice Collin , even with the lack of acoustics,

[ColinB]

Thank you, Bud and Marty - indeed, gigs like this are all part of the job

It's been fun getting to grips with the new Panasonic HC-V100 camcorder too - may take it along to the private wedding anniversay gig tomorrow, see if I can capture any songs worth posting

[Dru Edwards]

Colin, I've always loved that song and you did a great job on it!! Seemed like a tough crowd though. Is the song in standard tuning?

[hansentj]

Very well done. That's a tricky song to pull off and you do it well!

And I can commiserate. I have a weekly gig in a similar venue so I can understand the challenges, but you overcame them to be sure!

[Manel Ferreira]

Liked it a lot! Very enjoyable song to play and you did a great job!

[ColinB]

Thanks so much, Dru, hansentj, Manel!

Yes, I use standard tuning. The original is in B, but I take to down to A to suit my voice. The original guitar part is also more of a picky thing, but I go for a strummy thing to rock the song along as a solo piece. Interesting how the song mostly uses a 7/4 signature - I find it best to try and "feel" it rather than "think" it!

[Jeremy]

That was very nice, Colin. Great arrangement and performance.

[millerzj]

Nice job....an absolutely killer song, and you do a very tasty version of it. It's funny I've seen quite a few people do this tune and every single one of them play it a bit different. The jam over the loop was a nice touch...I may have to look into gabbing one and start playing around with it....looks and sounds like a lot of fun.

[williejohnson]

Colin,
Nice job on this. Those of us who perform can empathize with these types of gigs but as you said, it's all part of the deal. I enjoyed your performance and appreciate what was going on.

Willie

[ColinB]

Thanks so much Jeremy, millerzj and Willie!

Yes, this is one of those songs I do for my own enjoyment as much as the audience's - I just love to play it and always look forward to that part of the set! And I thoroughly recommend the loop pedal, millerzj - it opens up a lot of possibilities with solo gigs.

[alma_shortscale]

That's one of my all time favorite songs. I really like your version. I hate it that practically no one seems to be listening to you! Thanks for posting.