Memorable Performances

We were sitting around camp at Song School and a reporter stopped by to ask “what was our most memorable performance of past festivals.” Being a little flip, I said Big Joe Kinser, She Only Loves Me When She’s Drunk. I went on to tell the reporter that the best music happens at Song School, not the main stage.

Two days later, I see it in print. There’s a photo of me, Joe’s names, and a bunch of names you’d instantly recognize. However, I still stand by my choice. Here's the story,

It was the last day of Song School 3 years ago. We had a night filled with great performances. The last performer of the evening comes up, a big guy, small guitar, cut off shorts, etc. I remember thinking here’s a person out of his element, first time at Song School, and he has to follow all these great acts. However, he captured me from the first line, “She only loves me when she’s drunk, when she’s drunk I’m a bar room hunk...” I went home singing that line and to the dismay of my wife for the next year. Three years later, I still remember that song and moment. I just found it on UTube - check it out.

Another moment I remember is Paul Reisler getting up on stage and singing, “I can’t remember, what I forgot.” He never sings on stage but his vocalist was a no show. You could see his hesitation until the first words came out. An incredible performance that brought tears to my eyes.

I guess my point is, it’s not the production, it’s the emotion. Emotion of the performer and the listener. It’s being your authentic self on stage and with your song. It’s a magical blend of right place, right time, right song ...

American Idol - A lesson in performance

Yuk! I hate to admit it, but I've become an American Idol fan. What an amazing place to launch your career. It's also a great place to study song arrangement and performance.

On song arrangement - First, all songs short are cut short. I didn't time them, but I'm guessing around 2 minutes per song. The singers then arrange them however they like. What becomes very clear is those that build to somewhere and those that stay pretty flat. After watching a few shows, it's very clear that those that build in energy as the song progresses, typically get the best reviews.

They repeatedly say that it is a singing contest, but what clearly becomes important is the performance. Tonight for example, the show was clearly stolen by Chikezie. While I'm not sure he's the strongest singer, his performance tonight was outstanding. What came across was his joy and love of being on stage. One of the best singers, David Archuleta, was off tonight and even though he has a great voice, he looked uncomfortable and I felt uncomfortable watching him. I keep being surprised and impressed by Brooke White's passion for her songs. She had tears in her eyes after singing "Let it Be" and from what I felt listening to her, it was very appropriate. She shows the importance of being authentic with what you sing. Finally, my favorite, Carly Smithson, combines high energy, passion, with powerful vocals. I'm expecting her to win.

I've also found the judges comments to be very helpful. Randy will always notice if you're out of tune or out of the groove, you can always tell that he's listening intently. Paula is the coach, always providing positive reinforcement and helpful tips. Finally there Simon, the critic. Each contestant wants his praise. When he gives you a thumbs up, you know you nailed it. If you didn't there's no place to hide.

All the contestants in this later round are excellent and I'd love to have any of their voices, as well as their courage to put themselves out there in front of millions. If only I was 20 years younger, had a great singing voice and nerves of steel...

Gig at Gennaro's Dec. 1

Rob Roper invited Julie and I to open for him at Gennaro's (2598 S. Broadway, Denver) on Saturday, December 1. We start at the early time of 10 pm. Should be fun if I can stay awake.

Of course we said yes and now comes the arduous task of choosing our set list. So many songs, so little time.

Eileen Ivers - WOW!!!!

We had two friends call us to say that we need to see this violinist, Eileen Ivers. She was playing at the Denver Irish festival in a local park. It 95 degrees out, so it took that second call to drag us out into the heat. The sun wasn't the only thing on fire, I believe I saw smoke coming from Eileen Ivers fiddle.

I was hooked from the first song to the end of the show. I was first caught by how effortlessly she played the violin. The second thing was her immediate energy and great smile. The third and most importantly was music. Even though we could have fried an egg on the sidewalk, the crowd was moving throughout the show and I never thought about giving up my front row seat to hide in the shade.

In thinking about her performance and music, I walked away with a few observations from the show:

- Even though we came to hear a fiddler, it was the whole package that made the show. The band, called the Immigrant Soul was stacked with talented musicians. The violin, while a lead instrument, was only a component of the whole package. I've often seen the reverse when a lead guitarist takes over the show and the rest of the band is window dressing. I watched the guitarist, Greg Anderson, for most of the show. If I had learned to play rhythm like him, I'd still be playing bluegrass music.

- The music was a marriage of different styles. While based in traditional Irish music, flavors of jazz, R+B, and African music were readily apparent. I even heard some acid rock sneaking its way in. She referred to this as "world music." The bottom-line was these different flavors made a gourmet meal that I savored.

- They mixed instrumentals with songs with lyrics. Their lead singer, Tommy McDonnell, had an interesting blend of Irish and R+B influences (I love this "world music"). To make things even better the audience was asked to join in on the choruses for a few songs.

- The whole show exuded energy. Eileen would bounce around the stage while playing amazing rifts. Irish step dancers came on to the stage. This energy spilled out into the audience and a group of kids moved up front to dance. I even remembered some of my old clogging steps.

At the end of the show they announced that they will be playing with the Denver symphony in February. I hope it's really cold so I can warm up by their music. I won't have to be called twice to see this show!!!!

What's missing with this songwriter?

We listened to a songwriter today who has the credentials, but for some reason we were unimpressed and the crowd didn't react. She has a great voice, great stage presence, and the music sounded good. So what was missing? Julie and I discussed this and came up with the following reasons (all small points but taken together...).

- The connection with the back-up band was missing. She was snapping her finger in time with a beat that we didn't feel. When I see someone visibly keeping time, I want to feel that time.

- All song introductions started with "this is a song I wrote." She was introduced as a songwriter, so why cover it again? After hearing it for the second and third time, it sounded self-serving.

- There seemed to be a mismatch between her presence, performance, and the songs. Between her credentials, dynamic stage personality, strong voice, and powerful delivery, our expectations were raised pretty high. Yet the songs she was singing weren't that dynamic. For example, poor contrast between the verses and chorus. Phrases had the same length and speed of delivery. With high expectations, we were expecting amazing songs.

She obviously was very talented, so I assume that we caught her on an off day. It could have been the new back-up band or just the mood of the room. However, to me this was a great example of things that I need to be aware.

It was also a reminder that I need to look at the expectations that I create in the audience. So far this has worked in my favor, they expect me to suck, so if I do halfway OK, I've exceeded their expectations.

Practice the easy stuff

On Monday, I was playing my latest song for a small group. It went over well, but I did make a few small guitar mistakes. This has happened at my last few shows, strong vocals, mistakes on the guitar. If you ask me what's the strongest part of my music, I'd easily say guitar.

Upon reflection, I realized that I put most of my practice time on the vocals. I worked on how I was breathing, what note to hit where, different phrasings, etc. I recognized challenging areas, practiced the transitions, and figured out how to recover from mistakes. Since the guitar part was relatively easy, I only practiced to support the voice. In essence, I took the guitar parts for granted. It's no wonder that I made mistakes.

My take home lesson is to practice the easy stuff (guitar) with the same intensity as the hard stuff (vocals).

And the award goes to....

I was watching the Academy Awards last night. Amazing thing, I didn’t fall asleep and was actually inspired to write a song. The song that I wrote this morning is titled Bound for Great Things. Check it out in my Songs in Process section.

The main theme of the evening was gratitude and celebration. It may have just been that I’m tuned in after watching the movie the Secret, either way this had to be my chorus.

I built my verses based on some of the nominees and their inspiring stories:

- Forest Witaker talked about watching actors at the drive-in and how it started his dream.

- Jennifer Hudson was trashed by Simon on American Idol (see it on YouTube) only to be nominated for 4 Academy Awards. Actually Simon did her a favor, her performance last night showed how much she had grown since that time.

- Al Gore was acknowledged for his contributions in educating us on global warning. For me it’s rising from defeat to greatness.

- My last verse was that you don’t need to be on the screen to have greatness. “It’s what you do that makes your heart sing.”

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - breaking the mold

Lately I've been thinking a lot about writing a good song vs. being creative. As I learn more about songwriting, there are ways that are proven to work and hundreds of songs have been written that way. There are also the rare few who have broken the mold and created something totally unique.

On Saturday night we saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. I had only heard their music in passing, so all that I was listening to was new. During the first few songs, I was looking unsuccessfully for the common songwriting components. By the second song I gave up and just started to enjoy the music. What I was listening to was unique, music that breaks the mold, yet is totally successful. For example, instead of a clear recognizable melody, there were themes. I wasn't humming any tunes as I walked out, instead, walked out with images. I also couldn't really decide how to classify the music, toward the end I decided it was a funky bluegrassy jazz. It seems the academy also has trouble with the classification, they were nominated for Grammys in contemporary jazz and pop/instrumental. Bela has the record for categories of Grammy nominations.

What I was most impressed with was the musicianship and innovation of the whole band. Each artist had recreated their craft. At times the base became a lead instrument and I could hear vocals coming from the base. The rhythm player, used a drum guitar and played traditional drums one handed, better than most with two hands. Sax, flute, and more was outstanding. And of course, Bela changed my concept of a banjo forever.

In a songwriting class I had taken with Wendy Woo, she had started out with "in songwriting there are no rules, just guidelines." Bela Fleck and the Flecktones proved that point and I'm grateful.

Our gig in hindsight

We survived our show at the Listening Room last night. No tomatoes thrown, no-one left screaming -- actually we received a lot of great feedback, and most importantly we felt great.

In looking back at what worked and didn't work, the following worked really well:

1) Our set list.
- We started (first impression) and ended (lingering taste) on our strongest songs.
- The second song in the set was a joke song that I've been doing for over 20 years. It gave me a chance to relax as well as broke any tension with the audience.
- Of the 11 songs we did, Julie sang three. We interspersed these in the set. It added variety for the crowd and also gave me a much needed break.
- We had a ton of variety in our set and it seemed to keep people interested.

2) Practicing with a PA beforehand had huge benefits. We were both comfortable singing with mikes and hearing ourself through a monitor.

3) We gained energy from the audience. In the past, I lost energy by being nervous in front of the crowd. Last night, the crowd was like a shot of espresso.

4) We had fun and it showed. All the practice beforehand, let us forget about the music and just have fun.

5) Ability to recover from mistakes. On a few songs, I forgot the words and was able to add in an extra line or two of music to recover. Julie added an impromptu solo on one song until my brain came back from the ozone. I messed up the beat on a song, but just kept bluffing it. Most of the crowd didn't notice.

Things that didn't work that well or would do differently,

1) The songs we struggled with, were newer songs. While its exciting to play newer stuff, they don't have the automatic quality, so mistakes will happen on stage.

2) We used the cover songs early on. In the future, I would move one later in the set.

3) At the last minute in our preparation we thought about an encore. While we chose an old standby, we didn't practice it. My timing was way off. Next time, we'll prepare for an encore.

4) Prepare even earlier. I was the sick all week, so we lost the last week of practice. Next time, I'll remember Murphy's law, and plan for something to come up at the last moment.

All and all, we're really excited by how it turned out and can't wait for the next gig.

Getting ready to take the stage

My new column on Muse'sMuse just hit the web. In the article, Let the show begin! Getting ready to take the stage, I describe the steps Julie and I are taking to get ready for our gig next week at Cafe Cero (January 27, 8:00, Denver).

In the column I discuss 8 ways we are preparing including planning the set list to create variety, practicing with a PA, and preparing song introductions.

Check it out. If you have other suggestions or tips, let me know.

Tom Kimmel at Mile Hi

I just returned from listening to Tom Kimmel at Mile Hi Church. He did a 30 minute set and then came back for reprise at the end. It was very interesting going to hear a well known songwriter playing as the opening act at church. Overall I was very impressed his songwriting and clever lyrics.

My first reflection was how he set up his songs. He started fast with a full band behind him. He then played a solo acoustic song, followed by two poems, and then finger picked with the band quietly behind him. This was followed by the sermon. My overall impression was that the choice of his tunes and their order, set a path that lead to the sermon. By chance, I think not.

In the sermon, the minister, Barry talked about how one of Tom's song, Angel, moved him over five years ago. He was dealing with the death of a friend's child, when he heard Tom sing the song Angel at Swallow Hill. . He felt that Tom was singing directly to him and it was exactly what he needed to hear. Five years later, Barry was still choked up about that song. It was a great example of the power of a song, and the greatest compliment to a songwriter, to be able to comfort and move people. I hope one of my songs has that impact.

A final thought - Tom played the song Angel as his lead-in with the band. He also sang it solo acoustic as the reprise to the sermon. The solo acoustic version blew me away. Partially because of the sermon, but more for the ability to understand what he was saying. My take away point was that I was better able to appreciate his songwriting prowess on the acoustic version. Too much going on with a band to appreciate the lyrics.

The Listening Room

Julie and I will be playing the Listening Room at Cafe Cero, 1446 S. Broadway, Denver on January 27 at 8:00. We're not quite sure who we are opening for yet, but we've have time for an hour set.

To get ready is going to require a lot of work. I've got two songs that I need to finish and one or two covers that still need work. However, I work best under a deadline.

Six key songwriting tips

Happy New Year! In keeping with the New Year tradition, I reviewed my blog for 2006 and posted a summary on my website, "Top songwriting tips from 2006."

My favorite six tips are given below:

1. Keep your songs short (3-4 minutes). Most songs you hear at an open stage are too long!

2. Focus on the groove (the pulse of the song). This separates musicians. If my foot is not moving in time, then the groove is missing.

3. Make sure there’s variety. Variety is the spice of life. If the same sound happens for too long, I’m asleep.

4. Make your songs memorable (melodic or lyrical hook). Success is when a line from a song gets stuck in your head.

5. Have daily songwriting practices. Daily practices are essential into getting into the flow of the muse.

6. Always be a student. The more you know, the easier it is to express yourself. Write a song with each new tip you learn. If you’re not learning, you will be writing the same song over and over.

Check out my other tips.

The listening room - great for songwriters

On Saturday night we went to "The Listening Room" at Cafe Cero in Denver. The listening room is a concept hatched by Rop Roper to have place where you can listen to the lyrics and have a drink. Unlike a rowdy bar, the concept is to really relax and listen.

This month's show was excellent with three local songwriters Jenn Cleary, Marty Jones and the man, Rob Roper himself. Each of the performers had distinctive styles, and that alone added a lot of variety to the evening.

Jenn has an exceptional voice and great stage presence. In many of her songs, she repeated a single word over and over. Because she was able to change things up with her voice, it continue to sound good, not overly repetitive. It made the songs memorable. The point for songwriters, is use the repetition technique if you can change it up with your voice or melody.

I was very impressed with Marty Jones's songwriting. He's an excellent lyricist and had exceptional hooks like "next time you see me, I'll be dead," "I got over you, when you got under him." and "now we barely pass for a couple." You could really see his personality in the songs and his witty way of looking at life. I'm going to study Marty's lyrics, there's a good lesson there.

Rob played last and because of know him, I knew his songs. Rob had the most interesting guitar of the evening. Also, in the selection of his own songs and covers, you could really see his philosophy. A dry wit and social commentary.

A few points of the evening:

1) All performers performed a few covers. A few comments I noticed about covers:
- The crowd was much more likely to sing along.
- I relaxed more, because I didn't have to concentrate on the lyrics. It was more like and old friend coming into the room.
- When performing covers, nail them! There's more expectations with covers.
- Select cover that fit you're personality or what you're trying to say. Rob did "A Two Paper Town," from Steve Seskin. It was a song that I could see Rob writing.

2) Jenn and Marty used basically three or four chords in almost all their songs, yet I was not bored. It's more about the songs and performance that how difficult a guitar you play.

3) Keep it simple on stage, even if you're setting up the stage. For a few songs, Rob switched over to the piano and had a guitarist join him. They struggled with mixing the instruments, so it hurt the performance of that song. It also took him a while to regain his momentum, after the change over.

One song - multiple versions

Another idea that emerged at our songwriting group - preparing different versions of a song for different purposes, i.e. on stage solo, on stage with accompaniment, and for CD. There are a few artists that I hear play live and then don't like their CDs. Others I only love their CD’s.

A few ideas on this are:

Song length – The songs should be shortest when playing solo. If you think in terms of variety, one person can only do so much. Adding another person gives more options for variety (i.e. a lead break, harmony, or just more movement).

Space between lyrics and chord changes – The gaps between lyrics or chord changes should be the shortest when playing solo. I’m not saying to play faster. What I’m saying is don’t hang out on one chord too long. A lead guitarist could fill that gap, but if nothing other than one chord is happening, you might lose your audience. The concept is to always have some movement.

Hearing once or multiple times - For an audience, you have one shot to make your point. On CD, you hope they listen multiple times.

Level of difficulty - In a studio, you have an opportunity to make mistakes. On stage, you may want an easier version.

Acoustic Eidolon - variety is the key

We had the pleasure of seeing Acoustic Eidolon in concert over the weekend. This husband and wife team played mainly instrumental music, with Joe on the guitar and Hannah the Cello. Both are incredibly talented and they have excellent rapport between them in both music and on stage. Their performance was very entertaining and at the end I still wanted more (that doesn't happen often).

In thinking about why their show was so successful, I can first point to their variety. The ways they introduced variety were:
- Mixing musical styles - Changed musical styles with each song. For example, a blues song, was followed by a classical number, then followed by an Irish reel.
- Use of special guests - They were joined on a few songs by a harp and fiddle player. I didn't keep track, but I believe they came on and left the stage three different times (in other words added a lot but didn't overstay their welcome)
- Use of different guitars - A traditional six string, a classical guitar, and two special two-neck guitars that Joe designed himself. These last two alone kept myself and a friend (who's also a guitarist) captivated trying to figure out how he played them. Hannah only used one cello, but played so many different styles that it was always interesting. I could listen to a cello all day!

They also had a great stage presence. A few things I noticed:
- Great rapport between the two of them and always upbeat.
- Kept their song introductions short and interesting. I learned something in each intro either about them or their music.
- Both had something to say in each intro.
- Gave their guests a chance to introduce their songs. They also kept their introductions short.
- Minimal movement on stage. While I'd typically say this was not a good thing, in their case it kept the focus on the instruments and they're mastering of them. If they were dancing around it would be distracting.

In keeping my attention on the groove there were numerous times that I couldn't help but tap my foot. Joe did use the same groove on a number of songs, but I only noticed, because I was keying into it.