I am trying this old classic out before playing it at a gig this weekend. It’s my re-working of a great JJM arrangement. I couldn’t find a decent backing track for the song? A lot of the guitar versions such as Big Bill Broonzy’s are too interesting in their own right to have harp played over the top.
I was also wondering about whether or not to play along to backing tracks anyway at the gig or just wing it on harp only (trouble is, no safety net there or timing help). It’s not a blues crowd as such so I’m going to play a mixed set with some blues, rock and pop (a couple with vocals) and hope for the best!
Hi Grey Owl. Let us know how your solo gig goes. I've never attempted one, but am very interested in considering it. My initial thought is that you should not use backing tracks, but maybe you should on some tunes to add variety? Depends on length of gig, who is listening, and what distractions they might be occupied with.
I hope you're up for a bit of feedback on this tune. It sounded to me like you were "playing through" the tune rather than playing the song, if you get me. It felt rushed, without a strong groove. Maybe you need to get a really strong foot stomp going to establish the pulse, then you can start to swing against that. Your playing is excellent as always. ----------
Thanks for the feedback Mr so&so. I have decided to play with a backing track with only a few songs as you have suggested.
I have had some feedback referring to a strong groove but I tend take your point with this.
I did play it faster than usual (because the held phrases can feel really long played slow)and was concentrating like heck (eyes firmy shut all the way through)and trying to maintain a groove!
Maybe a playback track could have helped me with the groove on this song. My foot stomp is a weakness and I tend not to use it much especially when the groove swings a bit. Cheers again.
Thanks Danny, I think rack playing this is a bit beyond me at the moment because of the swing feel but I would like to try it sometime. I would like to play this at the gig because I've put a lot of work into it but I understand what your saying. I'm going to slow it down a bit to give myself room for more expression and woodshed it a bit more.
I still think that this song would benefit from a backing track though. I have already placed my own fills on some of the intervals that would normally be covered by the music. So we'll see how it goes. Thanks again.
Last Edited by Grey Owl on Oct 09, 2015 1:18 AM
A little pre-gig encouragement here.... I agree with Danny that you should give the rack playing a go, even if only for one song. You got a lot of skills Gray Owl, so give them an airing. Oh, and do sing. Sounds like an exciting gig. ----------
Hey thanks mr_so&so, I really appreciate that and I will try and play a little bit of rack next time.
Well the gig went ok and it turns out I didn't need my gear as there was a PA set up which was handy. My solo pieces with harp and vocals went well and the backing track on 2 or 3 numbers were good but it was a bit fiddly and unprofessional trying to cue them up from my phone into the pa. I think I'll put them on CD next time so I have more control.
St Louis Blues went well but I had a car crash on my solo version of Pharrell Williams 'Happy' which I screwed up half way through and there was no safety net of a backing track to bale me out, just a dead stop on a tricky section. I was 'UnHappy' especially as I know the song well and could have played the backing track with it and caught up again after the cock up.
It's all a learning curve and I won't leave myself exposed next time on tricky pieces.
Anyway overall it was well received and even a couple of excellent musicians (accoustic Guitar and bass)who played and sang some great original funk songs were impressed, which was nice and one of them and another couple of guys said it's motivated them to learn to play harmonica....Great!! :)
