Hell no We are an incompetent duo with fiddler singer, which makes us a trio, but obviously the sound has to come from guitar/mando and no bass, no banjo. It's a terrible job sometimes getting it to sound full and figuring out where the tune needs to be so we can sing it, get bass notes and a groove, but I love it, although have to say I have never played in a string band with bass and so on. I think it means you have to be endlessly inventive with rhythm and in developing a full sound: no simple chopping for very long, and no preconceptions of sound. In fact we are not exactly playing country music, or bluegrass, or country blues, or anything really, although some of it sounds like that... I love the fact that we could basically be on the train and stand up and play with a cup to hand around if necessary. I also love the heartache involved in analysing why the practice was terrible and the brilliant feeling, as an hour ago, of coming out of a practice knowing that you are not only groovy, but that the song you have written suddenly exists outside of your head and sounds catchy. Also, frankly with the three of us we have enough arguments to keep all the personnel of a good sized funk band amused: if we were 4 or 5, things might get nasty
On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:26 PM, Holstein <[email protected]>wrote: > Howdy Campers, > > Of late, we (that beings Bo'Weavil and myself) seem to be making good > headway and enjoying playing and arranging as a mandolin / guitar duo > with all the harmony bells and whistles. > > The very interesting thing, is that people are suggesting that we seem > to be limiting ourselves by not being a band..."When are you going to > introduce a bass, banjo, fiddle" etc etc. If we want to perform at > some of the festivals and so on, we should have a 'full band', as we > are not able to represent with just two of us. The positive feedback > about our actual performances is a bit overwhelming, so it's a bit > confusing. Maybe we just really suck eggs. > > I like the duo format in this particular case. We seem to make plenty > of sound together and have lots of fun. There's nobody to hide behind > and we can't blame anyone for any derailment except ourselves. Nothing > like the feeling of being out front...stand and deliver. It's exciting > having to come up with stuff that doesn't sound skinny, and it's a > challenge to work things between two of us. Initially we did have a > nice fiddle player start rehearsing, but she didn't appear to have the > same energy or adventurous spirit. We all had to play breaks and sing. > Therein was her problem, she was too reserved. So she politely just > stopped coming and so we had to re-work all pieces and harmonies etc. > A bit of a distraction really, but now we're flying again. Perhaps > she'll return later, but for now it's all good. > > I first saw MC perform on stage as a solo act in Brisbane exactly two > years ago. I sat there and thought to myself...this guy isn't going to > perform all on his own is he? How is this going to work, I wonder when > someone else/the others will join him on stage. And then he played! > Needless to say, I was spellbound for the entire deal. Afterwards I > was speechless and I didn't have a buck on me to buy his cd so I was > too embarrassed to go up and say hello. > > I believe certain establishments in TN will not book duos. > > Anyhow, I wondered to myself, what is a band, and what do my friends > out there think of this 'rule'? Should we compromise....heck no. We're > having too much fun. I love playing in any format, but we shouldn't be > held back just because the number is two. Should we? > > Holstein > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Taterbugmando" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en.
