Solo at Freewheel

Freewheel Brewing is a great local bar with friendly staff, surprisingly good food, and great beer. I get to play there solo the first Wednesday of every month. 

I found the picture on the web. It's not from last night. It gives a good feel for the space. It fills up on the weekends, and there were probably 1/3 that many people out last night.

I had fun playing. It was the first time in a while that I've played a show without lyrics and music. That made it feel a little more naked. I'm pretty sure I couldn't speak the lyrics to all the songs, but I've played them enough that something knew what to do. It was a little out-of-body: hearing my voice come up with things that I didn't expect to remember.

I was stressed when I started, but it helped too. It was easier to look around and try to connect with people. It felt like I could hear the mix, and my voice in the mix better, and it was a little easier to get quiet and feel the room get quiet with me.

This gig, like most of my solo gigs, is closer to background music. Sometimes a third of the audience claps at the end of a song. Sometimes no one does, and sometimes it's just the one or two people who are listening.

And as background music, the temptation is to play louder, so that people can hear me. Usually that just leads to more shouting, more crowd noise, and no one hearing anything. It works better the other way. If I get quieter, the crowd will sometimes follow my level down, and everyone starts to hear a little more. It's backward from what I'd expect, and it feels good.

If they don't follow me down, then I know it's a night to enjoy the beer. My brother made beer, and would have liked the beer last night.

In terms of firsts, it was also the first time I played Jack and Diane by John (Cougar) Mellencamp. And it was probably the last. That song is too depressing, and it's a little high for me. Oh yeah, life goes on...

I played 5 originals in the two hours, so a quarter of the songs were mine. Just getting started is getting better. I moved around the melody in the verse, and added an ending thing, and some space with a little more break before the bridge. Time for me to go is a little depressing, goodbyes can be, but the words are coming together. It still feels a little scattered, but it's also starting to feel like a story. Tip of my tongue is an odd one to play solo acoustic, but it kind of worked. I shifted the second part to make it quiet, and people seemed to follow me down. I also shortened the second part. The two more recent ones both worked well: pacific rain, and all the good times. A lot of my covers are obscure enough, that I'm guessing most people don't know which songs are mine. Maybe that's another step.

I didn't do as much soloing over chords as I usually do. Sometimes I feel like that's indulgent. Of the people listening, most hear the lyrics, and feel the rest. For that part of the audience, getting into a solo playing over looping chord changes is kind of like me turning around and not talking at a party. Last night there were a few musicians, or maybe a few who were listening carefully. For them, the solo stuff might be the most interesting part. I should think about that mix when I make the setlists. Something like twice a set feels about right for the audiences there.

Lots of nice comments from strangers and friends there last night, and nice tips. That all feels good too.