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Hi all......been a while since I’ve checked in here. Here’s a clip from my first solo gig, last night at a nearby tavern. It’s pretty rough - vocally, I’m missing way more notes than I’m hitting, and the tempo’s a little rushed, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind....

As for what I’ve been up to music-wise: after doing a couple of open mics last fall, a friend of mine and I put together an acoustic trio (two guitars and a singer), and we’ve been doing gigs for about six months. Due to a scheduling issue, we found that we either had to cancel last night’s gig, or I needed to do it solo - so solo it was. It ended up being a blast!

Thanks for looking....

Jeff



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Gosh.....Jeff! Now thát made me smile! :cheer:

Thanks so much for the video and the update on what you're doing musically these days. Sounds great, playing with others, doing gigs, how courageous of you to take this one on your own, loved to watch it!!

Ness

Looks like you had a lot of fun, Jeff. It takes courage and concentration to solo in front of a noisy audience, and you did really well.

Good for you Jeff. You're a way braver soul than I am. Smooth playing (with such a noisy crowd). Looks like you're playing a Taylor?

Fascinating video, Jeff.

A bar is noisy for sure, but it must be quite something when people spontaneously join in a chorus you're singing.

Playing "American Pie" is a workout in itself, you must have pretty good stamina to do a whole set.

And you even got a visit from Elvis himself at the end of the tune ! So good to see that he's been taking care of himself :silly:

Thanks for the peek ... fun ! Takes some guts to do this, will you eventually post something with your trio ?

Pierre

Cool! I would drink to that! That's a lot of lyrics to remember. Great job. It looks likes everyone was having a good time. The last few times I went out, the 'entertainment' was a 'DJ'. This is a lame trend in my opinion. I would so much rather see an actual musician than a record player player that thinks he is a musician. I feel a rant coming on so I'll leave it there. Anyway, I really liked the video, thanks for posting.
John

Ness - thanks so much for the comments. And belated congratulations on your addition to the TG Team!

Dennis - thanks for the feedback. Once I got things dialed in so I could hear myself, the noise wasn’t really a problem. In some ways, playing at an open mic in front of fewer people is actually more nerve-wracking to me - since more of them are likely to be actually listening, and while generally supportive, you know they’re paying attention and hearing every mistake and flaw..

Daryl - thank you! Yes, that’s a Taylor - a 514ce that I’ve had for about a year, and I absolutely LOVE...

Pierre - thanks, haha, Elvis was definitely in the building! Actually, there was a big outdoor disco party nearby that was rained out, and a bunch of them showed up at the gig. “Elvis” later asked if I knew “Lucille”, and then volunteered to sing it; turns out he only knew the chorus, but it was fun nonetheless.




And you’re right, “American Pie” is a workout - I’m glad I did it right before a break, because I was pretty much out of breath afterward. I do hope to get a video of the trio to post at some point - there are some audio clips on our Facebook page (Mile Marker 1 Toledo) recorded at one of our practices...

John - thanks for the comments! Fortunately, in my area (Toledo, Ohio) most places are still offering live music.....but I agree 100%, if I wanted to listen to recorded music, I could just stay home. I hope the economics for venue owners continue to favor live music over DJ’s.

Jeff

Jeff, wow! so glad to see you turn up here in TG-land once again.

I was just thinking the other day how I missed you and your posts around these parts! Your stuff was/is always killer. And I have always appreciated :unsure: your musical taste as well.
Not surprisingly this was a very good performance as always. I would think the loud and intoxicated folks(whether jolly or belligerent)...that get as up close/personal as that fella did would be a mite distracting...when trying to perform. Lol!

Congrats, on your Trio!!!
Can't wait to see/hear more on your musical adventures with them.
Playing' any Wilco/Sun Volt/Uncle Tupelo these days?

Cori

Cori - thanks so much for the kind words! Funny you should ask - yes, I'm still into those bands in a big way (again, thanks to you for turning me on to them). I was fortunate enough to see Son Volt live in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago, and they were incredible! I actually did three of their songs the other night - Windfall, Highways and Cigarettes, and Methamphetamine - but I haven't yet been able to talk my trio-mates into adding any of that stuff.

Other than worrying about the mic stand getting knocked over, the audience wasn't really that distracting - it was just really exhilarating having the whole place join in!

Jeff

Jeff,
Thanks for sharing your video. Congratulations on your first solo gig! I can't even imagine how scared to death I would be! Sounded like you did a great job. It must be extremely rewarding to have a room full of people smiling and singing along with you. What other songs did you play that night?

Craig