Re: It's all in the message ...
Yes! Not a set, but a stretch in the set that is all about money (or the lack of it) and work. This is for my power duo The Steves (the bass player is also named Steve; the name was a natural), which plays all original blues and rock. When putting together the set list, adjusting for variations in tempo, key, theme, and humor level, I noticed that I had put a few in a row that dealt with these themes. I've always been fond of thematic continuity when coordinating set lists - they don't have to be all on a theme, but I like it when A leads to B, something else about B leads to C, and so on. This set is essentially about two hours' worth of music repeated once to fill a four-hour shift, taking into account factors like audience turnover and audience unfamiliarity with the material, there was no need to come up with a full set list.
Since these are not well-known songs, I'm going to go into a bit more detail than would be needed if these were in the common lexicon. Sorry in advance for the TMI. The set starts with some songs that serve as statements of purpose (or would, if people were to stay and listen all the way through from the start) and show a range:
1) ''Well, Whatever,'' a blues shuffle that, along with the memorable catch phrase, features probably my most impressive lead (there's a point where it drops three octaves in three bars, with style and flair), so it gets things rolling with a bang; the set shifts 2) ''Soft-Spoken Man,'' a rocked-out blues with a rocked-out twist, whose lyrics serve as a personal introduction, of sorts;
3) ''Car Trouble,'' a slow blues everyone should be able to relate to, dealing with this all-encompassing subject with with some humor and surreal imagery thrown in. The last verse is set in the workplace, which led me to
4) ''Job Hunt Blues'' (medium tempo blues);
5) ''Money Blues'' (one-chord blues stomp, very Zep-like);
6) ''Coffee And Willpower'' (jug band style blues, about - well, here's the second verse: ''It takes coffee and willpower to get me through my day at work (2x) / On Stage I'm like a hero but my boss treats me like a jerk''). A bit of humor in G after four songs in E, the last two of which are deadly serious.
At this point, I realized I had started strong and gotten darker and darker. ''Coffee And Willpower'' was a step towards the light, but not enough. So I put in ''Strollin','' a happy-go-lucky Western swing style number that really broke it up. It's a good thing to take the audience on a little journey, but now and then you need to change things. People will get fidgety, maybe or maybe not knowing why, and will welcome a different mood. The trick is knowing when to shift gears and doing it before they lose interest. There's no set formula (pun intended), and you may have to vary things in response to audience response, but by being attentive you should be able to arrive at a good working order.
(Thematic continuity is something I pay attention to when grouping my songs for albums as well. Those three songs (4-6) belong on my album ''Workaday World'' (as yet unreleased)).
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
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