Column: When Great Musicianship Isn't Enough

[Ted Lehmann]

My column this week in No Depression examines the issue of band's finding ways to make themselves distinctive and to increase high entertainment material to their often fine musical performance. I use examples from Del McCoury, The Lewis Family, Dry Branch Fire Squad, The Gibson Brothers, and Hot Rize for examples. I look forward to reading your reactions and to participating in whatever discussion develops. - Ted

http://nodepression.com/article/when...ip-isnt-enough

[Mando Mort]

Ted,
Point well made. Sometimes overlooked.

I look forward to your columns!

[Timbofood]

Interesting viewpoint Ted, there is also the other side of the coin which was often fulfilled by bands like “The Country Gentlemen” who amassed top talent and realized that when the talent had seen the “hard side” of road musicianship, they might want to take flight on their own. Show is an important part of a gig or bands persona to be sure but, when the show causes the musicianship to slip, its time to stop and take stock of the plus and minus side of “shtick”.
One band that has been a great “teach the guys what this is” band for me has been “Special Consensus”. Greg Cahill has had some of the finest musicians in his bands over the years that I have ever seen. Some have decided that the road does not call like they had hoped (listen to Justin Carbone’s song “Everything’s Alright”) and family has the reward they need more than the constant road work.
Look at how many musicians go through many bands when they are not family, how many worked for Lester, Bill, Don Reno, Ralph, ad nauseum?
Like I said, your viewpoint is interesting but, it leaves much more room for further exploration of “Teaching Bands” too. Maybe your next article? You can send me the vast sums from those royalties!

[Ivan Kelsall]

If we think back,it was the visual impression the Bill Monroe was attentive to with him having his band dressed in suits ( apart from Bessie Lee of course !). He wanted to get away from the 'Hayseed' persona of many of the bands that had preceeded him. Doing something as simple as that was enough to set him apart.

With Hot Rize & ''Red Knuckles'' - i got the impression that in order to really separate their 2 brands of music,that they decided that a ''visual difference'' would help - it worked for me when i saw them over here years ago.

I do like to see bands in a 'uniform' mode of attire,whether it's jeans & Tee-shirts or 'whatever' - at least they look like a group,rather than a bunch of 'separates'. These days,with so many variations on what style of music that can be played using a Bluegrass instrument line up,it's far easier to be visually different than musically different. At least,we don't have Bluegrass musicians on stage smashing up their instruments & equipment in order to gain musical notoriety (yet ?),
Ivan

[Ted Lehmann]

Greg Cahill has had some of the finest musicians in his bands over the years that I have ever seen. Some have decided that the road does not call like they had hoped (listen to Justin Carbone’s song “Everything’s Alright”) and family has the reward they need more than the constant road work.
Look at how many musicians go through many bands when they are not family, how many worked for Lester, Bill, Don Reno, Ralph, ad nauseum?
Like I said, your viewpoint is interesting but, it leaves much more room for further exploration of “Teaching Bands” too. Maybe your next article? You can send me the vast sums from those royalties![/QUOTE]

Excellent thoughts, and food for thought, too. It would work as a column, along with some further work on what you describe as "teaching" bands. There are also, for want of a better word, "feeder" bands who regularly loose rising musicians to the top touring bands. Furthermore, there is the "Doyle Lawson School," where musicianship and showmanship are taught. The number of fine musicians coming through Doyle's school of bluegrass is huge. Go another step, and look at performers whose start was in bluegrass and gospel music who have moved to country, pop, and Americana, bringing with them the skills that bluegrass teaches so well.

[Ted Lehmann]

If we think back,it was the visual impression the Bill Monroe was attentive to with him having his band dressed in suits ( apart from Bessie Lee of course !). He wanted to get away from the 'Hayseed' persona of many of the bands that had preceeded him. Doing something as simple as that was enough to set him apart.,
Ivan

Lots to unpack here, but let me give you my "take" on Monroe's choice of dress. I've always thought that his wearing jodphurs and the kinds of hats he wore hearkened back to the plantation overseer more than to the upwardly mobile gentleman. I'm not certain that that was conscious or intended, but, for me, has always been my dominant impression. Maybe it's the effect of Kentucky horsemanship, though.

[bobby bill]

You can have your fashion show. Great musicianship is ALWAYS enough for me.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Ted -In his early years,i'd agree with what you say. Later on,i think that the 'suit' idea for the whole band ,was to lift them out of the 'hayseed' groove. 'Whatever' - it was a concious effort to 'look different'. Lester & Earl went another way - they wore suits,the other band members wore shirts & ties. As time wore on, & the mode of dress of the general population changed,so did the attire of the bands. I think that for their era,''The Johnson Mt Boys'' in their suits / jackets ,were the exception rather than the norm for a Bluegrass band,
Ivan

[Ted Lehmann]

Thanks, again, for your always helpful input. I remember some years ago having a conversation with Andrea Roberts, booking agent for several bands and wife of mandolinist Danny Roberts, about how much time The Grascals had spent before announcing their formation in deciding how to dress. Their clean, casual look was an artistic decision. Similarly, many of today's younger bands dress in jeans with holes in them, while more than a few artists keep their shirts hanging out to either protect their instruments from belt buckles or hide what those very same buckles seek to restrain. I suspect that concern about the way musicians dress and their deportment on stage is generational in nature, but don't have more than observational data. Meanwhile, I find that musicians not being featured in a solo who are chatting at the back of the stage or ever so much more distracting than what they wear. I always appreciate your input.

[Teak]

Interesting article, Ted. I read it.

FWIW, having heard both Hot Rize and Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers, I would choose the western swing portion of their show if faced with having to make a choice. Bluegrass has always seemed like a hidebound music form; I know that some bands have taken it further (e.g., Newgrass Revival) but the themes of standard bluegrass tunes are so depressing. I much prefer the sunnier, happier themes covered by swing and Western swing. I want my music to make me happy, not remind me of the crud in life.

So, having said that, I suggest that Hot Rize have been probably the most entertaining bluegrass group over my lifetime given their alter ego stage show. I also liked Newgrass Revival, but I suspect the BG police wouldn't consider them bluegrass no way no how.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Ted Lehman - " ..I find that musicians not being featured in a solo who are chatting at the back of the stage .." . IMHO,that's sheer bad manners. We have (had ?) a band over here in the UK made up of 4 very fine Bluegrass musicians, who decided to go the 'Bela Fleck' way & play some off the wall stuff. I saw them on stage on several ocassions,& without exception,at some point during a song / tune,2 of them would engage in a conversation - why !.
I also find musicians who turn their back to the audience for no real reason,pretty rude as well.

In over 50 years of playing & watching Bluegrass played by dozens of bands from the UK / USA / Japan / Russia - in all honesty,what they wore was the least of my concerns - it was all about the music & the way they played it. That's the reason that Newgrass Revival went down so well with me - they were all about their music & very professional in what they did = good enough for me !,
Ivan

[Willie Poole]

Speaking as an old man I was brought up when country and bluegrass bands had a comedian in the group, sort of "hayseed" like Ivan said but when I do a show I always add some good clean humor between songs, it also takes away the boredom when the banjo and guitar plyers are changing their capos to go to the next key that we will be playing in...We just did a show last weekend and I just seemed to have the jokes rolling and when we were finished a lot of the audience said they loved the humor and that they don`t see or hear enough of it in the newish bands...A good example is The Cleverlys...a crazy bunch of guys but they do go a little overboard at times...BTW.. We all wear the same colored shirts and black pants when we do a show, at least it gives the impression that we are taking our music seriously...

Keep up the good work Ted

Willie

[Ivan Kelsall]

Most of the US Bluegrass bands that i've seen over here over the years have cracked a few jokes - very often at themselves. I've often thought that the way bands conduct themselves on stage is one of the most important things that they need to get right. If you can manage to keep the audience involved - even if somebody breaks a string,have a laugh at it. Simply standing there looking dumb won't cut it.

I've mentioned this on here before. Years back,my band was resident at a very grand Hotel in a very wealthy area of Cheshire,my home county. Mike,our guitarist / singer decided on a new strategy to get the audiences attention. He decided to pick out a pretty girl in the audience for any one song,& sing directly to her. He was in the process of doing this when the pretty girly gave him the finger !!. He just errupted with laughter,so did the rest of us & the audience joined in - possibly the funniest 10 minutes in my involvement in music,
Ivan

[Timbofood]

Years ago, I used to “front”my band, bad jokes, making passes at pretty girls, poking fun, having a good time was what I did. We all had fun, crowd had fun, once in a while the passes hit pay dirt! I put that down to the exuberance of youth.
Then, I had to leave for a while, the Banjo player and Guitar player stepped up, the banter has been hit or miss since. I don’t know why, I just done care about being the front man, age takes interesting tolls doesn’t it? There were nights when the jokes just all flowed, the music rolled, and every one had a wonderful time!

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Timothy - " There were nights when the jokes just all flowed, the music rolled, and every one had a wonderful time !."

''Been there - done that'' - unfortunately all too long ago now,but it was the best time of my life while it lasted !!. To play the music that you love,for folk who are buzzing with enjoyment,has to be
the best thing ever. I can understand why so many bands keep on rolling into their 'later years' - who'd really want to give that up ?,
Ivan

[grassrootphilosopher]

Thank´s for your thoughts Ted.

Indeed, there´s much more than musicianship that makes or breaks a band (or solo musician).

I found it interesting, that the thoughts expressed in this thread are expressed from merely a (bluegrass) musicians point of view. I find that one must take a much broader point of view. I think that this - kind of narrow - focus causes situations that then cause people to stop performing.

The views reflected in the column and this thread point out that a stage musician has to put on a show/stage presentation as an addition to the music in order to be successful. I find that this is only one possible aspect. Look at classical musicians. They do not talk, joke etc. on stage. Sometimes they just go on stage, perform their music and leave the stage. Are they (think Kronos Quartet) less successful? Definetly no! So my idea is that in order to have success you have to assess your audience first. For whom will you play (children, bar hoppers, festival attendees, a theatre audience ...)? What does the audience expect (background music, the very best of the best, critically relevant music...)? What is the venue (bar, theatre, festival stage...)?

I do think that there is an intersecting set of behaviourisms and music that works in most cases. I do think though that some behaviourisms are counterproductive. Could you see The Dry Branch Fire Squad and Ron Thomason put on a successful show in a bar? I don´t. I do think that a bar audience is much too unfocused to listen to all the Ron Thomason stories. Could you see the Lewis Family (transplanted in today´s time) doing a succesful theatre show. I don´t, because I think that the "uppity" cityfied audience of today is adverse to the "down home humor".

I do think that you also need a large quantity of other qualities. I think that managing skills are absolutely necessary. I do think that bookkeeping skills are mandatory. Communication skills, new media skills, skills in monitoring consumer behaviour, skills in bussiness administration, marketing skills are all required. Touring as a musician involves less than 10 % of playing music and 90 % of the aforementioned activities.

I see that musicians are more successful that are able to juggle all the above combined with accessible music.

I found that many musicians think (like most of us) that great musicianship is allways enough. But it ain´t. I think that many musicians hang it up because they are unable to put up with the stress of running a "musical company". I do know that when I play (hardly as much as I used to) that I think of playing music as running a bussines. That keeps me focused on the necessary unmusical aspects. It also does not take away from the fun when it finally comes to playing music. What I found this approach does for others is that it hangs the bar high. Many musicians are not willing to run this tight a ship.

At last... think of accessible music. I do like that people like the Punch Bros. open up new audiences. And their music is made for just these audiences. Hard core purists disapprove of their music. I know that I choose music for the occasion and the certain audience. There is music that I like to play that I mostly play for myself because I do not think of it as accessible enough to please an audience.

[farmerjones]

One thing to consider, when you're looking at Hot Rize, you're looking at one of the most professional bands (definitely including R&R, and other genre). I have a book from Pete Wernick entitled How to Make a Band Work. It's out of publishing now, and comes from the days prior to computers. But what struck me from that book, is how the band literally considered EVERYTHING. From table tents to stage mapping. And then to make it look so casual and unplanned, when every little thing was thought about.
That's sort of the problem with not being able to make it as a full-time band. Theoretically, one has about 35 hour a week to consider everything else but the actual gig. Just think how "honed" every band would be if this were the case. But in reality there's only a few bands that come to mind that are even close to being as honed as Hot Rize.

[farmerjones]

Think 2
I think about Taylor Swift and or Shania Twain. Then I think about Musicianship? What Musicianship?
But everybody that gigs wants to connect to the audience.
Most everybody I know is a DIY band situation. Far from a "five truck" band.
But again, the goal is to connect. All the trucks, lipstick, and/or hot pickin' in the world can't do that.
You gotta relate.

[Timbofood]

The thing about working bands is (from my limited perspective) that,
A-The only thing the audience sees it the end product of,
B-Countless hours of everything that farmerjones and Olaf laid out.
Professional musicians (working ones) might work 200 shows a year, which represents months of preparation for a two hour show those nights, the stagecraft, the hours riding phones booking, the days on the road, time away from friends and family.
It is not the fun and games of a weekend saloon band which has its own set of miseries/joys.
At 20, I enjoyed the joys of it, at 60, not so much. In the early days of my band we worked two to six nights a week, I had a day job, we stayed up after the gig and went over everything that went well and what didn’t, it was not something we did every night but, often. We also rehearsed one or two nights so the time invested for a “kid” band was intense, we thrived on it! Now, it would probably just about kill me!
A real working band works very very hard to present the polished, well crafted show we have come to hope for. When it’s a single or a duo, the workload is less but, the effort is still there. A band of four has to make myriad adjustments with every facet of the gig, personal issues, health issues, family, weather, all that comes into play.
I tip my hat to all of the working musicians of all genres, it is not an easy life and, I respect every minute that they all devote to their craft!

[jaycat]

Well put Tim. I play about one gig a year, sitting in, that's enough for me!

[Timbofood]

We do a few private parties and an occasional bar gig, the private parties are more “organic juke box” gigs, we rarely even haul a PA anymore, it’s just easier for people to not feel like they are being blasted, those that want to listen come closer, those that don’t, can back up and do something by themselves. It works well for us and makes set up and tear down pretty fast!

[CarlM]

Saw Hot Rize a couple of years ago up by Madison. At least two of the women in our group believed Red Knuckles was a separate band and wondered what they were doing to kill time in the band bus. One figured it out eventually and another (who shall remain nameless to prevent me being divorced or strangled in my sleep) had to have it explained to her.

Some of the best showmen are also the best musicians. At a festival I saw Bobby Osborne getting requests for more Monroe stories between songs. Grisman spends time introducing and setting up the songs, relating to the audience. Bela Fleck when playing with Abigail came across as very warm and funny, telling stories between songs.

One of the more fun duos I have seen is Frank Vignola with Vinnie Raniolo. They take second place to no one with their musical skills as top level jazz musicians, but would play gags like abruptly stop playing to put their arms around each others shoulders to pose and mug for an audience member taking photos then pick back up where they left off at full speed or instantly stop playing when an audience member was ushered in during the third song to point at her and tell her she was late, then to restart at full speed in the middle of the first song and repeat everything for her so she would not miss it.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Grassrootsphilosopher - "..I think that the "uppity" cityfied audience of today is adverse to the "down home humor ''.

What passes for ''humour'' changes constantly. Most of the so called 'alternative comedians' that we have in the UK,are about as humourous as an autopsy !.

I'm on the same page as CarlM when it comes down to how the musicians relate to their audience. Keeping the audience involved is very important however you do it,after all, that's who you're playing for & being paid by !,
Ivan

[Timbofood]

I saw Dwight Yokum on his “Almost Alone” tour, he used a stand and book, tall stool, and a side man, great guitar player, (rubbish banjo) a D-28 and a mic.
Bare bones, he was cordial, yet distant. He interacted with the audience with style, he did the “Stop” for the unruly fan and came right back in same speed and same half of the word interrupted! It was a really good show, I wish my band had been able to either open or back him up! That would have been amazing!
Another fabulous show is “Junior Brown” that band hit the stage running, twenty minutes with not snappy banter just, raw hillbilly power band! They then stopped introduced the band, and got right back on the horse for another twenty minutes, took a ten minute break, back in and did it all over again! That was a hot show!
BB King was another seriously professional show every time whether I was in the last row (the first show, got tickets late) or the seventh, he played to ME! That takes years and years of learning stagecraft, there is no other way to put it, time is the best teacher of any of it. The more you do, the better you get.
That was a little circuitous but, I think you get my drift.

[farmerjones]

What passes for ''humour'' changes constantly. Most of the so called 'alternative comedians' that we have in the UK,are about as humourous as an autopsy !.

But what about an autopsy on a clown?