Playing in bars is often entertaining for us pickers. Playing in bars is sometimes irritating for us pickers. Playing in bars is ALWAYS hard work for us pickers (equipment is HEAVY and for some terrible reason...the heavier it is...the better it sounds). Playing in bars makes us "tight" as a band. Every time we think we've "seen it all" playing in a bar, something happens we've never seen before.
I don't "hang out" in bars very often, unless I'm playing myself or seeing someone else I like play. Sometimes bars are entertaining for us, though. Like the time I saw the condom machine in the bathroom with the homemade note, "Save $400 a month, Pay the 75 cents!" I guess I'm attracted to playing in bars for several reasons: I can stretch out a little more and play a few songs that I would never play at a festival. I can interact with the audience a little more. I have the time to play a wide range of things. We NEVER work off a "set list" as it kills spontaneity.
When you see us play in a bar, we play our stuff, but we also play things you want! It may be "Mustang Sally" but it might also be Led Zeppelin or Johnny Cash....done our way, of course. We always come back to the blues, but we might swerve a little. If you come to see us at a bar and you request my songs......you got it. If you request others.....if we know it, we'll play it. If we don't know it....we might try to play it anyway. Sometimes, it's magical. Sometimes it's a train wreck. That's the fun of it all. At a festival, it's the blues, and mostly our originals. Folks who come to see us at festivals usually come to hear us specifically, so we try to please. They came to hear the blues, nothing but the blues and lot's of times, songs of ours they heard on XM Radio. At wineries.....you're usually talking about a 5 hour job. They get it ALL!What are the most requested songs/covers in bars? (for us)
Brown Eyed Girl
Mustang Sally
Play That Funky Music
Old Time Rock n Roll
Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Margaritaville
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sweet Home Chicago
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Jimi Hendrix
What are the weirdest requests we gotten?
"Incense and Peppermints"
"Walk Like an Egyptian"
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
Psychedelic Furs
*we didn't even try any of these
You won't see me drink much in a bar. Like I told Glenn at Fat Moe's once, "I'm not here to get drunk or get women. I'm here to do a show for you and them, and get paid. I'm here to do a job. A FUN job.....but a job, and I DO have fun." I love playing in bars. Now excuse me.....I need to learn "Funky Cold Medina" and "Baby Got Back."
3 comments:
Every year at the Kenlake Blues Festival, my wife and I predict how many times we are going to hear "Mustang Sally" and "Voodoo Child". Five is almost always a safe bet.
You might hear me play Mustang Sally at a bar (depending on who asks) but not at a festival. I always tell folks, you'll hear it before long, I promise! I don't even touch Hendrix tunes at festivals and rarely at bars. I can't come close. On the other hand, Hendrix never played "Waffle House Woman!"
Lew,
Have yall been practicing Clapton's IT'S IN THE WAY THAT YOU USE IT????? LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET THIS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST
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