Live Music
As a musician, I approach live music
from a particular perspective, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I
feel it is the most authentic way to do so.
To set the stage, I recall many years
ago, I went to a concert at a large concert venue in western Broward
County, Florida. Broward County is where Ft. Lauderdale is located
and I had been living in Miami/Dade county, the next county south.
I was leaving the event, and there was
quite a crowd filing out. Candidly, though everything was moving, it
was packed. There was a couple of people directly behind me raving about the
performance. I was frankly, quite disappointed with it actually, and had these two behind me talking about how much they liked it.
Well, everyone is different, but I felt otherwise, while respecting
their enjoyment, which was foaming at the mouth happy.
Then one of them said something that
highlighted the difference from what I felt, and what they did. What
they said was “That was just fantastic! It was just like the
record!”. At this point, I had to say something. I turned around
and said politely “That was exactly why I was so disappointed with
the performance. I could have saved myself an hour's drive and the
price of admission, listened to it at home, and heard the exact same
thing. Tonight was a sterile performance. It was a complete canned concert”.
I think the people were a bit taken
back by my statement, as they were pretty quiet after that. However,
when we got to the main door at the exit, one of them tapped me on
the shoulder, smiled and said “Thanks. Good night”.
You see, from my perspective, live
music has the opportunity to really be a living organism.
Playing music live, is an entirely
different animal that what we do in a studio. In a studio you can do
one hundred retakes, Or, the engineer can edit out certain things and
add others. On the studio recording, you can also add all sorts of
different instruments to a track, plus additional vocals, to the
point that if you had all the instruments on stage, it would be the
size of the New York Philharmonic. On my song “The Beach!!!!” for
instance, we actually have over seventy tracks!
Now, I'm not being critical of studio
albums. Not at all. I'm just saying it's a different art.
When playing live, you're can be flying
without a net.
Because of this, you will find some
musical acts elect to do the exact copy of the record, in live
performances. It's a safe route. Additionally, some will change the
arrangements for the live tour. However, if you were to follow the
tour, you'll find the exact same show, note for note, song for song,
night after night. Some actually do it that way year after year. It's
a safe comfort zone.
For many, that's acceptable. Hearing a
live gig, even if it's canned, as the two above scenarios, is good,
especially if it's pumping out of a high grade, 100,000 Watt sound
system. Compare that to their computer's two inch speakers at home!
The Grateful Dead
With us, we play in Key West bars, for
the most part. Currently we have the original Bose L1 tower system.
It certainly gets the job done very well, however it's around ten
years old, so we may need a new system before long.
As far as the music goes, we don't go
for the “safe” formula. Doing it that was would be the sterile
formula. We prefer the flying the trapeze without a net! With The Shanty
Hounds it's a seat of the pants affair. That way every performance
takes both ourselves and every one there, on a unique voyage.
Having said that, all of our songs have
their own individual structure, which to a degree, doesn't change.
For instance, lets say we do the song “Landslide”, written by
Stevie Nicks. We start it off the same way all the time and the
verses all follow suit. When it gets to the solo, I'll start it off
with the same two notes, which gives the solo definition. After that,
the feeling of the solo remains true, however who the hell knows what
notes will follow? I honestly don't have a clue until I'm playing it.
On another vain, Dani's song “I like
it Hot”, has an entirely new intro to the song that we added this
year. My lead guitar lines are nothing like the saxophone lines on
the recorded version. Her vocal verses, are the same arrangement,
however on my first solo, we have nothing set as far as how long it
will go for. One night it might go for ten progressions (they're
short progressions), the next night it might go fifteen. The theme of
the solo always carries the same idea, but who knows where it will
pop up, of what will be in between? The end of the song is the same
idea.
We also cover J.J. Cale's song
“Magnolia”. We have an extended solo in it, which usually carries
a few different recognizable themes through it, but again, who knows
where, or if they'll be, in addition to having any clue whatsoever
what else will happen in there? A new part could easily be invented
at the spur of the moment.... and often is!
On the other hand, we have a song like
my newest, “Yeah, A Harbor”, which is played pretty much the same
every time, structure wise. There is no instrumental section where
improvisation can take place.
The Set List
What's a set list? We have a song list
on Dani's iPad, but that's just a listing of songs we play. A common
issue with musicians is not being able to remember what songs to
play. I fall into that category. How many times over the years have I
seen a solo musician with a song list taped to the upside of their
guitar? Bands who do set lists, and always use the same set list,
don't have this problem, For them it's always the same. They start
off with song “AAA”, then go to song “BBB”, then to “CCC”
. It's a routine, so there's never an issue.
However, as I say, our modus oparandi
has us up on the high-wire, without a net. That's how we like it!
We'll pick one of maybe four different songs to start the gig, but
after that it's a matter of “Riding the Gig”. It's a matter of
getting the right vibe between us, the crowd, and the venue.
The Shanty Hounds wear a lot of
different hats. One song is Rock, the next, is Country, the next is
jam band, the next Western Swing, following that something from the
island, then a funky number like Yellow Moon. Limiting ourselves to
one particular style is not what we do. We like variety!
Listen to Dani's or my albums and
you'll find our original music is all over the place genre wise. All
of this gets incorporated across the board to our covers as well.
Does it always work?
No.
Having said that, both ourselves, and
the crowd we attract, thrive off of the human element of it all!
Like I say, the live gig can either be
canned affair, or it can be a living organism.
The Shanty Hounds at Grunts Bar, Key West
We prefer the living organism, and
riding the high wire without a net!
IT'S ALIVE!!!!
It's the only way to fly! :-)
Shanty Hounds Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShantyHounds/
Join the Shanty Hounds friends page! https://www.facebook.com/groups/shantyhoundsnation/
Thank you for reading my blog!!!!
Key West Chris Rehm
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