Had an unusual situation last night.
I've been hosting a blues jam with a guitarist for about 20 years, we've also been in bands together. At the jam I only sing harmonies most of the time, if I do a dozen vocal leads a year that's a lot. The guitarist is one of those guys who is an encyclopedia of blues tunes and will pull out a song almost every week that I've never played before...pretty good trick after 20 years of playing with him.
Last night I show up to find that he's sick and lost his voice, so I have to sing instead
That includes not only the host band set but being ready to sing all night if no other singers show up.
Now, let me mention that I am a "vocalist of last resort" meaning I'm willing to sing if noone else is but I don't consider myself good enough to be lead vocalist for a band.
From the very first song, the guitarist tells me to sing stuff that we do every week, that is all songs that he sings. I suggested songs that I actually know but he nixed them. So before every song I have to ask him to tell me the first line of the first two verses are and I was able to fake my way through three sets. Almost all of them were songs I had never sung before. It's amazing how even after playing songs for decades you find you don't really know the words enough to sing them
So what's the point of this post? It's to remind everyone that you should always be prepared for anything at a gig. The guitarist could have let me know earlier in the day so I would have time to jot down lyrics and try singing along to some records before arriving, but he didn't. Maybe he didn't know his voice would be gone until it was too late. So I sang his repertoire and made it through the night without anyone dying. We got paid, I got compliments on my singing (all lies of course) and it gave me the incentive to put some more work into my singing.
P.S. I alternate the jam every other week with another bassist who doesn't sing at all. He came by to play a set and I told him it was a good thing it was my week on and not his
I've been hosting a blues jam with a guitarist for about 20 years, we've also been in bands together. At the jam I only sing harmonies most of the time, if I do a dozen vocal leads a year that's a lot. The guitarist is one of those guys who is an encyclopedia of blues tunes and will pull out a song almost every week that I've never played before...pretty good trick after 20 years of playing with him.
Last night I show up to find that he's sick and lost his voice, so I have to sing instead
That includes not only the host band set but being ready to sing all night if no other singers show up.Now, let me mention that I am a "vocalist of last resort" meaning I'm willing to sing if noone else is but I don't consider myself good enough to be lead vocalist for a band.
From the very first song, the guitarist tells me to sing stuff that we do every week, that is all songs that he sings. I suggested songs that I actually know but he nixed them. So before every song I have to ask him to tell me the first line of the first two verses are and I was able to fake my way through three sets. Almost all of them were songs I had never sung before. It's amazing how even after playing songs for decades you find you don't really know the words enough to sing them
So what's the point of this post? It's to remind everyone that you should always be prepared for anything at a gig. The guitarist could have let me know earlier in the day so I would have time to jot down lyrics and try singing along to some records before arriving, but he didn't. Maybe he didn't know his voice would be gone until it was too late. So I sang his repertoire and made it through the night without anyone dying. We got paid, I got compliments on my singing (all lies of course) and it gave me the incentive to put some more work into my singing.
P.S. I alternate the jam every other week with another bassist who doesn't sing at all. He came by to play a set and I told him it was a good thing it was my week on and not his
.
so couldn't make it. Our guitarist handled all the signature keyboard parts when needed (piano intros to ballads, etc.). I was impressed not only with his perfect memory for the parts but his ability to play them on guitar without working them out in advance.
