Double Bass First gig doubling on guitar

[matt_s]

Well I played my first paid gig on guitar tonight, in a Bluegrass trio and it went pretty well, all things considered. The bassist in the band was my teacher from 30 years ago so it was fun to reconnect with him. I played bass in this band a few times about 10 years ago. The event tonight was called bean and bacon days, under a tent behind a bar in a small town in Wisconsin. It was pouring rain and there were lots of flies and maybe 30 people. The monitor went out but we still did our three part vocal harmonies because we are pros. A few people danced and sang along and loved it. We even got a couple requests. Another gig for the memory bank!

 

[Steve Killingsworth]

... lots of flies and maybe 30 people...

I've played this gig many times.

 

[Don Hergert]

It's always fun playing for people.

In my experience flies don't get into bluegrass very well. Mosquitos are another story.

My most memorable stage gig, on an outdoor festival stage, first show of the day, the FOH sound team had a schedule problem and didn't arrive at all until half way through our set. When we decided they weren't going to make it by our start time, we stepped off the stage and played acoustically to the audience on the ground under a tree. It was probably our band's best gig at that venue, certainly the one most remembered.

Congrats on your new memory!!!

 

[turf3]

...When we decided they weren't going to make it by our start time, we stepped off the stage and played acoustically to the audience on the ground under a tree. It was probably our band's best gig at that venue, certainly the one most remembered.
...

Which leads me to the question, why bother with the sound reinforcement?
Obviously playing in a stadium to 40,000 people isn't going to happen acoustically. But why, why, why do we all feel that for an audience of a hundred people we've all got to mike up and be so loud?

 

[Don Hergert]

I agree, especially for small venues and small audiences...

The experience mentioned above was on a large permanent ~4-foot high elevated and covered stage that was at least 30 feet from the start of outdoor audience seating. While our instruments might have been heard by the first 5 rows of audience, our vocalists would have had to scream to be heard. Even as it worked out while we were standing under the tree among the audience, our vocalists were at the peak of their volume and mentioned afterward that they wished they had at least one vocal mic to share. So, yes, I can see reason for FOH sound systems and crews, but for that instance at that time, going un-mic'ed was wonderful.

I'd go so far as to say that almost anyone who is serious about jamming in a bluegrass setting has a serious distaste for amps and mics. It's part of the culture. And most bands that evolve out of jamming -- because jams are "school" for bands -- continue that culture.

But at a festival, on a real elevated stage, with audience rows starting 30 to 50 feet away, a sensitive acoustically-trained FOH tech and a well adorned FOH system are actually very well appreciated -- and deserve lots of credit.