Joined a tribute band

[Groove Doctor]

Another great Willie song Sunny Side of the Street.

Does the harmonica player use a Chromatic harp (button on side)? Hats off to them if they do.

 

[kevindahl]

Congrats on the new gig. Tribute projects can be real fun especially if you really dig the music.

 

[zubrycky]

Congrats!

 

[Door County Bass]

I blame @BassCliff for this ;-)

Startup Willie Nelson tribute band. BL has been doing the WN thing on a solo basis for years so yeah, he's good enough to pull it off - got the sound, the look, and the guitar chops.

Rehearsals are going well, first show scheduled in a couple of weeks.

I'm the 3rd bassist in this project. First couple of guys had trouble with the material. I was aware of Willie Nelson's work but hadn't studied it closely. It is _not_ just 3-Chord Country. Sure, some of it is. Then you get into "Stardust" and have to play jazz standards like "All of Me," "Blue Skies," and "Georgia." The rest is a mix of World, country swing, jam band, s-l-o-w songs like "Golden Earrings," and of course 3CC. All played to Willie's signature rubato which means you better be able to keep a steady groove without needing the vocal as a reference.

Lineup is Willie, 2nd guitar, bass, drums, keys, harp. There may be plans to add pedal steel for the larger shows. Everybody's competent - in their own way - and rehearsals are mostly just for fine-tuning. I think we'll be OK for our first show and then it's up to BL to go sell the thing.

I have a pair of jeans (haven't worn jeans in about 20 years) and a hat inbound from Shepler's.

Remember to take food pics (it’s mandatory) and have a blast!

 

[57pbass]

Congratulations and have fun with it. Great material to learn.

 

[kentiki]

Better not be - I never touch the stuff.
As far as I can see, this is an all non-smoking lineup.
Even Willie has quit, reportedly...
Willie Nelson has quit marijuana smoking after breathing issues

Edibles!!!

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Love my tribute gig. If you're comfortable enough with the material to branch out there's so much audience interaction that I never got out of other gigs.

Enjoy.

 

[frankie5string]

My goodness, now that I've settled in well to my tribute group... It's a whole other world.

In fact, there's been a lot of buzz in the music scene about tribute bands over the last 5 years. That seems to be the new "it" thing to do, musically, if you want to draw the crowds.

How many hours of material do you have for the Willie Nelson group? I always liked the really old stuff - before he became known for his unkempt, over-hemp'ed persona.

 

[5StringBlues]

unkempt, over-hemp'ed

Off to the Overheard Band Names thread!

 

[ArtechnikA]

You have my condolences.

I'm a working musician, and it's a paying gig.
It's musically interesting, even if it's not everyone's cup of tea.
I like rock; I _really_ like blues.
I think it's easier to get into the Supreme Court than a working Philadelphia blues band.

 

[ArtechnikA]

...How many hours of material do you have for the Willie Nelson group?

Right now, we have 1:30 that fits nicely into a 3-hr show with a couple of :30 openers. There is no lack of available material; what we have now is pretty evenly split between jazzy stuff from 'Stardust,' gospel standards, Americana ('City of New Orleans') and Willie-pop e.g. On The Road Again, To All The Girls I've Loved Before, Always On My Mind, Crazy, Night Life, Funny How Time Slips Away...

 

[ArtechnikA]

Does the harmonica player use a Chromatic harp (button on side)? Hats off to them if they do.

He does not; he's got a full set (12) of diatonic major and natural minor harps. Which he kinda has to because we've got a bunch of songs in 'weird' keys, like Db and Gb. Keeps him busy on the songs that modulate up a half or whole step at the last verse, of which there are several...

 

[BassCliff]

Hi @ArtechnikA,

True Willie doesn't want to pay the freight to carry a harp player. Johnny covers those parts on one of his keyboards, very well I might add. I'd love to add a utility guy that plays harp, fiddle, mandolin, whatever, along with a steel player but our little band gets it covered. You are right about Willie's repertoire, he runs the gamut. There's plenty of interesting, challenging material along with the easy, fun stuff, which sometimes isn't so easy.






Please share some gigs with the class. I'm sure we'd love to see your Willie. (That didn't sound right.) Best of luck to you and your project. Break a leg!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Matty Koff]

Better not be - I never touch the stuff.
As far as I can see, this is an all non-smoking lineup.
Even Willie has quit, reportedly...
Willie Nelson has quit marijuana smoking after breathing issues

He quit smoking it. He still uses it. lol.

 

[design]

Willie’s preferred harp player Micky Raphael is DA BOMB!

 

[hrodbert696]

Sounds like a good gig. I've only played one or two Willie Nelson songs, and from that I get what you're saying - it's NOT a bunch of brain-dead simple country. Much more complex songwriting when you sit down to work it out.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I blame @BassCliff for this ;-)

Startup Willie Nelson tribute band. BL has been doing the WN thing on a solo basis for years so yeah, he's good enough to pull it off - got the sound, the look, and the guitar chops.

Rehearsals are going well, first show scheduled in a couple of weeks.

I'm the 3rd bassist in this project. First couple of guys had trouble with the material. I was aware of Willie Nelson's work but hadn't studied it closely. It is _not_ just 3-Chord Country. Sure, some of it is. Then you get into "Stardust" and have to play jazz standards like "All of Me," "Blue Skies," and "Georgia." The rest is a mix of World, country swing, jam band, s-l-o-w songs like "Golden Earrings," and of course 3CC. All played to Willie's signature rubato which means you better be able to keep a steady groove without needing the vocal as a reference.

Lineup is Willie, 2nd guitar, bass, drums, keys, harp. There may be plans to add pedal steel for the larger shows. Everybody's competent - in their own way - and rehearsals are mostly just for fine-tuning. I think we'll be OK for our first show and then it's up to BL to go sell the thing.

I have a pair of jeans (haven't worn jeans in about 20 years) and a hat inbound from Shepler's.

Sounds like a good project. Best wishes.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Hi @ArtechnikA,
True Willie doesn't want to pay the freight to carry a harp player. Johnny covers those parts on one of his keyboards...

I'm the last member in the ensemble so I didn't get to make any casting decisions. Our harp guy is better than the keys guy right now, and the current setlist features a lot of harp part songs so it seems to be working pretty well. Interesting fact - for some reason, harp is deeply rooted into the music scene here.

We struggle with Night Life, in large part IMO because we try to do it like the popular live YouTube medley which is more of a cacophonous jam than your version, which I quite like. And nice singing on Seven Spanish Angels !!

Your Willie looks and sounds more authentic than mine (and his Trigger more authentically relic'd) but my guy is the best I've seen in this part of the world.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi!

I'm the last member in the ensemble so I didn't get to make any casting decisions. Our harp guy is better than the keys guy right now, and the current setlist features a lot of harp part songs so it seems to be working pretty well. Interesting fact - for some reason, harp is deeply rooted into the music scene here.

We struggle with Night Life, in large part IMO because we try to do it like the popular live YouTube medley which is more of a cacophonous jam than your version, which I quite like. And nice singing on Seven Spanish Angels !!

Your Willie looks and sounds more authentic than mine (and his Trigger more authentically relic'd) but my guy is the best I've seen in this part of the world.

Thank you for the kind words. I joined this band a little over two years ago and the personnel hasn't changed since. We're pretty comfortable with the show and add a new tune only a couple of times a year. People always want to hear the big hits but we like to play Willie's more interesting stuff too. There are so many versions of so many of his songs. We tend to keep it simple, relying on the different vocals to spice up the presentation. Drummer Dave does a great Waylon, Guitar Mike sings the Kris parts in the Highwaymen songs, and I do Merle, Ray, Julio on the duets and Johnny on the Highwaymen songs.

We know a couple of great harp players here locally and I know Johnny Magic Fingers would love to hire one but I can also understand TW's reluctance. Since he's writing the checks I'm not going to complain.

Hey, does this project have a website yet? How authentic are you when it comes to this show? I just bought a more "Fender-ish" looking five string (Carvin PB5) to fit the vintage country vibe of the group, even though Bee Spears did not play a Fender.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[ArtechnikA]

Hey, does this project have a website yet? How authentic are you when it comes to this show? I just bought a more "Fender-ish" looking five string (Carvin PB5) to fit the vintage country vibe of the group...

No website yet. We do have a FB page "Trigger - a Willie Nelson Tribute" but it's pretty sparse. There's no money yet for new instruments although I haven't closed the door on a Roscoe "classic" (FSO) 5-string. Meanwhile my fretted SKB will have to do. With Cobalt Flats and EQ the sound seems to work. If I hear any negative feedback from the audience I'll take it into consideration but until then I'm making no changes. Initially I'm using the 'hang in the back and be invisible' stagecraft technique... In this context, I wonder how many people are looking past Willie's Martin for authenticity...