we need to add to our setlist... help!

[Jim L]

We're a 5-piece blues band playing pretty traditional material. Singer also plays blues harp; keys (including a Korg that nails the Hammond B3 tone); killer bass player (who's schooled in jazz and above us all in skill and knowledge); drums; and me on geeetar.

The jump/swing style stuff is fun, but we don't make it work as well as bands devoted to jump blues. We don't have much that's got a real hook or riff, ya know? Keyboardist wants to add stuff like EC's take on I Shot the Sheriff. Bass player thinks we should add more R&B to please a crowd and make them dance. Singer is more of a traditional blues dude, with limited vocal range (ie, couldn't handle Motown stuff, really). I'm a bit of a minimalist on the guitar... closer to JLV or old Buddy Guy than SRV if you know what I mean.

I think we COULD add something like "Sheriff" just to have something different than the typical 12-bar blues we already do. But I don't think we should get too far away from blues. We could use some blues that's got some clever hooks or a catchy riff, something outside the 12-bar shufffle. Someone suggested maybe some Robert Cray stuff, as it's still blues, but definitely not just 12-bar.

Here's our current night's list of tunes...

SET 1
• Greasy Gravy (mellow jazzy-blues instrumental by Rod Piazza in D)
• Dimples (we do it like James Montgomery's version which obviously uses the harp out front and swings a bit)
• I Had My Fun (swings hard in E)
• Checking Up On My Baby
• Help Me (think a slow Green Onions with lyrics)
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Stormy Monday
• Hootchie Cootchie Man

Set 2
• San-Ho-Zay (more like Ronnie Earl's take than Freddie King)
• Cruisin’ for Love (J Geils Band)
• Ti Na Ni Na Nu (slim harpo; like the original)
• The Thrill Is Gone (like the original for 2 verses, then we stop and change the groove to a seriously funky uptempo)
• Walkin’ To My Baby
• Kansas City (done ala Hollywood Fats)
• Someday Your Baby (G) ballad by the boston-based Paramounts
• Chicken Shack (E) harp-driven instrumental that swings pretty good

SET 3
• Cold Shot (G)
• Everyday I have the Blues
• Just Got Back From Baby’s (slow ZZ Top minor blues)
• Coast to Coast (Mark Hummel march in A)
• Wait on Time (t-birds)
• My Babe
• Too Late

(also used to play "Dirty Girl"... instrumental from JLV's last CD, but we've got too many instrumentals)

[Jakedog]

I would recommend some John Lee Hooker, most of it is dead simple and minimalist, but down right evil grooves. Always gets the butts shakin' in my neck of the woods.

Another thing we did alot when we were doing alot more blues was to take the old standards and funkify them. A lazy shuffle gets real interesting and danceable really quickly when you set it to a swung funk groove.


Jake

[petebradt]

Too Much Stuff
Old Weakness
Maybe Someday Baby
Squeeze Me in
Little Fine and Healthy Thing
Blues About You Baby
Monkey Around
New York City
Let Me Be Your Lover
Every Time I Roll The Dice
Same Kind of Crazy
I Wanna Thank You Baby
Somebody To Love you

[TheGoodTexan]

I like to take two songs that are very familiar to most people and sing the lyrics from one song over the music to the other song.

Example: Lyrics to Purple Haze over the music to Crossfire.

Also - you need to throw some James Brown in there. But don't do it "James Brown style" thrown your own spin on it. Check out the Boneshakers doing Cold Sweat:

http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/rm/muze...ram?obj=v40810

That's a short clip, but listen to the last few seconds of it - they turned it into a shuffle! I've seen'em do it live (without the horns), and it's way cool.

[KokoTele]

What Jake said. And also consider the kind of music audiences in your area like to hear. Around here, people like to dance to music they recognize, even if it's just the words, so some more blues-rock based stuff might get the crowd going a little more. Maybe you should throw in an Allman Bros. or Black Crowes or Clapton or Stones tune to jump start the crowd, then follow it up with one of those infectious John Lee Hooker grooves.

And though I know it isn't popular with musicians, you might throw in "Mustang Sally". Everyone says how overplayed it is, but I've never seen an audience sit still when a band plays that song. Even the most well-educated of blues audiences seem to really get into a set when that song comes up. I even remember seeing Eddie Clearwater perform "Dock of the Bay" and "Mustang Sally" back to back in a Chicago club during the blues festival many years ago. I don't know of an audience that has a better appreciation for all kinds of blues than the crowd that was in the club that night, but it was obvious that the crowd was getting a little sedate and The Chief whipped 'em right up.

[Jim L]

Good Texan,
I've thought about their version of Cold Sweat as well as "Let's Straighten it Out" which I love.

eryque,
believe me, the Mustang Sally discussion has been had... ugh. I've been the stick in the mud about not playing it, but the fact is that if someone asks for it, we had better be able to play it convincingly.

I think an ABB tune or two would be wise as well...

[Jakedog]

As far as Allman's tunes, I would highly recommend You Don't Love Me, as it is, and Statesboro Blues, but with a hopped up Messin' With The Kid style groove.

All of the above mentioned Delbert tunes are great, but Pete, how could you leave Lipstick, Powder, and Paint off the list? You're killin' me!


Jake

[petebradt]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

As far as Allman's tunes, I would highly recommend You Don't Love Me, as it is, and Statesboro Blues, but with a hopped up Messin' With The Kid style groove.

All of the above mentioned Delbert tunes are great, but Pete, how could you leave Lipstick, Powder, and Paint off the list? You're killin' me!


Jake

Lack of sleep, can't drink coffee any more, umm, brain fart?

:D

[Oskar]

Is that set list for a night's work, about 3 hours worth (with breaks)? Just wondering if some of the songs you do are stretched out a bit. My band (not blues) has at least 45 tunes that we play across 3 sets, and while occasionally we have a few left over at the end of the night, we mostly do all of them. I guess everybody has a different approach on this and I've been curious how other bands deal with it.

[Jim L]

yeah, we usually play about 8 tunes per 45 minute set. Our biggest problem (and it drives me nuts) is the time wasted between tunes. This is my first band experience, as it is for our singer/"bandleader" (you too can be the bandleader regardless of experience if you own the PA and have the practice space), but I can tell we waste way too much time between songs (oftena buzzkill if we get folks dancing).

8x5 (5 minutes per tune) is 40... I'm guessing some tunes go 4 minutes, a few go 6 minutes, etc. Tunes like Thrill, Stormy, and Hootchie we really stretch. Often a tune gets two solos (between the keys, guitar, or harmonica).

[moonshiner]

While I don't have any song suggestions for you, let me offer this which may help you decide the songs you can/will play...

From your list, you play covers... 2 things impress me about cover bands, and neither of them are found in the same type of band. Explination: There are 2 types of cover bands in my book... 1) The tribute band... 2) the good time bar/dance/festival band...

The tribute band impresses me because they play the cover songs note for note, style for style, soul for soul... This doesn't seem like what your band does... The good-time band impresses me because they play covers differently but still evoke the same appreciation for the song... That being said...

Who said you had to stick to a particular genre when picking songs to play? You MAY play any song outside of the genre in the style of the genre you do play... This is something that I really enjoy... An artists interpretation of a great song... Example... The Gourds cover of Snoop Doggy Dogs Gin and Juice (original may not be as good as the cover, I've never heard it)... Hayseed Dixies covers of AC/DC songs... Luther Wrights versions of Pink Floyd... Pick a song that can easily molded to your style...

Food for though...

Taking Care of Buisiness - BTO can be cool as it already fits in that 12 bar format...
Sleeping on the Sidewalk/Dreamers Ball - Queen are already in 12 bar format but could be readapted to your playing/singing styles...
If you want to slip in the the obscue Seamus by Pink Floyd or several Grateful Dead songs (Truckin'/US Blues) are 12 bar blues.. Deal by Jerry Garcia...

Any how.. those are my stinkies FWIW...

[Oskar]

I've been in a few bands where there's a gap between songs and it drives me nuts as well. The thing that I find frustrating is we prepare a set-list for the night, practicie it diligently, and then when we're gigging someone in the band invariably says, "Hey, I don't want to do that song, let's do something else". All of sudden we're off the set-list. My current band is much better about this, but I've found it is common with bands who are starting out or really haven't found their groove yet. Hang in there, it will come.

[Jim L]

for about 60% of the tunes our keyboard player looks at me and asks what key the next tune is in... meanwhile, we've been playing these damn songs for over a year... not to mention I hand out setlists at the start of the night and the key is indicated right next to the song title!! Then he tinkers with his electronic keybord for what ever setting he thinks he needs for the song. Ugh!

Top that off with the fact that our singer has trouble counting songs off correctly, so it's always an adverture to start a tune.

Ah well... until I own a PA and offer practice space, I can either quit or deal with it, and we have enough fun, so I deal.

[TELEJACKER]

All of your problems sound very familiar and I'll bet that most of the guys on here that gig have all gone through those things. I agree with you that downtime in between songs can be a killer and we used to have a problem with that until recently, but we started working on it during rehearsals , rehearsing all the songs in the exact order that we play them at the gigs and that helped a lot. Another thing we did was to tell the drummer that it was up to him to keep us going, clicking those songs off dang near before we finish the last one. Heck, now I'm lucky if I can change guitars between songs.

I'll second the opinion of adding some variety to the set lists. While we are not a blues band, we lean torwards traditional country with a lot of new Texas country( which is pretty traditional anyway ), we also do a few Nashville covers as well as some rock. Hell, we even throw in some AC/DC and Metallica torwards the end of the night. Never fails to get the crowd roaring.

Good luck and keep pickin!!!!!

[petebradt]

Originally Posted by Jim L

for about 60% of the tunes our keyboard player looks at me and asks what key the next tune is in... meanwhile, we've been playing these damn songs for over a year... not to mention I hand out setlists at the start of the night and the key is indicated right next to the song title!! Then he tinkers with his electronic keybord for what ever setting he thinks he needs for the song. Ugh!

Top that off with the fact that our singer has trouble counting songs off correctly, so it's always an adverture to start a tune.

Ah well... until I own a PA and offer practice space, I can either quit or deal with it, and we have enough fun, so I deal.

You need to emphasize at practice that the damn set list is under their nose and unless they're illiterate, you expect them to have their stuff together to read it during whatever song they're playing, so they know what's next.

We always have a set list with the key of the song and the order of solos. Sometimes we still mess it up (esp the solo order) but it helps keep things tight from song to song. We also have a lot of sings where the song segues from one to the next, with very little time for chatter or BS. But it's something you have to rehearse, it won't just come naturally. As for counting out the song, in our band, the drummer does that.

Every band needs a leader, someone who sets the bar for the rest of the guys. It's a pain, but it sounds like it needs to be you. I've been known to get snippy on occasion but I TRY to approach the problem with "How can I help you do xxxx better, so we have a tighter show?"

Another thing I'd do if the problem continues would be to have a friend shoot video of just one set, sit the guys down and show them what they look like. They'll be horrified at how lame it looks when they stand around between songs.

[moonshiner]

Originally Posted by Jim L

for about 60% of the tunes our keyboard player looks at me and asks what key the next tune is in... meanwhile, we've been playing these damn songs for over a year... not to mention I hand out setlists at the start of the night and the key is indicated right next to the song title!!

Just like a dog that's made a mess, I'd rub his nose on it... I had a keyboard player like this once... He was fired after about a year... and he wondered why?

My singer has a similar problem with counting off songs... Fortunately for us, he doesn't do it often...

Most of these things aren't difficult to over come... my band has the issue of time between songs... but there is excessive capo'ing/tuning... not said as an excuse, just a fact... Something I need to work on...

[Jim L]

I think part of our ongoing issues is the fact that we're a bunch of part-time musicians who use this band as their only musical outlet. We play for the fun of it. But, at the same time, if we're going to gig, there needs to be a certain level of professionalism. Our bass player is the only guy who's trying to make a living with his instrument (he teaches bass, plays a weekly dinner jazz gig on Sundays, and puts in time with a singer/guitarist/songwriter who has potential). He does have a part-time non-music job just to pay a few bills. The rest of us have non-music careers, family, etc.

So there's always the "balance" issue... how much time do we really have to put towards the band. How serious are we. Do we have the right expectations given how we answered those first questions.

I've got a 10-month old baby at home, our keyboard player and singer are both around 50, each with a teen at home. So, we're pretty much in the same boat...

We need to add some tunes that will give us the challenge of learning some new stuff... the bass player only sticks with us (he's way beyond us, in knowledge and ability, and he's only 23) because we DO manage to have fun when we play, and we give him a couple paying gigs a month.

I think we'll come to a crossroads soon enough, depending on the results of a couple recent opportunities... we played a mini-set at an open mic a couple weeks ago at a bar we want to get into because they book good local blues and get a good crowd. (the owner SAID he liked what he heard any would like to book us, but until it actually happens, I'm not holding my breath). We also played an opening set at another bar we'd like to get into... the owner there is infamous for needing to be hounded day and night to get a gig. We did what we felt was most important... we packed the bar. literally. By the time the main act played their set, it wasn't nearly as difficult to get to the bar (ie, we held a crowd, they didn't...) We even had people asking why we were packing up... they wanted more from us. Felt good, but still no gig booked. If we can't get into the bars that we've set as goals, it may stop being worth it.

Wow... I'm really just rambling now... best to stop.

[petebradt]

Originally Posted by moonshiner

Most of these things aren't difficult to over come... my band has the issue of time between songs... but there is excessive capo'ing/tuning... not said as an excuse, just a fact... Something I need to work on...

Tune before the set. Have your capo REALLY close and have the band hold the last chord of a song until you're ready, and then YOU start the next song. This is how we do it. I also have semi-frequent guitar swaps because I play a lot of slide and use a dedicated guitar. Same thing, have the chord hold until you're ready and swapped. Then either stop the song or the rest of the band stop and one person starts the next song IMMEDIATELY.

There's a reason the more popular bands get the work, they work on their show. If you want to get better gigs, get tighter. It's the only way.

[maxwidmer]

How about some CCR-tunes?

[Bonneville Bruce]

If the harpist is up to it you should add abunch of Junior Wells/Buddy Guy tunes, particularly from "Hoodoo Man Blues," such as, "Snatch It Back and Hold It."

Also some John Mayall tunes, I can't recall a particular one, but he has many harp tunes.

I'm also fond of early Eric Burden and the Animals originals and covers, e.g. "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show", "Gonna Send You Back To Walker", "Maudie," "Don't Bring Me Down", etc.

Bobby Blue Bland's "Two Steps From the Blues" and others from that album are guaranteed booty-shakers.

"Yer Blues" and "Helter Skelter" from "The Beatles", "Bad Boy", with Little Richard's "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey", "Slow Down" "Long Tall Sally"->"Sneakin Sally Through the Ally" (Robert Palmer, I think).

Anything from Little Feat's live "Waiting For Columbus", e.g. "Fat Man In The Bathtub", "Dixie Chicken", "Willin'", "Spainish Moon," etc.

The Stones' "Gimme Shelter", "Let It Bleed", "Stray Cat Blues", "Bit_h", "Time Is On My Side", "Down Home Girl", etc.

Van Morrison's "Wild Night", "Crazy Love","Mystic Eyes", and his cover of Bob's "Its All Over Now Baby Blue".