Playing classic country tunes in a trio setting

My only comment is yes to the various approaches. With the limited instrumentation, you need to seize on more than one approach in order to have any variation in your sound from song to song.

One song you may do almost all fills and solos.

The next song you might do cowboy chord rhythm all the way through. Don't shy away from playing chords for a solo. All you may need is a little clever rhythmic work or some starts and stops. Or let the bass player walk it double time. Don't assume you can't bang away chords for a solo. You can, and you should - on a few songs.

Then you may do a rock song with a 5th and 6th string riff. That's fine. Just grab those Chuck Berry double and triple stops during the solo to give it some girth.

One thing that might not have been mentioned is abusing something like chord-melody jazz work. If you can do some degree of that, then a few solos based on that type of thing can really be beautiful. You don't have to improvise them. Work them out and put them in the can.

You may even find a song or two where it is just the bass playing and you do percussion only on the guitar. That is certainly a way to insert a bass solo and it works well for a lot songs.

Good luck. It's a lot of fun.

 

One thing I forgot. On an acoustic you can often let open strings ring. If you are in the key of D you can use stings 1,2,3 for all kinds of double/triple stops and let that D string ring. It will come across as a keyboard type of chordal wash. When you change to the A chord, mute that D string and let the A ring. The G string the same way. The E string, same way for other keys. Cheat. Cheat. Cheat!

 

I'm moving to Marin City around the first of the year--play guitar. How far are you from there?

 

I did the trio thing for a VERY long time, both on guitar and bass. When on 6 string, one thing I did was have a tap tempo delay handy for rides, dialed with the blend so you know it was there but not featured. Slow moving modulation effects like phase, trem, were just out, as the lead voice disappears for a moment.

Doghouse bass seems perfectly EQ’d for trio work. Finding something real close to that on electric really helps think

 

Takes a lotta vocal range for Blue Bayou.

 

A capo is fine, some songs no capo works better. But you do need to get used to the "space" for sure. It will improve your playing. Talking about space, I do a duo with only a singer sometimes, that is hard work. It changes everything you do! I never miss drums. But sure miss a bass!

 

A steel add so much!

 

Not a country teacher but it's my favorite music and I could probably give you some pointers if you're just starting out. I have taught only 2 students. One was the late Matt Roberts of 3DD. He was about 15 at the time. He came for 2 lessons, so I say 2 lessons from me and you can be a rock star. Matt's mother baby sat for our two boys on occasion.

Adding a pedal steel will set you apart and give you an authentic traditional sound.

My wife is already in CA. She's working at Marin General hospital. She has an apartment near there. I will be retiring at the end of the year and heading that way. I will maintain dual citizenship, Alabama and CA--we have a house in Mobile.

We used to play Blue Bayou and 2 More bottles of wine in a band I was in back in the 80s. That intro and lead on 2 more bottles is great. Will you be doing that or your own licks? I don't remember it exactly but Ken Carlson does a good lesson on that song

 

This has been such a good informative thread, thank you everybody for your comments and the OP for posting. I just wanted to add that I once saw Michael Hedges play solo, not country obviously, but the thing that was striking was his propulsive sense of rhythm. You could feel it in everything he played. Because of that you never felt like the music was empty or lacking. Hope that's helpful.

 

Ain't no reason the bassist can't also be playing drums.

 

Ken Carlson does a pretty good lesson on Lee's break and lead. If you don't have it down by the time I get there I have access to his lessons. I remember when we did it it took our drummer quite a while to nail the break down. I played the break pretty close to correct notes and timing but kinda did mostly my own lead. That's one of the great things about country music--plenty of places to do your own arrangements. The intro I was thinking about is Martina's. Delbert's version is different all together--horns. Good luck on putting this together. If you happen to audition some people that may not fit your group please hang on to the contact info in case I decide to give it a go.

 

Looking forward to the recording..Keep looking for a pedal steel player. I played a little steel back in the 80s mostly chords and a few simple fills. I had a MSA 3 pedal 2 levers basically a beginners model. After we moved from TN to MS my wife had a garage sale and got rid of it. I didn't get mad because I planned to get better model but I never did.

 

Are/were you playing acoustic or electric guitar in the trio?