Solo act with just electric?
- Thread starter Andyfreddy
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bottlenecker
Doctor of Teleocity
Billy Bragg and Margaret Glaspy are two singer songwriters using electric for accompaniment that come to mind.
Please don't use backing tracks. I have recorded music at home. And everywhere I go, actually.
Please don't use backing tracks. I have recorded music at home. And everywhere I go, actually.
Highway 49
Friend of Leo's
I like how Margaret Glaspy can hold the whole thing together without a band, and without much of an audience - with just her songs and her Telecaster…
Highway 49
Friend of Leo's
If we’re talking acoustic guitar with a pickup through an electric guitar amp, then Big Joe Williams is pretty great…
bottlenecker
Doctor of Teleocity
I didn't realize I posted a band performance. Thanks. I associate her with the solo performances.
While I don't doubt her abbilities as a performer but I find her singing mannered to the point of being able to stand hearing her for about 20 seconds before I reach for the required equipment for seppuku.
Love her guitar colection, though.
Or most belongs to the spouse?
Highway 49
Friend of Leo's
Fiesta Red
Doctor of Teleocity
I’ve done it.
It’s not the worst experience ever.
You have to work on making the rhythm sound full and rich and don’t worry about fancy licks beyond the second position chords.
I prefer playing in a band either way.
It’s not the worst experience ever.
You have to work on making the rhythm sound full and rich and don’t worry about fancy licks beyond the second position chords.
I prefer playing in a band either way.
aging_rocker
Poster Extraordinaire
Peter Green could do it
OldTelePlayer
Tele-Afflicted
Many, already mentioned, play solo electric. Here is another to add to the list ... Charlie Musselwhite
Years ago I saw him perform a set, solo electric guitar. No band. Great stuff.
Years ago I saw him perform a set, solo electric guitar. No band. Great stuff.
Winjeel
TDPRI Member
Billy Bragg - Levi Stubbs' Tears. It's not "quite" solo electric guitar - there's a trumpet bit towards the end - but it's a brilliant song.
J-Flanders
Tele-Meister
And why limit yourself to just an electric?
Cass
TDPRI Member
This track is really special to me, it sounds stark, but sooooo great!
It's not a Tele, so a bit off topic here. But still great (to me).
Sting singing Message in a bottle at the Secret Policeman's Other Ball
Ha! I just spotted - @Ed Driscoll beat me to it!
It's not a Tele, so a bit off topic here. But still great (to me).
Sting singing Message in a bottle at the Secret Policeman's Other Ball
Ha! I just spotted - @Ed Driscoll beat me to it!
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I saw him on that tour in Dallas. I agree: outstanding!
He didn’t need any help to hold a full concert hall for over 2 hours. Well, I guess 50 years of great tunes that the audience knows and loves probably helps a little.
I was inspired - so I tried to play a coffee shop like that once: took my electric and my acoustic, harmonicas, 2 pianos, a pump organ, etc….. just kidding
after band playing all my life,(in my mid70s now) last 5 years I've spent playing solo/ or duo with additional voice. I prefer using a tele instead of acoustic. It will give good acoustic style backing, but i find it is better than acoustic for bluesy solos. ...and its more comfortable, especially since I routed out the body and made it lighter and more resonant. Simple tele with a drive pedal and a stomp is all i need to project 60/70s classic tunes
Cass
TDPRI Member
Not everyone here is keen on loopers etc. But I recall seeing Tash Sultana busking in Melbourne a decade or more ago, and was really impressed at what she was able to achieve.
If looping etc is something you might consider, have a look at her bedroom recording of Jungle. There are more polished studio versions of this track on YT, bt I chose this one 'cos it shows the use of pedals pretty clearly.
If looping etc is something you might consider, have a look at her bedroom recording of Jungle. There are more polished studio versions of this track on YT, bt I chose this one 'cos it shows the use of pedals pretty clearly.
fredmbarros
TDPRI Member
I used to do solo gigs using only the electric (actually technically it wasn’t solo because I wasn’t the one singing, but the “texture” is the same anyway) sometimes and I really liked it.
Granted, I play fingerstyle, but I think you can adapt easily to pick playing. Some things I find work well:
- Tele neck pickup
- clean tone or at least very “early” in the edge-of-breakup spectrum
- arpeggiated textures
- staccato chords
- don’t go too bassy in your tone, but make sure to have some “beef” in the lows
- don’t shy away from single notes in the low to mid register, they can sound very full if you choose them with care and let them ring
- within some minutes the ear adapts and accepts that there is some space in the texture, use it to your advantage, you have to set your volume a little louder so that the guitar is able to fill the space and the tone gets thicker.
A 5F10 and a Tele
TDPRI Member
I can understand your dislike for backing tracks. However, there are some fantastic internationally known artists who play solo with loopers (and other effects) that are some of the best live performers you could ever see. One of those artists is Damien Rice. I have 40+ plus years of seeing live music and Damien Rice’s 2015 US (or at least the show I attended at Minglewood Hall in Memphis, Tennessee) was by far the best live performance I have ever seen.
