The next rehearsal evening was booked in for January 21st.
But I’ve been feeling very “January”. I’ve been writing new lyrics, and I’ve been drawing. Over Christmas I was at home enjoying being with my family… and then once the new year started, I felt a bit down. It always happens.
So I put the call out to the guys in the band that if anyone fancied a bit of singing and noodling about, I was up for that.
We have four gigs booked in for February, and I’m looking forward to these, as most of them are good long sets – 45 mins which is good. Most seem to be up to and around the 30 mins which gives us about 6/7 songs. But 45 minutes is great. It gives time to get warmed up, settle in, get something upbeat to start with, have a spot of mellow in the middle and then build up to the finish… with maybe one or two more up your sleeve just in case. Maybe even a cover or two.
Anyway… Andy came over to the studio and we looked at a few songs we had written in the summer. We’ve played them live a few times too, but in playing songs live, little bugs and snags crop up. So it was good to just play through them and think about why little things were going a bit awry, or just didn’t feel quite right. Usually they’re small things that in discussion fall away. Sometimes the arrangement doesn’t seem right. Sometimes the chorus needs to move… a bit of a break provides a little distance and objectivity.
The morning’s work was productive, and definitely mood-enhancing!
As with most things there is a balance to be achieved. And the balance between the amount of rehearsal and the amount of live playing is no different. As a Newbie, I have only just begun to appreciate this. There comes a point at which you have to go for it and put it in the set. Prepared, but a bit scared is the feeling I’ve become used to. But there’s nothing like playing live to sort out the issues with a song… things that don’t seem to happen in rehearsal.
I am happier these days to take a bit of a risk with a new song. Many of the gigs we play are to an audience of other performers and songwriters. So it is comfortable to say “we have some new material we want to air” and they get it, and will feedback any ideas. All good. I’m now past the terror of getting things wrong, and feel I can chat to an audience rather than curl into my boots and go bright red and wish the floor to open. The new found confidence means that as long as we keep going and smile, we can get away with it.
We are hoping to get a few songs recorded for our second EP at the end of February, the gigs are worth much in the rehearsal stakes, so the songs to be recorded will feature in the sets. I might even ask the audience to let us know their favourites.
And in terms of solo stuff… I also have a list of things that probably won’t get played live (certainly not at the moment). These will be formed in the studio, then released as recordings. If they develop a live life, that will be exciting. But will happen later. I want to make them. Then I will decide what they are for.
