Tondeleo: Doc travels a lot and when he is in a new town, he likes to play at the venue or event that he is booked for, and then he always seeks out a local jam or open mic night, if his schedule permits. He usually goes down pretty well at these, and is always invited back. I have accompanied him to several over the last few years, and he truly is well liked and well received by the locals. So I asked him what advice or counsel he would have to some who wanted to go down well at a jam or open mic night.
Doc: Well I ain't good enough to be tellin' anyone else what to do or how to play but I learnt a little bit over the years at how to get a crowd likin' you and how not to get on other musician's nerves what is there.
You don't wanna come in like you think you're JImi Hendrix, Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray. Be humble and not a know it all. Aint nobody like a know it all. There's no end to the number of good talent out there and you probably aint the best what's gonna show up. Be low profile.
Second, it you play guitar, be a good rhythm player first. Most of the time there is no shortage of lead players and few rhythm players. I aint no good at lead, but I am real good at rhythm and that is all I want to be good at. [Actually, Doc is also a very good drummer, a more than proficient bass player and a decent piano player - don't let him fool you with his "aw shucks, I aint nuthin'" act. I have heard him play these instruments. - Tondeleo] I am happy to play rhythm and I enjoy hearin people play a good lead guitar over it.
Number three would be to let the other guys go first. Don't push to go first or act like you think you're on American Idol an you're gonna get discovered. You aint and you aint. Aint nobody gonna discover you. You an everyone else is there to have fun, play some songs and make some friends. That'll help you keep your cool.
Four. Do a few songs that you know well, and that you can relax with and when you're done, sit down, or pull back or whatever they do at that one. Leave em wanting more. You don't wanna be the one that people get up and go to bathroom during, or go out for a smoke.
Five, if you screw up don't let no one know it. Like on that California Blues song what you put on that Yourtube, after the first verse, I got thinkin' about somethin else and then realized I done forgot the rest of the song. But aint no one knowed it, because I made up a bridge and a couple of verses what aint never been in it before or since. Look it up on that Yourtube. [See below - Tondeleo]. But you cant tell it cause I didn't announce it or look mad or anything. If you look close you might catch it when I done realized I was lost, but that is all. They is there to have a good time, not to care about if you screwed up or not.
If you're at a open mic, you oughtta have about 4 songs you're good and relaxed at. Don't come in with somethin you learned special for that night. Play stuff you been playin' so much that you can do it in your sleep. Then you can focus on the people or on performing or you can daydream like what I done on that California Blues.
If you stick to songs what you know real good, then nothin' will distract you and make you mess up so bad you have to stop. Unless you have to hit a man what I have had to do but only a couple of times in more than 35 years of playing. One time I hit a man pretty hard with my Telecaster. But he had it comin, so that don't count.
Here's another one. Do songs what all has a good beat. A solid rhythm what gets people tappin they's feet and wavin' they's heads along with the music. If you're doin' good, people will get up along the front and dance. When me and Marilyn play outside on the streets, people always come up along the front and dance, if we is playing at night. During the day they aint much for dancing or listening too long. They gotta go to work.
It really aint about how good you sing or play but can you hold a audience. If you got them clappin' along or dancing when they walk or swayin' or any of that, you are doin' good. If there is a manager of the place, he will notice it or she will if it is a lady. Here is a trick, Tondy:
Get them to clap a lot. I get them to clap for the lady up front that is dancin'. I get them to clap for the manager! I get them to give a clap of 'preciation for the soundman, or the light man, or the bouncers! Anything to get people to clap a lot and cheer when you're playin! It makes 'em relate that clappin' to you, and the manager hears it and wants you back.
Most people want to hear songs they already know. That's a trick too. You win every time if you do songs they know and like. They aint want to hear some new song what is too slow or hard to sing along with, unless you was Paul McCartney and the song was "Yesterday." I mean in general, that's how it is. I'm talking about playing it safe.
Oh yeah. Tondy, get this one. You gotta act like you're havin' fun and then the people will have fun too. If you're scared you'll mess up, they'll be scared you're gonna mess up and you'll make them nervous. Like I aint never act like I'm scared I'm gonna mess up, because I aint scared of it. I know I'm gonna hit some bad notes but it don't matter. We're here to have fun.
Don't be too loud. Amateurs always want the sound person to turn up the guitar or turn up the mic or to turn up something else. No. Ask the sound person to turn DOWN the one that sounds just right to you, so it matches what you think is too quiet. If you ant anything to be turned up, ask for the stage monitor to be turned up so you can hear yourself. Say, "I need LESS guitar," Or "Gimme less mic." In most places what hold only a couple of hundred people, I don't even use no mic and neither does Marilyn for singing. Aint neither one of us needs one. We just amp the guitar and sometimes the harp. We both sing loud because we been singing outside for years, and that helps you sing out. I can sing louder than a bus.
Don't open with a slow song. Even if it's a pretty one. Start with something high energy, and follow with something high energy, and maybe song number 3 can be slow, but end with a fast one.
Have plenty of business cards to hand people. It aint no good to go out and play for free and not get a gig out of it somewhere or at least a meal. You also got to know what you charge or what you'll take if someone wants you go play for them. I aint no fashion plate and I aint greedy, but I gotta eat.
Like, there is circles of people what know me an they pass my name to their friends, and I get to go all over the place. Mostly I charge about $200 or $250 if Marilyn comes with me, and they gotta feed me and give me a place to sleep if it is far away.
I went down Texas an played for three days for this: They fly me out there and back. They give me rides, food, place to sleep and $1000 and a ride back to the airport. I stayed at a dude's house one night, at a motel two nights and at another dude's house one night. They played me six times in a bunch of places what I didn't know where. But it was good an for one man that is good money for a weekend. For me at least. And I left cards there and made friends and they will have me back. If you're from far away, they think you is better.
Put your name on your stuff. Name and address or cell phone number or email if you got it. I got email now. If you leave something behind they can get it back to you. Keeps people more honest by not stealing your stuff so fast and saying they thought it was theirs.
Show respect. Act like you really like everybody else what is playing. Don't be no critic, telling what you think they need to be doing better and badmouthing anyone. Whatever you send out in life comes back to you multiplied. Say something good about every body. Clap and cheer for them.
Say good things into the mic about the place you is playing, about manager, the sound person, and the audience and other players. Make sure people can tell that you really like people and that you aint no snob. Aint nobody like a snob.
Oh yeah, and you aint got to have good equipment. You just got to get some good sounds out of it. I like Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials and he plays $75 guitars, and I do too. Most of the ones I play is what other people laugh at, and call a piece of crap. They IS a piece of crap. But I can move a crowd with them. It aint the instrument, it's the heart of the person playin. I play crap guitars and got some cheap amps.
I have a old Peavey tube amp with 2 12's what is now my best amp. Others is worse. I have a old 1966 or 67 Telecaster what I have had forever and some people say is worth about $500 but I would not take $700 for it. That is a good enough guitar. But I usually take out pieces of crap guitars.
