How Many Of You Play Live?

[Alistair]

There are clearly a lot of songwriters and musicians on Songstuff,  talented people many of whom record and produce their stuff.

 

But I've noticed a bit of a theme developing over recent weeks and that is suprise expressed either at members who make live recordings (i.e. real time, no overdubs) or who play their stuff in front of audiences (no matter whether they are small or large). I may have got this completely wrong but, no matter.

 

So I'm curious,

 

1. How many of you post 'live' recordings of your stuff on-line?

 

2. How many of you go out and play your songs in public?

 

1. Most of my recent recordings are live, mainly because I can't be bothered  to spend hours producing more sophisticated recordings with backing vocals and so on. I can't programme drums and I don't play bass (though I know a man who can). There are many drawbacks to this  - it sometimes takes a long time to get a good enough take and you have to do it all again if you aren't happy with something.. On the plus side, it means you get to rehearse and know the song really well for live performance.

 

2. I don't do this more than 3 or 4 times a year these days. I stopped looking for real 'gigs' a while back because I just generally felt that it was a thankless task playing to bars full of people who didn't give a damn. And I am not looking to be famous, it's just fun. So these days, if I play out at all, it's at sessions in pubs where like-minded people congregate. But I still regard myself as being open to playing live more - a bit like an actor resting between roles.

 

How about you?

 

Alistair

 

 

 

 

[Just1L]

1. I did this a few weeks ago but haven't mustered up the courage to post it! One day though...

 

2. I played an STP song once with a band at a bar in college. Same day I went skydiving. Got two items off of my to-do list in the same day. The only other time I've played live is twice on Thanksgiving with friends and family around. I'm the kind of guy who needs a bucket to puke in before I play in front of people. The only exception was the STP playing at the bar, I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason I had a lot of courage that night.

 

Randy

[Rudi]

Hi Al,

 

1. How many of you post 'live' recordings of your stuff on-line? No, not my stuff. The band has had live covers briefly posted up.

 

2. How many of you go out and play your songs in public? No, not now. I have played my songs at jam nights and a couple of special events, but not for a long while. The gigging band remains a covers outfit.

[Ravi Nair]

1. Its been a long time since i've put any live recording online. I think the bad audio quality would just put people off and give a bad first impression.

2. Ya i do go out and play live gigs. That's the place where you get to see if the stuff really works, and that's where you sometimes find like minded people and even musicians who can help you a lot. There is something about live playing, the more mistakes you make, the better musician you become!