Rubbing shoulders with the big boys!!

[Zandit75]

I have another local Sunday afternoon gig this coming Sunday which is just a short 20min set.

A local lounge bar is running a competition for local Country Music singers with the winner getting a 45min set in support of Alternative Country Album of the year singer Shane Nicholson on the 18th of this month in Devonport. I've talked with them about what they need for an entry, and will put in a short bio to them tomorrow.

Well, gig number 2 is done and dusted. Pretty small turnout for what was the first get together of the year of monthly events for this group. From what I understand, they normally have a full house. Having said that, there was a lot of events on over the weekend, and you can't attend everything I guess!
It was back to my regular programming, with not a single soul getting up to dance while I sang, while pretty much every other singer had people dancing. Not that I mind, it's what I'm used to. I finished off with Chris Stapleton's "Whiskey & You" and you could hear a pin drop. I have never performed to a crowd that was so fixated on what I was playing!! It was pretty surreal.

Still haven't heard anything regarding the Lounge Bar gig. Hopefully they announce the winner soon.

[Andy40]

Great job Zandit. which guitar(s) did you play?

[Zandit75]

At this stage, I'm purely sticking to my acoustic 8-stringer. I have minimal experience with playing the electric, and getting a sound I like out of an amp is like trying to understand how to do an exorcism!!
This time out, I was all by my lonesome up on stage, and I don't use backing tracks, so the acoustic does all the work for me. Since building my LP, I have learned that there is no simple technique to jumping between electric and acoustic. One day I'll get off my butt and learn how to use the amp, pedals and techniques.......One day!!

[dave.king1]

At this stage, I'm purely sticking to my acoustic 8-stringer.

Please explain, was it just that extra Tasmanian finger getting in the way

[Zandit75]

Haha, nothing so extreme Dave. It's basically a 12-string acoustic with 4 strings removed. It doesn't have the real jangle of a 12-string, but a much fuller sound than a standard 6-string guitar. My model only has the D & G Strings doubled up with octave strings.

[Simon Barden]

I like it that even on the official Ibanez video, they cant get the octave strings quite in tune!

[Zandit75]

Eh, you get that! Honestly though, there are some days where I just cannot get it sounding right. The tuner is showing it to be perfectly in tune, but the first strum tells you straight away that something is not right, and it doesn't matter what minute changes you make, it's sounds out of tune.

I've had it now for about 18mths, and I've only really now starting to notice how well it has opened up. I was not overly impressed with it when I first bought it. Playing it myself it sounded quite thin, but handing it over to someone else to play you could hear a massive difference. Either I'm so used to the sound now, I don't notice it, or the sound has really developed like I am thinking.
Being a design that sits between a dreadnought and a jumbo, it has huge projection, and the chords ring out forever, especially open chords.

[Zandit75]

Another update, unfortunately I missed out on the support gig for Saturday night with Shane Nicholson. A four piece band from Launceston won first prize. I ended up getting one of the consolation prizes of a double pass to the show. My wife is attending my Nieces Hen's night, so I've asked my Sister and her fiance to go along with me.

It's not necessarily a bad thing. I'd be panicking now if I had won the comp!! Trying to put together a 45min set from a mixed bag of songs is not an easy task, especially when you;re not familiar with the crowd you are likely to be playing in front of, and I don't have enough songs up my sleeve to take requests!

I've been asked to play another set at the Australian Italian Club on the 12th of March, which I am really looking forward to.
I've also agreed to go back to the same crowd I performed for yesterday in May.
Looks like a busy start t the year!

[Simon Barden]

Regardless, you've done very well Zandit. You just need to work on a bigger repertoire of songs, so that you are ready to do a set next time!

[Zandit75]

Thanks Simon,most appreciated.
I probably didn't explain myself very well. I have more than enough songs to cover the length of the set, but I need more variety in the type of sings I sing. If you look at most of the songs I have done on my youtube channel, they are primarily ballads.
Since I have been performing more recently with a band backing me, I have started playing some more up tempo songs, however while they have been we received, I need to re-work them for playing by myself as they tend to have lead breaks that just don't work without them!