Rubbing shoulders with the big boys!!

I have a busy couple of weeks/months coming up with some local performances.
The Sunday just gone was the start of it all, with a Festival at the Australian Italian Club in Launceston.
Here was my office for the day....
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/u...psqpbtmevu.jpg

I was part of the support list, while the main act for the day was Luke O'Shea, 7 time Golden Guitar winner!!

Damn this guy is tall!! Such a real down to earth kind of guy, it was pleasing to see that he still hadn't worked out all of his songs only 30mins before stepping on stage!
Another mainland singer was Chris Matthews who has been supporting Luke O'Shea on his Australian Tour. This guy is a hell of a guitar player, and also a gun on the Mandolin.

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.

Then in March, I have another booking for a festival in Ulverstone. Apparently there is another mainland act on display here, but I haven't heard who it is yet.

Bring it all on!!

Hope the gigs go well Zandit!

Definitely need the new box

Ooooh... pedal steel!! Nice office, bloke!!

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Originally Posted by corsair

Ooooh... pedal steel!! Nice office, bloke!!

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It's always a good gig there. I started out my set with me on Acoustic, Nifty Neville on Lead Guitar, Wayne on Drums, and Mick on Bass for three songs. I then gave them all a break except for Mick, who then stepped over to the Pedal Steel for another 4 songs.
This was the first time I had people dancing for every one of my songs, something that doesn't happen very often. For some reason, the audience normally sits and listens, not that I mind at all!

Great stuff Daniel, playing alongside the likes of Luke will do you no harm seeing how they operate is a good thing and them taking your name and memory back with them is even better.

Nice one Zandit!

Just been informed I have another live radio gig coming up on the 19th of this month!
Between all these gigs, and my brass band practice for the upcoming National Band Championships over Easter, I'm going to be a very busy boy!!

good stuff Zandit, you have got a busy schedule ahead !! Try and get some video's of you playing and the main act if you can !

I'll see what I can do Wokka. There was video of Sunday's festival, but I'm not sure what the quality is like. Most videos I've seen from similar shows seem to pick up peoples conversations clearer than what is being played on stage!

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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.

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

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!!

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Originally Posted by Zandit75

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

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

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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeS3JrXigDA

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

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.

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!

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!

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!

Wow, another great gig on the local radio tonight.
During my last song of the night a special guest turned up. I had the great pleasure of having Stuie French backing me!!!
My god, what an experience!
My old man got some video footage, so hopefully it came out alright.

Brilliant, Stuie can play a bit can't he anyone who can hang with the Time Jumpers and get applause from Vince Gill is certainly up there ( not too shabby on pedal steel either )

Stuie has a Magnum pedal steel which he said was made in Tasmania.

Stuie is local to me and has produced albums for two of my ex band mates, father and son Ron and Warren Derwent

Edited to add. I think we all hope that video came out well

Yeah, I'll admit, he can play pretty good!!:p
His playing style seems to be so effortless!
I had just finished 2 songs when one of the assistants came in with a note.
The host at the time, took the opportunity to change over with her Co-host and mentioned we had a visitor.
My mate Mick took the chance to get up and next thing I know here is Stuie sitting next to me.
I had kept Chris Stapleton's song "Whiskey & You" till last because it's in Drop D tuning, but he left his guitar in normal tuning and I was so lucky not to forget my words!
The video will not be from the best of angles, but hopefully the sound comes out right.

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Originally Posted by dave.king1

Stuie has a Magnum pedal steel which he said was made in Tasmania.

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Two headstocks?

(just testing to see if I've got this Tasmanian joke thing correct).

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Two headstocks?

(just testing to see if I've got this Tasmanian joke thing correct).

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Yep, you got it Simon, you're starting to talk like a Mainlander... Probably a Victorian.
You can always tell a Victorian, but you can't tell him much.....

Well done Zandit. Its a pity you're at the wrong end of the state or we might be able to get together for a Jam or two. I love working with Acoustic guitar, it lends itself well to my Fretless...

Definitely Hobastard, would love to ave a jam one day.
I'm just a basic strummer with occasional hammer-on's to make it look like I know what I'm doing so it's amazing to see how much change a great player like Mick, or especially Stuie, can make to a song.
Hopefully the video, and even the audio recording I have coming soon do it justice!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Two headstocks?

(just testing to see if I've got this Tasmanian joke thing correct).

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Droll Simon, very Droll!!!

Stop holding out with the video Zedman we the masses are getting restless

Haha, I haven't got it yet!! Apparently the sound has come out quiet well.
There is additional footage of Stuie, Mick and Nifty Neville doing some awesome picking as well which I'll share as soon as I get it!

Thanks for being patient everyone. I finally have the recording of the radio show from the other week, and it is now downloading to dropbox. It will take a couple of hours to become active, and I will then share the link for you!!

Here we go!!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/r4vi8u14yz...06.10.mp3?dl=0

The live stuff starts at 13mins, 30secs in.
13m30s - 28m30s - David Lee
32m12s - 42m30s - Bob Blacklow
1hr3m15s - 1hr16m - Me!
1hr15m53s - 1hr28m55s - Reg Quaile - My Dad.
1hr33m8s - 1hr38m48s - Instrumental between Mick Wilson & Neville Marston
1hr43m48s - 1hr56m35s - David Lee
2hr19 - 2hr31 - Bob Blacklow
2hr34m45s - 2hr46m15s - Neville Marston sings a couple of songs, then another instrumental with Mick Wilson.
2hr49m20s - 2hr59m13s -Me again with Mick Wilson backing me for 2 songs
3hr0m12s - 3hr4m44s - Me singing my last song, with Stuie French stepping in for me
Stuie stepped in for everyone else from this point on.
3hr7m45s - 3h18m - Reg Quaile
3h25m35s - 3h35m15s - Stuie French, Mick Wilson & Neville Marston picking & singing up a storm!
3h37m45s - 3h48m15s - David Lee
3h48m30s - End - Stuie French & Mick Wilson doing some more picking!

Hope you enjoy!
I'll hopefully have some video for you all shortly!!

It's been a long time coming, but I finally have the video from when Stuie French backed me on the radio.
Unfortunately, it's not from the best of angles, and Dad missed the very start of the song.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g73z86pmbs..._2882.MP4?dl=0

Let me know what you think.
I have new videos uploading to Drobox, I'll share the links when they have finished.