Steveperrywriter
Well-known member
So, I went to an open acoustic jam at a local pub. (Second time there, but the first round, I didn't take a solo, nor lead a song, nor did I strum too loudly.)
My wife sat nearby, drank a beer, and knitted. "You should sing," she said.
Maybe, I told her. I'll go with the flow, see if there's a moment to give it a go. I hadn't ever led with my uke in a public house before, and was passing nervous about it.
I had worked all week on an old Sam Cooke song, "Bring It on Home," an easy three-chord blues number, and I thought I'd wait until the ale kicked in and see could I work up my courage ...
The harp player was running things, and it turned out two of the usual song leaders weren't there yet. Car trouble, other engagement, like that, so he looked at the group come start up time: Four guitarists, a bass, keyboard, flute player, and me. "Anybody sing? Willing to lead?"
Nobody jumped up.
Half a stout along, I said, "Well, I got one ..."
So I wrote the chords on a white board, did an intro, and we were off.
As it turned out, the real singers didn't get there for a while, so I wound up leading three more songs: "St. James Infirmary," "House of the Risin' Sun," and "Woke Up Dead Blues." Sang, played, allow room for anybody who wanted to take a solo, and it was just fine.
Didn't screw up too bad ...
And all that worry, for like, forever, about playing and singing in public just blew right past, no big deal ...
You thinking about doing this? Go for it. I can do it, anybody can do it ...
My wife sat nearby, drank a beer, and knitted. "You should sing," she said.
Maybe, I told her. I'll go with the flow, see if there's a moment to give it a go. I hadn't ever led with my uke in a public house before, and was passing nervous about it.
I had worked all week on an old Sam Cooke song, "Bring It on Home," an easy three-chord blues number, and I thought I'd wait until the ale kicked in and see could I work up my courage ...
The harp player was running things, and it turned out two of the usual song leaders weren't there yet. Car trouble, other engagement, like that, so he looked at the group come start up time: Four guitarists, a bass, keyboard, flute player, and me. "Anybody sing? Willing to lead?"
Nobody jumped up.
Half a stout along, I said, "Well, I got one ..."
So I wrote the chords on a white board, did an intro, and we were off.
As it turned out, the real singers didn't get there for a while, so I wound up leading three more songs: "St. James Infirmary," "House of the Risin' Sun," and "Woke Up Dead Blues." Sang, played, allow room for anybody who wanted to take a solo, and it was just fine.
Didn't screw up too bad ...
And all that worry, for like, forever, about playing and singing in public just blew right past, no big deal ...
You thinking about doing this? Go for it. I can do it, anybody can do it ...