Played at Farmers Market Saturday, East Bay Potluck Sunday. Saturday session was about 75 minutes, pretty good for the lack of concentration I had. This was inside the building itself, on the second floor, acoustics were good, but I think I need to find a place on the first floor off of main traffic where sound can diffuse out, at least until they have the second floor construction finished. I was playing Original Rags well, but then my mind failed and I couldn't remember which key I was in. I think musette and rags would work well there.

Keeping concentration is key... I've got the physical ability, but need to control my mind.

I picked up two hornpipes this weekend, The Cuckoo's Nest (in G) and Spelan the Fiddler. I've played both before but I don't think I had ever memorized either. (Memorizing came pretty quickly.) With both I was really focused on playing simply, unornamented, but paying attention to the bowing, to the separation and tying of notes, the accents.

Silver Spire, Steel Guitar Rag, Tater Pie, Diddie-Wah-Diddy, Hurry Home Sweet Mama were tunes I led Sunday. I'm still getting lost on occasion, but there's more firmness in a lead than before. It's hard when someone is playing the wrong chord progression, without a groove.

Rags are moving... I'm focusing on a core set and while they're not always note-perfect it's getting to the place where they may not need to be... where there's an underlying logic and feel that transcends individual notes.

During the summer I'll be moving into open mics... there's Hotel Utah on Mondays, Irelands on Wednesdays, I'm sure there are others. There will be downtime waiting around, and I'm not keen on increasing my exposure on the streets, but I've got to test my sound in front of people to grow it, and also need to meet a range of other musicians.
posted by macromed5 at 8:44 AM