Now that High Desert Mystery is headed toward sequencing and release, Matt and I have started to explore our options for taking the material “on the road.” As usual, the foundational discussions occurred at the Carl’s Jr. on Pacific Coast Highway near Torrance Airport!
We settled into the window booth with the usual low-octane biomass at our disposal accompanied by ranch dressing, and swapped our respective Black & Blue takes on getting back to playing live. For me, returning to the stage to present strong, soulful performances to an audience is something I have been eager to do for a long time, and Matt, too, has felt the urge to get in front of a crowd with his guitar. In fact, not long ago he was actively prepping for a few solo gigs in Ohio. So first and foremost, the inclination is definitely there.
So how would we approach things, given the impetus of the High Desert Mystery CD?
At a high level, we both agree that if it comes down to a choice, we are more interested in making an entertaining show than in any promotional agenda, but we would obviously try to emphasize the overlap between the two.
Matt has taken to heart a lesson learnt from his past coffee-house experience: that audiences appreciate hearing songs that are familiar to them. Back in the Stickmen/My New Invention days, I had a rule of thumb that “cover” songs should optimally be about 1/3 of the set, but now I agree with Matt that 50% or even higher is probably more like it – especially since we are starting over, without the active fan base we had built up with our old band.
So we have to be geared toward winning over first time listeners. The goal should be that at the end of the evening, you enjoyed the show enough to take home our CD at very low cost or maybe free, because what we really want is for you to hear our recordings. For the rest of the universe, the CD will be available dirt cheap on the web from CD Baby. And also, when you listen to the CD, it should ideally bear some resemblance to what you heard and liked at the show. So the show can’t be all covers, because the CD is all original songs.
Note the contrast with the My New Invention commercial model, which was: put on a show that caters to the existing fans in the audience, with the hope that other strangers in the audience will be won over instantly and purchase our CD on the spot at full price – which was the only way to obtain a copy, due to total lack of distribution (apart from one store in Fullerton). This business model failed; CD sales just didn’t become reality at our shows.
(This was despite turning in some pretty darn solid performances. The band was at its peak, but we found ourselves out of college and playing to empty bars on weeknights. Ah, memory lane. Now I can’t believe we felt even slightly old back then. Why did we stop?)
The next big question for Black and Blue is how to present our music in a way that serves both the High Desert Mystery material, and the realities of the venues we are likely to play. In particular, our forthcoming CD is a full-band rock and roll album, but our “Black and Blue” lineup is just Matt and me. We did the album by doubling up on instrumental duties – Matt playing the drums throughout and me doing a lot of guitar and bass overdubs – but obviously that won’t work on stage.
So the two obvious options are (1) to switch to the traditional Black and Blue acoustic duo format, optimized for the coffee houses, and adapt the songs accordingly, OR (2) to recruit some musicians to present a rock-and-roll show at the more roadhouse-like venues. The latter option has tempted me for a long time. With my old band(s) defunct, I have been tempted to “get back on the road” as Swamptooth, somehow constituted as a rock and roll outfit. Black and Blue might accomplish the same thing, but as it turns out, Matt is leaning more strongly toward the pared-down coffee-house format, mostly out of reluctance to roll the dice with new band members.
Okay, the rock-and-roll route appeals to me in many ways, but I can relate to Matt’s reservations about the compromises and teething pains that go along with growing a new band. It takes a big investment of life force to parse out all the band members’ agendas, musical tastes and personality issues, and make it all work. My own idiosyncrasies are enough as it is. So whose favorite songs do you end up playing? You might say that Matt prefers, as Don Varner once famously quipped, to “play what I want.”
Still, I have a hard time letting go of the band approach, because there is an itch that only rock and roll can scratch. I also have found that what you gain from a good band is much more than you lose.
Bottom line though, both options hold plenty of appeal, and I can’t see regretting either choice.
Fun conversation over a burger and fries. But then as now, it’s time to get back to work on the CD!
