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| Hey guys. Just looking to get a consensus here from the players here. After solely playing original music for the last 18 years, I'm now involved in an acoustic duo playing cover tunes.
I'm curious as to how you go about picking your song choices? Do you tend to stick mostly to what is widely known and less of what you really would like to play? Do you tend to stick to the original arrangement, meter, key, etc to make it more familiar?
I'm encountering this issue where I am wanting to do more obscure tunes (for the masses anyway... any fan of old blues tunes would call my setlist a blues top 40), but I want the crowd to be engaged and interested in the music.
How do you find the right balance between songs people want to hear (so you get paid!) and material you find stimulating and interesting as a player? |
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Posts: 48
| If anyone is interested and has the time, I'd love a more seasoned bar/coffeehouse musician to take a look at my setlist and make an honest critique. |
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Location: Flahdaw | My opinion is that nothing loses a crowd quicker than songs they've never heard of. Then again, it depends where you are at and how great the song is. A coffeehouse, where they expect original music is one thing, A blues oriented club is fine for obscure blues tunes. For the most part tho, at most bars people want to hear songs they know and can hum along with. |
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| Well, I'm open to playing what people want to hear. There is only one exception for me. I will not under any circumstances play "Margaritaville". Anyone who grew up in South Florida should understand why. |
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Location: SE Michigan | Probably the first filter that I apply to a potential song is; do I like it? Next filter is; do I play it and sing it well? Then comes; is it recognizable and likely to be enjoyed by the audience? Other factors may be; has it been covered to death, is it worn out and overplayed? Is it overly sappy? Is it too racey for the audience? Is it too long and/or boring? I think the most important factor is how well you play the song. I cover a bunch of songs that I am kind of nuetral on but I do them because they fit my abilities well and sound decent. Conversly there are many many songs that I love but I have no business playing them in public because i just don't have the skill to pull them off in a polished manner. I save those songs for practice and noodling. |
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Location: SE Michigan | Post your set list. |
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Location: Denver, CO | 1. Did I write it? 2. Did someone I idolize write it? 3. Is it gleefully free of B chords?  Since most of the music I play is original, unless it's worship music, I generally choose only songs that have a great message, or tell a great story. The most common exception is if it's a song about Texas. The big consideration for me is if a song has chords I can't play. If I really, really want to do the song, I'll try to transpose or figure a workaround (such as substituting Bm7 for Bm...) |
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| In accordance with Brian's request, here is my set list. These are in no particular order. We usually just take the pulse of the crowd and choose the next tune accordingly. I'd welcome any critiques. Keep in mind, this is mostly bar/restaurant type settings we're playing in. These are songs we have rehearsed and can play well. My partner is more of a folk/singer songwriter type with a killer strum and I'm more of a blues/rock lead player. We both sing and can harmonize pretty well.
Aint No Sunshine - Bill Withers
Bad Bad Leroy Brown - Jim Croce
Ball and Chain - Social Distortion
Between Heaven and Hell - Zakk Wylde
Can't You See - Marshall Tucker Band
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young
Day Tripper - Beatles
Deel Elem Blues - Grateful Dead
Down in a Hole - Alice in Chains
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Good Riddance - Green Day
Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR
Heart of Gold - Neil Young
House of the Rising Sun - Animals
I Heard it through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
If You Could Only See - Tonic
Jane Says - Jane's Addiction
The Joker - Steve Miller Band
Jumper - Third Eye Blind
Knocking on Heavens Door - Bob Dylan
Leader of Men - Nickelback
Let it Be - Beatles
Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
Losing My Religion - REM
Lovesong - The Cure
Mad World - Tears for Fears
Messin With the Kid - Junior Wells
Only God Knows Why - Kid Rock
All Summer Long - Kid Rock
Patience - Guns and Roses
Put Your Lights On - Everlast/Santana
Santeria - Sublime
Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Stand By Me - Ben E King
Still Haven't Found - U2
Stir it Up - Bob Marley
Three LIttle Birds - Bob Marley
The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff
Turn the Page - Bob Seger
Venus - Shocking Blue
What I Got - Sublime
Who'll Stop the Rain - CCR
Bad Moon Rising - CCR
Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Lead Belly
Won't Find it Here - Zakk Wylde/Black Label Society
Bad Blood - Neil Sedaka/Elton John
The Blessed Hellride - Zakk Wylde/Black Label Society
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Ghost Riders in the Sky - Blues Brothers arrangement
Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
King Bee - Slim Harpo
Jump in De Line - Harry Belafonte
Mama Im Coming Home - Ozzy
Man on the Moon - REM
Maybe I'm Amazed - Wings
Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues
Save Tonight - Eagle Eye Cherry
Sea of Love - Phil Philips
Sex and Candy - Marcy Playground
Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnsn
Sugar Mountain - Neil Young
The Boxer - Paul Simon
Take it Easy - Eagles
Easy - Commodores (Faith no More arrangement)
Every Rose Has its Thorn - Poison
Rose Marie - Slim Whitman
Summer Breeze - Seals and Croft (Type O Negative arrangement)
Big Bottom - Spinal Tap
Burden - Opeth
Harvest - Opeth
Rooster - Alice in Chains
Cumbersome - Seven Mary Three
Show Me The Way - Peter Frampton
Summertime - Jazz standard (Metheny/Hall arrangement)
Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker
Eric Clapton - Cocaine
BB King - How Blue Can You Get
Buddy Guy - Snatch it Back and Hold It
Floyd Dixon - Hey Bartender
I Got Everything I need Almost - Downchild Blues Band
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Location: Flahdaw | Good songlist for the most part. A few odd ones that I would probably tune out, unless you performed them in such a way that really grabbed my attention. |
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| Are there too many oddball tunes for a typical bar audience? |
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Location: SE Michigan | Wow Nick, quite the song list. You don't need any more songs, you've used your allotted share. Save some for the rest of us. 
I also play in a duo, with Brad (Slipkid). We have a set list of about 40 songs and always a dozen or so more in the pipeline, and that's plenty to fill an evening. We do our best to fill out the vocals with harmonies and add the interesting guitar parts. We tend to focus more on 1960's and 70's classic rock stuff that we grew up with.
I have to say that I worry that two acoustic guitars with no other instruments gets a little monotonous for the audience after awhile. I would really like to find a suitable drummer, but they all seem to want full blown electric bands. I also would like to get more creative and artistic. We are not afraid to "turn a song on it's head" and arrange it in a very different way, we have done this to a few with success.
Great to hear from you, I'll be exploring your set list for ideas. |
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| Brian, thanks for checking out the list. We've really tried hard to come up with tunes that we enjoy playing but can earn us some good money and repeat gigs. Luckily, both my partner and I are multi-instrumentalists. My partner is a fantastic drummer and hand percussionist so whenever there is a lull in the crowd, we will do the song with myself playing acoustic (and sometimes harmonica) while my partner plays djembe and congas. It really helps to add some intensity to the set and create a danceable rhtyhm. We also both attach shakers to our left legs (for the hi-hat parts) and sometimes even go as far as to play the kick drum parts on our guitar cases with our right feet miked into the P.A.
Edited by sonicpictures 2013-03-21 6:26 PM
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Location: Flahdaw | sonicpictures - 2013-03-21 7:17 PM
Are there too many oddball tunes for a typical bar audience?
Where are you playing? What metro area? |
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| Hey Bob, we're based out of Naples. We play throughout SWFL but mostly Naples, Ft Myers, Marco Island, and sometimes Cape Coral. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I'll respond from the audience standpoint, since I"ve never had one. You've got a diverse list, which should pick up several generations of drinkers, which is good. Younger people will still know the oldies, but old people may not know a lot of the newer stuff. I don't know if you can switch the set lists around fast enough to match the age of your audience.
I've got a friend that does "non stop pop". Literally, he must know 1000 songs and doesn't stop between songs. Mostly it's stuff from the 60s and 70s. People my age, around 60, love him because they know every song he plays. I'm not sure if younger people appreciate that, but there always seem to be some in the audience that are enjoying it. |
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| Thanks for chiming in, Mark. I think our general idea in picking these songs was to have a big enough well to choose from depending on the makeup of the crowd on that particular night. If it were an older crowd, I doubt we'd play many of the post 1980s tunes. |
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| What is everyone's thoughts on playing with a music stand and chord charts? I can memorize all of the chords and leads no problem, but I can't remember lyrics to save my life. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Ipad with a mic stand attachment. Nix the stand with sheet music.
Naples is like here in Sarasota/Bradenton. I think the bars that pay well want either beach music (Buffett) or older stuff. The people with money are an older average age. The bars that attract young people don't pay, or want you to work for tips, or do open mics. I used to hang at some of the Naples Bars when I was a sales rep and traveled that territory. Lots of millionaires in their late 50's and 60's...... |
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| That's pretty accurate, Bob. Gotta give the people what they want, as long as what they want isn't "Margaritaville". Gotta draw the line somewhere. That's why we chose quite a few of those tunes, like Bad Moon Rising, Simple Man, etc. They've been done to death but it's what people want. Thankfully my partner is ok with me doing extended lead parts so at least I can have a little bit of fun playing some of the more tired tunes. |
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Location: SE Michigan | I've always been against having a music stand and song books at a gig, but alas I have relented. It helps to refresh your memory at least at the beginning of a song, or to remember lyrics. Ideally I like to have everything playable and committed to memory but we are growing older and soft in the head so I caved and we now usually use a music stand. We do keep it low, usually right above the monitor so that it's not too intrusive. Brad tapes little notes inside the bout of his guitar. |
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Location: Orlando, FL | Nice setlist! Lots of recognizable songs. People may not be familiar with some of the blues stuff, but tunes like Messin with the Kid, I Got Everything I Need Almost, and Boom Boom have great hooks that pull and audience in. And they're fun to play, I think people will respond.
Edited by Designzilla 2013-03-21 8:10 PM
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| I'm with you on that Brian. I don't see why it's such a big deal. Orchestra players do it, some jazz guys do it, hell I've even seen blues guys do it. I would never use a "cheat sheet" if I were playing originals (if you don't have the competency to memorize your own music, you probably shouldn't be playing originals), but doing 4 sets a night of covers... that's a lot of lyrics. As long as it's off to the side, you're not glued to your notes, and you can still effectively connect with the audience, why not? |
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| Designzilla, that was indeed my thought with the blues tunes. Even if you don't know them, everyone knows a 12 bar blues feel, so it still sounds really familiar to them. The music itself is so catchy and moving you get hooked pretty quick as a listener. My take on it anyway. |
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| As a side note, Designzilla, I see you are in O-town. I went to college there and still have some friends in the Winter Park area. Fun town when you can get out of the shadow of the almighty mouse overlord! |
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | If you've got an ipad, download OnSong, or SongBook. The lyrics scroll down the ipad in time with the music.
Then get a K&M micstand iPad holder.
Having an iPad on stage opens up a whole raft of options to make your solo or duo act more engaging. |
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How do you pick your song choices?
