This should be titled "Lose that Stage Fright" because it's what I intend to do this month. Hopefully I'll have progress to report after each posting! And I will be asking questions that I hope you can answer, ladies!
Gig 1 - A wedding at the top of a local ski area, our first gig out that involved what I call real money. 2 hours, maybe 100 people. Outside, no electricity so no amplification. The bride requested the song All Your Life by The Band Perry, as her processional, so we worked up an arrangement for harp and mandolin. (A song we don't really like, and so we can't stop singing/humming/lalala-ing it, of course...) Our song list: Wild Mountain Thyme, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, Trip to Sligo, Swan Lk 243, The Grenadier and the Lady, Squire Wood's Lamentation, Baptist Johnson, Var Det Du, Ashokan Farewell, George Brabazon #1, Fanny Poer, Planxty Drew, Boys of Ballisodare, Carolan's Concerto, Sheebeg Sheemore, Kean O'Hara #3, O'Carolan's Welcome, Scarborough Fair, Over the Rainbow, Skye Boat Song, Fhear a Bhata, and a few improvised pieces by JP. (We will pick and choose from this list for our next 3 gigs...) Anxiety report: not nervous the day of or on the way over. No shaking hands at the strings like the last time I played at the Dunbarton Coffeehouse, but playing as background music is way less intimidating than an actual performance, right? Should have brought a board to lay down on the uneven grass surface - there was no position I could find that made the harp perfectly level, and I ended up leaning in way more than I usually do. When you play outside, ladies, how do you handle an uneven surface? I am planning on bringing a sheet of plywood next time and covering it with a small rug unless I hear something better from you! Made some good connections with the Justice of the Peace and the Banquet Manager at the facility, so perhaps more wedding gigs in the future? But here's the thing - not one person, (guest or wedding party member) said one thing to us the entire time. I guess I was raised that, even if you don't think so, you go over and say something complimentary. JP says this is the way things go when you play out. Ugh! All that work and not one moment of kindness? I am not sure I am made for this. But concerts? Isn't that more nerve-wracking? Would love to hear your comments! Thanks for reading.
Your set list looks good--lots of O'Carolan, a few that I play as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that a board covered with a rug or cloth for uneven outdoor surfaces sounds perfect.
Were you amplified when you played your outdoor gig? I am just wondering if maybe people didn't hear you....maybe that's why no comments? I admit that is rare that someone doesn't say *something* nice, they are usually blown away just by *seeing* the harp!
I think the board with a rug is also a brilliant idea! Most of my outdoor gigs were on a hard surface- porch, deck, cement...but one memorable one turned out to be muddy ground and by the time I was done with the wedding prelude music, my stool, and the small stool I used at the time for my 34 string Kortier, had sunk a good 2 inches into the soft ground! So I would have needed a piece of plywood large enough to fit all of me, plus the harp!
ReplyDeleteThe no comments thing really puzzles me- I have only played ONE wedding where NO ONE said anything, and it was one I had killed myself preparing for as I had only 2 weeks notice (their first harper backed out 2 weeks before the wedding!)I had all kinds of help lugging harp, stool, music stand, amp, etc, when I got there, and NO help loading after! And someone had hidden my harp case, so it wasn't in any pictures, and safe (I guess) and I had to go on a treasure hunt to find it! Usually, at least some people come to say how beautiful it is, and ask questions about the harp, etc. And the bride and groom usually thank me personally! Have people just gotten so used to produced, canned music, that they literally do not see that human beings create those lovely sounds? We don't comment to our CD players, do we? I don't get it....but I would be surprised if it happens to you often!
Pam - great post!
ReplyDeleteMy experience is that people have complicated reactions to live music. I find if I take a break at some point, a few people always say something nice. Otherwise, it's a mixed bag, sometimes nothing, something some people come over and talk to me while I'm playing! Get really close, I mean and ask inane questions. Would they ask a fiddler or a flute player? Ha ha. I'm not great at harping and talking at the same time. A tiny group sometimes lurks and pounces and starts talking about their interest in music, playing etc. Hardly anyone ever has a clue about Irish music either, but I'm used to that now. The other day when I played Fanny Power at a gallery opening a lady asked me if I was making it up! Oi! Polite smile, "No, but thanks."
Oh and - Andee is reminding me - might be best to contain all posts in one unit per month. That is my idea. The blog will automatically start your first post in a new month in a new ... uh....post (clarity is hard here) and you can return to it, date things if you like, or not, and then it is easy for you and us to find later. I'm thinking of including my name in my header too, to make it easier to find later.
ReplyDeleteGood idea Lucy to put our names in the headers. I just get confused easily.
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious then asking you if you were making Fanny Power up. Eons ago when I first started playing I had a version of 'Stairway to Heaven'. I was playing at the opening of a holistic centre and someone said, "That's beautiful, who wrote it?" I replied, "Page and Plant". One time after playing the usual tunes for an hour at a cafe a young woman asked it I had written all my pieces.
Just adding before the month ends: You can edit, add and subtract etc. your once-a-month blog as long as you are signed in. There should be a pencil symbol at the bottom of it. Click on that and when you're done hit 'Update'. I date my entries normally (not this one, of course). It will automatically roll over into a new month because I've set it up to do that.
ReplyDeleteIf you have multiple posts for September or any previous months and have the time it would be great to choose one post and put them all together. I will do it for you if you don't want to as your kindly although erratic admin. L