1. Being tight and well-rehearsed makes any band great in the eyes of the audience.
• Start a song together, and professionally.
• Vary endings, so they’re not all “jams”
• Watch each other, but especially drummer and bassist, as they are the nerve centers.
• Rehearse beginning, end, intros, even banter.

2. Backup vocals make a HUGE difference
• Without background vocals it gets boring and monotonous
• It takes practice to be able to play and sing at the same time – you need to know the song perfectly. But it’s going to take practice to becoming a working band.

3. Song selection, arrangement, and presentation is critical.
• Match it to your audience
• Your audience is probably expecting Blues, don’t stray too far
• No matter how great the song, it can get boring if it’s 5 verses by the same singer. Mix it up, add background vocals, place solos strategically
• Don’t indulge yourself in song selection – indulge the audience, but with songs you really enjoy playing.
• Match your songs to the skill level and strengths of your musicians. Don’t overwhelm then, let them show off their unique talents.

Other Input:

Entertain the audience, you are there to entertain them, not yourselves.

Pay attention to the audience. If you’re not paying attention to the audience, be paying attention to each other. DO NOT pay attention to your shoes (or lack of).

Have fun with each other. Encourage solos – shout them on, clap, encourage each other and the audience. Walk over and play (or sing) with the drummer, the bass player, the guitar players. Let the audience know that you really enjoy each other. Get together outside of rehearsals to jam together and work on side projects.

Get into the music. This isn’t like school band, you’re not playing “Ode To Joy” while sitting next to a belching trombone player. Have fun with it – make the songs your own.

Find an encore song. Instantly recognizable, one others can come up and play or sing, one that gets the audience moving.

The Blues Ed season goes through the summer. At that time you could stop and wait for the next Blues Ed season, that’s an individual choice, or you can continue working and playing through the year. Some of the members intend to continue on with the goal of becoming a working band. If that’s your desire – this could be your part-time high school job. If that’s not your desire, that’s OK too, but let the band know before the end of the season so those wanting to continue can look at their options and have time to find replacements.

• It needs to be well known – you want people singing along.
• You need to be able to play it for an indefinite period of time
• Other musicians you may invite on stage must be able to pick it up quickly.
• It must lend itself to easy solos and improv
• Not only must it be danceable, it needs to get people dancing.

There has to be a bunch of them. This is open for comments, let us know your suggestions or ideas.

• You have to match a song to the audience.
• Your audience is probably expecting Blues, don’t stray too far
• No matter how great the song, it can get boring if it’s 5 verses by the same singer. Mix it up, add background vocals, place solos strategically
• Don’t indulge yourself in song selection – indulge the audience, but with songs you really enjoy playing.
• Match your songs to the skill level and strengths of your musicians. Don’t overwhelm them, let them show off their unique talents.
• Make the audience feel good, play music that they relate to.
• Get the audience dancing. This can’t be stressed enough, if not dancing, make them WANT to dance.
• Many (but not all) of the songs should be recognizable. If not recognizable, they should be 100% blues, with feeling.

Add your ideas in the comments below: