Along with your Blues Ed assigned songs, you’ll need others if you want to have enough to do full sets. We discussed having everyone contribute songs, and we can work on those, but if they have a chance of being performed, and accepted by the crowd, here are considerations:
• 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: