32 years ago in May I played my very first solo Stick gig. It was at a vegetarian restaurant called the Garden Gourmet, playing for an excellent meal and tips. I still have the little wicker basket I brought for that purpose. It sits on my desk, and is now full of various bits of "rummel" (a Dutch word, I'm told, for the kinds of things we find in our junk drawers....)

I've played thousands of solo performances since then, from live TV broadcasts on National Dutch TV, to The Montreal Jazz Festival, and the bedside of friends and family in Hospice, from a 40th wedding anniversary dinner, where I was the only person in the room besides the celebrating couple, to a "grand opening" of a Whole Foods store, where I stood on the catwalk above the bulk food aisle, to streets in Ulm, Germany, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and many other towns and cities..

A few things I noticed along the way.

1. Taking time to tune is always worth it.
2. Pandering to the audience and relying on the novelty of the instrument will only take you so far. But that doesn't mean you can't make programming choices that will make the experience better for everyone.
3. Make sure you have your cable and truss wrench before you leave the house.
4. If you're going to play a cover, make sure you can do it without screwing up (people will notice, and hate it), and make sure you are saying something new with it. Make it your own.
5. Try to look at the audience, but don't get distracted by them. When I started playing out I was a 21-year-old, and every attractive woman in the joint was a threat to my set..
6. A performance is a two-way street. Put yourself in the audience's shoes, especially concerning your volume, ... Respecting your audience, even if you feel like they are only there to get drunk, will make things go much better.
7. There's nothing impressive about being sloppy, no matter how cute you think your idea is or how fast you think you can do it...
8. Learn how to talk and play at the same time, because people will ask you questions in the middle of your hardest piece.
9. If you are going to talk to people about The Stick, remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers...

Feel free to add your own.

There's a whole other list for playing with a group... sometime I'll put that together, too.

That's a really great post Greg , and such a sagely list of points. I'm much older than 21, but now I get out to play live as much as I can , I have thought about all this stuff in one way or another , nice to see it eloquently complied in a list. Over time it all matters.
My pet gripe is when people decide to tune up once they up on stage.

Thanks & congratulations on spectacular achievements musically & for the Stick so far.

Great list Greg.

Great post, thank you for sharing. I've mostly performed with groups, but I'm looking to do more solo performance on the Stick in the coming year and these are excellent points to keep in mind.

Greg:

Congratulations! The reason I took the plunge and started playing Stick in 1996 was seeing your performance at Border's Books (RIP) in Arlington, Virginia. I had the honor of playing a few Stick Nights with you as well and you set an outstanding example for solo Stick performance.

All of your suggestions/observations are spot on.

I would add the following:

1. Use the simplest rig possible and bring spare cables, power supplies, and strings. If you venture into a more complex rig, test it before heading to the gig. Have a backup (I have a Zoom stompbox in my Stick bag at all times).

2. At least at my level of playing, you will inevitably make a mistake. Do not let it throw off an entire song or gig. Learn from your mistakes but don't let them stop you.

3. For those starting out, open mics are a great training ground because you only need to know 1-3 songs. This is also where playing an unusual instrument helps. Note that some open mics are "acoustic" only. At one venue, the host always announces that he makes an exception for me. He is a super nice guy and I think he just wants to avoid having a metal guitarist with a Marshall stack sign up to play. I avoid pointing out that every single other player at the open mic is *plugging an acoustic guitar into the PA* which, by definition makes the performance *non-acoustic*. Use battery powered, minimal effects. There is no set up time and little tolerance for messing with gear. Tune before you get up on stage.

4. You are a Stick ambassador! You will be asked if the Stick is a sitar, where it came from, how it is tuned, etc. Be prepared!

Jeremy

If this is a 'Greg appreciation' thread I want to get in at the beginning and say that one of the
main reasons I made a solid decision to play the Stick was because of Greg Howard.

I had a Stick, and that was because of Don Schiff, but I was having some troubles with
my willingness to 'stick' it out . In 2001 I did not really know very much about The Stick or
who was playing it. The internet was slightly more novel then and one night I discovered this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CF9JA ... 8886236DA4

It is not great quality but the "thing" comes through and I remember saying to myself that "I must
do that". I have never stopped playing since, barley missing a day, and I am still not as good as that cat, I mean Greg.

Thanks man .

If this is a 'what would be good to remember about playing the instrument' thread, I would like to add
two things; in Aikido there is a saying that "there is no mastery", meaning that there is no
end point to learning the skill of the art. Then the Aikido teacher will whisper "Mastery is in practice".. This applies to The Stick.

Also, imho, playing out is just the middle of the journey .

jRj
*j*
.~

Greg, I'm 64 and it seems rule #5 still applies big time.

Ha! Yes.

Looks like it's all about Greg's Rule #5.

Then you have to ask yourself, why do we perform? Maybe we're all songbirds, mockingbirds.

They say la dolce vida is about wine, women and song. I've had this joke with several jazz musicians (unnamed here and speaking strictly for myself) that at the end of the gig, it's only "wine and song".

Well, I still find myself focusing on one person in the audience and playing my heart out for that angelic presence, young or old. It can stimulate your music but you have to be prepared to be the fool.