(Did I ever think I was going to link on this blog to an article about shotguns? Nope.)
One of the things that I try to avoid with my dumb show is (you've probably heard me talking about this before) overly general themes. I would not want to do a show with the theme cars, or drinks, or weather. I have nothing against those kinds of themes or shows but they weigh me down. How many songs about cars must I listen to to decide what to play on a two hour show?
It's true I did that early in this show's life but also back then I tended to put the show together the night before I did it. That would be hard to do nowadays. What happens now is I gather songs over a longer period of time & I come up with themes weeks before I explore them. I have some themes I came up with years ago that I still don't feel I'm ready to make a show with. None of those shows have themes like stars. Or the moon.
One of those themes that people have suggested to me before is guns. Wow that would be like nine hundred songs to listen to. I'm not sure I'd know where to start. & can I say something else? One of the reasons I like to find challenging themes is because it takes me out of my comfort zone - makes me find & listen to songs that I otherwise wouldn't necessarily play if I only had a few hours to put a show together.
If "shotgun" feels like a compromise because recently someone asked me to do a show about guns - well, you've anticipated tomorrow's blog post.
It's true I did that early in this show's life but also back then I tended to put the show together the night before I did it. That would be hard to do nowadays. What happens now is I gather songs over a longer period of time & I come up with themes weeks before I explore them. I have some themes I came up with years ago that I still don't feel I'm ready to make a show with. None of those shows have themes like stars. Or the moon.
One of those themes that people have suggested to me before is guns. Wow that would be like nine hundred songs to listen to. I'm not sure I'd know where to start. & can I say something else? One of the reasons I like to find challenging themes is because it takes me out of my comfort zone - makes me find & listen to songs that I otherwise wouldn't necessarily play if I only had a few hours to put a show together.
If "shotgun" feels like a compromise because recently someone asked me to do a show about guns - well, you've anticipated tomorrow's blog post.
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