Having an Identity
We're street peformers and folk dance musicians.
Street performing is a solid complement to playing dances. It hones us with a good chunk of performance experience & affords a chance to experiment with things we're readying to play at a dance.
But even as street performers, we are still playing folk dance music (American contra & square dance, to be precise). I've learned it's important for a musical group, or any artistic effort, to have an identity. When we play outdoors, I see people enjoying our music, but not knowing quite what they're hearing. It's so easy to tell them, "the thing tying together all the songs you hear, is that it is folk dance music." I've been in bands before that didn't know why they were together, other than to play something cool. It's very hard to make that work, and the listeners sense it when musically, you don't know who you are.
I think it also adds some cachet to our street show that we're established dance musicians, sharing our performances with the larger world.
Our identity even comes with its own songbook, The Portland Collection, from which we draw most of our material. There are established bands in our field that we can listen to and learn from. And even when we compose our own pieces, we know the genre we're fitting in to. Or if we goof around by briefly slipping in a verse of say, the Muppet Show theme, we make it fit the rhythm and song structure of a contra tune.
Apple Crisp is a young band (in multiple ways...), and will doubtless continue evolving. How reassuring that the course we're taking is guided by this compass.
Another musical group I play with, Kebrada Jazz Trio similarly has a solid identity which serves it well. We play jazz standards. We also have a bible, The Real Book.
Constraint has always been my best muse.
Street performing is a solid complement to playing dances. It hones us with a good chunk of performance experience & affords a chance to experiment with things we're readying to play at a dance.
But even as street performers, we are still playing folk dance music (American contra & square dance, to be precise). I've learned it's important for a musical group, or any artistic effort, to have an identity. When we play outdoors, I see people enjoying our music, but not knowing quite what they're hearing. It's so easy to tell them, "the thing tying together all the songs you hear, is that it is folk dance music." I've been in bands before that didn't know why they were together, other than to play something cool. It's very hard to make that work, and the listeners sense it when musically, you don't know who you are.
I think it also adds some cachet to our street show that we're established dance musicians, sharing our performances with the larger world.
Our identity even comes with its own songbook, The Portland Collection, from which we draw most of our material. There are established bands in our field that we can listen to and learn from. And even when we compose our own pieces, we know the genre we're fitting in to. Or if we goof around by briefly slipping in a verse of say, the Muppet Show theme, we make it fit the rhythm and song structure of a contra tune.
Apple Crisp is a young band (in multiple ways...), and will doubtless continue evolving. How reassuring that the course we're taking is guided by this compass.
Another musical group I play with, Kebrada Jazz Trio similarly has a solid identity which serves it well. We play jazz standards. We also have a bible, The Real Book.
Constraint has always been my best muse.
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