Patter thread

[Doug]

How do, and what do you do for patter between songs.

Does anyone else do patter "in" songs.

We don't pre write patter between songs but things that come up in practice that we like get repeated in gigs until at least the general idea is pre written. ie. We play at a restaurant called Lazy River Cafe. I start "Up a Lazy River" with something about, "they fire us if we don't play this, or there's the boss lady now we better play her song" not the same every time but the same thread.

We do a bunch of blues with patter as part of the song. It works well for us, and we are always looking for more of that, but it's a case of more is less. Those are more likely to be scripted to not mess up the timing.

[Cornflake]

I spend a lot of time planning this. I don't have a script but I always have brief notes on the set list about what I'll say, unless a better idea strikes me on the spur of the moment. My sense is that everything you do, including talking, is a part of how you're filling that chunk of time for the audience, and it all deserves planning. Everything matters.

Mostly I try to avoid talking directly about the songs themselves, with some exceptions. I talk about current events, bandmates, the place where we're playing, the next act. I'm always trying to relax the boundary between the performers and the audience and make the whole thing more conversational.

Sometimes I will alert an audience that the next song is serious or written by someone other than me. Early on, I had an experience where we were playing one of our darkest and nastiest songs. From the first few lines, you might think it was funny. One audience member did and laughed. Then he realized the song was not funny. He felt awkward, I'm sure, and I felt bad about the expectations we had created by playing that one after a song that really was funny, without any warning to the audience that it was no longer ha ha time. That's part of why I now try to change moods less abruptly and to give some signal when expectations need to change.

[Doug]

I agree with that part about it all being part. Even the breaks are part of the entertainment. An I'm not a great singer, or a great guitar player, as Jimmy Buffet says I'm a shameless entertainer.

I do little intros to the songs sometimes for some songs. I was doing a bit about Henry Thomas doing his gig in OK in Aug at age 96 when I did "Fishing Blues" that he wrote. Or how I learned "What's that taste like gravy" from a cut from the King David Jug Band and how no one knows who was in the King David Jug Band. That kind of stuff. Chris says they like it.

But we do as much Chris pickin' on me as possible, cause it's funny, and funny is good entertainment.

[iamjohnne]

Patter is important. I have found though, guys get away with it better than ladies.

Joni didn't patter much at all. She just stood on the stage and sparkled and sang. Estrella Berosini, one of Joni's Ladies of the Canyon, never said much either. She might say, "This is a song by so and so" but that was the extent.

Barbara Christopher, who is now Mrs. Michael Smith, needed to shut up. Her timing was off and her jokes fell flat.

Fred Neil would talk to the audience as if they were one person. He would sometimes go right into one song after the other, at times I think he needed to muster himself up, so he would banter between songs. Usually about nothing important, like a haircut, or whatever he ate for lunch.

[Marshall]

cornflake said:

Sometimes I will alert an audience that the next song is serious or written by someone other than me.

Do they sometimes cheer then ?

My regular gig is in church. We set a group policy that the person singing lead that day introduces the song. It has a technical function. Some mics have an on-off switch. It lets the singer know if the mic is on and lets the sound guy balance the volume before you start the song. (Yes, we've started songs without the mic on.)

More importantly it gives the singer a chance to say something about the song and the theme of the day and why the song was chosen. We usually perform the Special right after the sermon, so (if you've been listening) you can sometimes find a connection with what has just been spoken. Sometimes the segway turns into a mini-sermon in itself.

It's rarely "planned." The person who is singing will mull it over in their head during the service and get up and speak from the heart.

It usually works out pretty well.

[billhammond]

Barb and I do a fairly relaxed patter, and it winds up being pretty evenly weighted between her comments and mine. Some of our lines we've used repeatedly, but we always look for ways to involve the audience on hand, as well. And I would say that for maybe a quarter of our songs, we say nothing before them, and talk about them just a little after they are done.

We do little quizzes, too -- We often ask after doing "Till There Was You" if anyone remembers which musical that was from -- it's funny how few people do know that one, and it makes for a lighthearted little contest.

Barb used to really shy away from talking into the mike, but she does a lot of it now, and it only gets easier.

Johnne -- I have seen a fair number of film clips where Joni talked at length about the song she was about to do, but I never did get to see her live, dammit.

[Marshall]

billhammond said:

We do little quizzes, too -- We often ask after doing "Till There Was You" if anyone remembers which musical that was from -- it's funny how few people do know that one, and it makes for a lighthearted little contest.

To my mind, you're going to have to put out a boat load of of showmanship to make that one work for me. . . . , But, if anybody can, I know you can do it.

[iamjohnne]

Bill,

You must also remember that I am talking about back when she only had one album out and no one but Tom Rush had ever heard of her.
She had great stage presence even then, she literally sparkled on stage, but didn't talk much. I think she gained a lil bit more confidence as the years progressed.

[Deleted]

billhammond said:

We do little quizzes, too -- We often ask after doing "Till There Was You" if anyone remembers which musical that was from -- it's funny how few people do know that one, and it makes for a lighthearted little contest.

Me me, pick me. The Music Man!

The other method to our church music madness, is that speaking before hand keeps, or gets, the ol' vocal cords oiled up prior to popping that first note. And sometimes, since we do a new song each week with usually only one rehearsal, we need the talking time to try and figure out how the song goes, again.

[Deleted]

Yes, quizes are good.

I sometimes do a "spot the deliberate guitar fluff" quiz. I award points:

One point: for detecting the location of the fluff
two points: for detecting the note that should have been played
three points: if I miss a string: for identifying the string I should have played.

No points are awarded if I miss the guitar entirely, because that would have been an unplanned error.

I used to award prizes but it cost me a fortune.

[dradtke]

My regular gig is in church.

So do you warm them up with a couple good jokes first?

[Tim Alexander (fmrly. Camalex)]

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "My sense is that everything you do, including talking, is a part of how you're filling that chunk of time for the audience, and it all deserves planning. Everything matters.

Nicely said Flake.

[Doug]

New patter deal.

Set starter. I come in from break, start "Five Foot Two" after I get to the "could she, could she, could she coo" line I have a long instrumental. Chris wanders back to the stage just as I start the instrumental and goes "chooche chooche choo?" like that's the dumbest thing she's ever heard, picks up harp and jams in to the instrumental.

Works better than it sounds typed out. We've run it through a few times and I think it'll work.