Songlist for acoustic restaurant/small bar gigs

[SunRaFan]

Hi,

 

I'm putting together a duo for sit down restaurant/small bar gigs. Female singer/keyboards and I'm a guitarist/a little backup vocals. My main question is for people who have done these sorts of gigs what sort of balance do you try to strike between easy listening sort of fare and more up-tempo or edgy stuff.

 

These are the songs we've learned so far :

 

Neil Young - Helpless

Patsy Cline - Crazy

The Band - I Shall Be Released

Gillian Welch - I want to Sing that Rock 'n Roll

Gillian Welch - Orphan Girl

Georgia on My Mind

Beatles - blackbird

Radiohead - True Love waits

Buffalo Springfield - for what it's worth

White Stripes - fell in love with a girl

White Stripes - my doorbell

Radiohead - spinning plates

Man of Constant Sorrow

Leadbelly/Nirvana - where did you sleep last night

Patsy Cline - walking after midnight

Duke Ellington - in a sentimental mood

[chadd]

If you play too wide of a variety, it won't appeal to anyone. Pick an era or genre as your base and flavor it with a few songs from outside that era/genre. Your list strikes me as an example of being too diverse for your own good.

[DevilRaysFan]

Im just oppositte -- I like having a wide variety of material to pull from as I never know whos going to be in any one establishment and what they want to hear or are in the mood for

 

Before I quit playing music fulltime in 2008, I did a duo with an acoustic guitar player ( I played 12-String bass, on some stuff I also played keyboards/left hand bass, and ran a Boss Dr-3 drum machine with my feet ). We both sang. This duo was a big part of my income

 

In the past, a Wide variety of music = Way more tips and way more gigs available

 

Also, I used to like 'tricking' club owners: When you are having a good night, but the bar owner thinks you are too loud, just switch formats to a lighter style Worked everytime

 

Looking at your list, I think you need more 70s and 80s...........

 

For bar gigs, try and do stuff that gets everybody singing

For restaraunt gigs, I find that staying unobtrusive in the background is the best way to do those as a duo

 

Good Luck

[Chicken Monkey]

I think the less-diversity approach might work for full bands, but with a duo, you're totally in a corner in regards to sound, so you can really pull from as many places as you want--it'll all sound like a girl, a piano, and a guitar. That list looks like a good combination of songs people will recognize and songs people will enjoy as background music while they eat.

[ggm1960]

Mellow piano songs that work well for me are Imagine, Beth and Desperado.

[BlueStrat]

 

If you play too wide of a variety, it won't appeal to anyone. Pick an era or genre as your base and flavor it with a few songs from outside that era/genre. Your list strikes me as an example of being too diverse for your own good.

 

 

Not for a restaurant it isn't.

[MusicalSchizo]

I think when you have any sort of acoustic duo, it's important to realize that the SONGS are most important, because your sound is always going to be the same (as Chicken Monkey pointed out). If your set list is too tight, then the songs are just a big wash of sameness, and you'll be kind of boring after a while.

 

Pepper in a diverse set of songs, reinterpreted for your duo, and people will go, "wait - I know this - I've never heard it done this way before...cool!"

 

At least that's been my experience. I always try to shake it up and play stuff acoustically that people just wouldn't think to do, like a lot of pop 80s stuff ("Hold Me Now", "Don't You (Forget About Me)", etc.), a lot of 90s rock ("Sober", "Everlong", etc.), and even some 60s songs that you wouldn't expect ("Signed, Sealed, Delivered", "Bus Stop", "Elenore"). I personally like to keep it uptempo more than mellow, mostly because I think the acoustic nature of what you're doing already takes care of taking it down a notch. No need to pile on, in my opinion.

 

Anyway, there are a few demos of my acoustic tracks over at my acoustic myspace: www.myspace.com/acousticalschizo

 

Then you'll get an idea of what I do with it...but I do try to mix in the obvious songs as well, because I think doing an acoustic show and avoiding becoming wallpaper has a lot to do with engaging the crowd and singing songs that they'll want to sing along to. I mean, "Piano Man" may be a bit overdone, but people will sing along, even if it's just a dude with an acoustic guitar.

 

But that's just my feeling about that sort of show, because acoustic acts that are up and interesting are much more interesting to me...everyone has a different take.

 

Good luck!

Brian V.

[BlueStrat]

 

Hi, I'm putting together a duo for sit down restaurant/small bar gigs. Female singer/keyboards and I'm a guitarist/a little backup vocals. My main question is for people who have done these sorts of gigs what sort of balance do you try to strike between easy listening sort of fare and more up-tempo or edgy stuff. These are the songs we've learned so far : Neil Young - Helpless Patsy Cline - Crazy The Band - I Shall Be Released Gillian Welch - I want to Sing that Rock 'n Roll Gillian Welch - Orphan Girl Georgia on My Mind Beatles - blackbird Radiohead - True Love waits Buffalo Springfield - for what it's worth White Stripes - fell in love with a girl White Stripes - my doorbell Radiohead - spinning plates Man of Constant Sorrow Leadbelly/Nirvana - where did you sleep last night Patsy Cline - walking after midnight Duke Ellington - in a sentimental mood

 

Your list looks like a darn good start to me. Makes me wonder "What's he gonna play next?"

 

 

I do alot of obscure singer/songwriter/Americana/alt country stuff, so here's a partial list

 

Chris Knight

 

Enough Rope

If I Were You

Send A Boat

 

James McMurtry

 

Lights of Cheyenne

I'm Not From Here

Levelland

No More Buffalo

 

John Hiatt

 

Lipstick Sunset

Feels Like Rain

Just Like Your Dad Did

I Wanna Thank You Girl

 

Buffett

 

Wonder Why We Ever Go Home

A Pirate Looks At 40

Miss You So Badly

Son of A Son of A Sailor

 

Dylan

 

Don't Think Twice

One Too Many Mornings

I Shall Be Released

Forever Young

 

John Prine

 

Living In The Future

That's The Way The World Goes Round

Fish and Whistle

It's A Big Ol' Goofy World

Angel From Montgomery

Sam Stone

Hello In There

 

Shawn Mullins

 

Blue As You

Santa Fe

Gulf of Mexico

Shimmer

 

Aaron Neville

 

Wrong Number

Louisiana 1927 (Randy Newman song)

 

Lyle Lovett

 

If I Had a Boat

She's No Lady She's My Wife

Closing Time

Little Feat

 

Willin'

Sailin' Shoes

Long Distance Love

On Your Way Down

 

Beatles

 

Oh! Darling

Let It Be

Maxwell's Silver Hammer

 

And I do a bunch of stuff by other people-I have a few James Taylor songs in the bag for requests ( Fire and rain, Mexico, You've Got A Friend, Sweet Baby James) and a few blues songs, like Robert Johnson and Elmore James, some Stones ( Under My Thumb, Wild Horses) and so on. I do about 80 songs altogether.

A couple of the venues I play said they don't want the same stuff everyone plays, since they're eating and listening venues. I pretty much get to play whatever I want and they keep paying me to do it, so it works for me!

[SunRaFan]

Thanks for the comments everybody. It sounds like we are probably on the right track. We do have a bunch more songs from the 70s on our list of potential stuff to learn. The 80s is something of a wasteland. We're considering some REM stuff. Outside of that, there isn't a whole lot of music from the 80s that really seems appealing to me. I'm not really interested in doing hair metal.

[chadd]

 

Not for a restaurant it isn't.

 

 

As long as they're happy with you just being background music for whatever is going on, it's fine. Most places expect you to bring in more people and that set list will not do that. In my area, they just turn on a CD if they just want background music, there are no paying gigs for people playing music across a 50 year spread.

[MusicalSchizo]

 

Thanks for the comments everybody. It sounds like we are probably on the right track. We do have a bunch more songs from the 70s on our list of potential stuff to learn. The 80s is something of a wasteland. We're considering some REM stuff. Outside of that, there isn't a whole lot of music from the 80s that really seems appealing to me. I'm not really interested in doing hair metal.

 

 

That's kind of ridiculous. You don't have to do any hair metal to do plenty of popular 80s stuff...I mean, there was a lot of other popular music at that time. "Time After Time" works well acoustic. Also a lot of the Brit-pop new wave stuff of the era translates well because most of it was based on really strong melodies. Police? U2? Tears For Fears? Talking Heads? Madonna?

 

But if you don't like that stuff, I completely understand why you wouldn't want to play it.

 

Brian V.

[ggm1960]

 

We're considering some REM stuff.

 

 

We were practicing recently and I was using my new strat. I got a sound exactly like Driver 8 and started trying to play what I remembered of it but the song didn't seem familiar to the other guys.

 

I remember it as the first REM song I'd ever heard and always liked it. I went ahead and worked it up and I'm thinking about suggesting it. I guess if it pulls blank stares I can drop it.

 

My favorite REM song is Fall On Me although even though the lyrics make no sense to me (like most other REM songs).

[BlueStrat]

 

As long as they're happy with you just being background music for whatever is going on, it's fine. Most places expect you to bring in more people and that set list will not do that. In my area, they just turn on a CD if they just want background music, there are no paying gigs for people playing music across a 50 year spread.

 

 

Have you ever played a restaurant gig? I have, for 16 years. It's the food, not the entertainment, that's expected to draw the people. And if you can't appeal to a wide variety of patrons, you aren't going to get very many tips.

 

For a bar or tavern gig, I'd say you're right.

[RupertB]

I've done acoustic duo/trio gigs with a female singer for going on 17 years. Here are some tunes that have worked for us. Some do better with the third harmony part but are fine with just two.

 

Angel From Montgomery - John Prine

America - Simon & Garfunkel

Tell Me Why - Neil Young

Tin Man - America

Wounded Bird - CSN

Landslide - Fleetwood Mack

Long May You Run - Neil Young

Going Back to Georgia - Nanci Griffith

Here Comes the Sun - Beatles

Me in Honey - REM

Wildflowers - Tom Petty

Mexico - James Taylor

Helplessly Hoping - CSNY

These are Days - Natalie Merchant

Peace Train - Cat Stevens

Sunny Came Home - Shawn Colvin

49 Bye-Byes - CSN

Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman

Box of Rain - Grateful Dead

Building A Mystery - Sarah McLachlan

Still I Long - Lucinda Williams

Kid Fears - Indigo Girls

La Bamba - Richie Valens

When Will I Be Loved - Linda Ronstadt

Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd

Wonder - Natalie Merchant

Nightengale - Norah Jones

Seven Years - Norah Jones

Suite Judy Blue Eyes - CSNY

Any Major Dude - Steely Dan

Blue Sky - Allman Brothers

Uncle John's Band - Grateful Dead

Love the One You're With - CSNY

Closer To Fine - Indigo Girls

 

To answer your question: It depends on the room. A duo will never be a rock band and IMO, would look ridiculous trying. The trick is finding places where you can do an hour or two of laid-back material (dinner hour) and then transition to your upbeat, sing-along, & modern material for the last hour or so.

[vanlatte]

John Prine Living In The Future That's The Way The World Goes Round Fish and Whistle It's A Big Ol' Goofy World Angel From Montgomery Sam Stone Hello In There

 

This guy is one of musics best kept secrets...I can't believe more people have not heard of him! The informal duo i am in does a couple of these; a favorite is the Happy Enchilada one...(supposed to be "half an inch of water" but somebody misheard it so that's the running joke)