Today (Oct. 30) is my birthday, and I am getting to do an all-acoustic performance with my daughter, Lexie Roth. So far, every time we have played this particular venue it has sold out, and this time, doing an all acoustic performance should be very interesting. Most folks expect to always see me with my band, but I happen to love, more and more, the solo-acoustic route. It’s an extremely expressive approach, that enables me to paint with broad brush strokes over the crowd, and the art of keeping them interested and “drawn in” becomes much finer, since there is only one, sometimes “hushed” guitar playing.
It’s also great because the rhythm of the piece, and even the changes themselves can be implanted and heard in the heads of the listeners, while I get a chance to “riff” over that “imaginary band” they are hearing! SO, normally what we do, is I come out and play an an-acoustic set on my own, and then my daughter comes up and joins me for about 10 of her own songs. We then finish the show with a group of tunes that jump back and forth from me solo to her, either solo, or accompanied by me.
I guess after all those years of being a sideman and an accompanist, I still have a great love for that particular art, and what it taught me over so many rewarding nights of performing. I sure do love when I can put that to the greatest use of all….making my daughter’s music sound as good as it can! Looking forward to a great show tonight…..reports will follow!