Folks,
Haven't been here in a while. I'm a lap steel slider and have been working on my chops, jamming with some buds, and playing a few house parties now and again. Overall I'm making steady progress, and I've even played a few solo tunes (instrumentals) which were well received at the house parties...50 person type venues.
I am trying to work out enough solo material to get a set list together, and my eventual goal is to be able to play a coffee shop or small bar/grill type of establishment. Probably one of those deals where people do their thing (eat, drink, talk) and the musician plays over in the corner.
While I do have maybe 10-12 songs I can play instrumentally (lap steel and dobro) I'm worried about making sure there is enough variety in the mix, especially since I don't do vocals. And I do still need more material, which I'm working on.
So I've been checking out these Boss loop stations and such. Man, you can do some cool things with layering tracks (bass, rhythm, lead, maybe percussion) all while playing live. A bit tricky to get comfortable with the technology, but some of the Youtube clips I've seen are pretty damn impressive.
Do y'all think this is tacky for a live gig? Would the audience place this in the same camp as karaoke? I don't have a real good sense for how this approach might come across. Please give me your thoughts on looping/recording/play back during a solo gig.
Thanks guys
5_iron