Re: [Harp-L] Gig Attire

[maurice richard libby <blues@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Actually, since about 99% of all musicians I see in bars these days dress 
the  same (to be charitable, let's call it "extreme casual") and since most 
of them play exactly the same stuff (within their genre, of course) it 
seems to me a simple but REALLY good idea to brand yourself by what you wear.

I wear pretty much the same coupe of outfits no matter where I play, with 
of, course variation due to the enviroment--an outdoor stage in mid-July 
usually means I probably don't wear a jacket, an important gig brings out 
the vintage tux. I mean--don't you want to do whatever you can to make 
people remember you. I know--the music is the important thing (that  brings 
to mind an interesting thing that happened at the gig last week--we 
finished of the last set and a couple of twenty-something duds came up to 
tell us that they liked the music. One said "especially the second lat 
song. Who does that? I've heard it before" It turns out it was 20% 
Alcohol--the old J.B. Hutto song. Now we are the only band around here that 
does that song, and our arrangement is pretty much unique, so we figured 
out that these guys saw us play a festival last July.  But I digress. . .)

The point is--these days everybody seems to dress like SUM 41 (unless they 
are into hiphop, in which case everybody dresses like a generic rapper from 
1995), but no one knows who they are except for their friends. You have to 
stand out somehow to get noticed by all those complete strangers who you 
want to come out to see you. There has to be something that gives you the 
edge. Jimmy Bowskill is a good player, but would everybody know who he is 
if he weren't 15? There's a 17 -year-old girl here who does a mean 
funk/blues thing (Megan Lane), she's a good singer and a fine guitarist. 
What do people say when you mention her name "OH--the 17 year old blues chick".

My point is that if you want to be remembered, you have to be memorable, 
and what you wear on stage is the fist impression that anyone has of 
you--even before you play a note-- and the first impression is what most 
people remember.

When I get that fluorescent lime-green Zoot suit, nothing will stop me;)

maurice

maurice richard libby
aka Whiteboy Slim
"twenty-first century blues"
whiteboy_slim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.whiteboy-slim.com
to buy "Homemade" --> http://www.cdbaby.com/mrl
EPK --> http://www.sonicbids.com/whiteboyslimAt 11:09 AM 12/04/2005, Chris 
Michalek wrote:


> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Dennis Alters, MD" <dennisaltersmd@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Make him wear a dress just kidding sorry couldn't resist.
>
>
> Should you be helping hard core blues men that wear dresses rather
> than encouraging them?  :-)
>
> Appropriate dress is important.  If I'm playing blues in a smokey
> dive bar then it's jeans and a t-shirt
>
> If I'm playing on Mill ave doing my jam band thing then it's ripped
> jeans and a t-shirt.
>
> If I'm in a place doing a jazz gig then is usually black slacks and a
> button up shirt.
>
> If I'm doing my jazz gig at one of the resorts then it's shirt and
> jacket.
>
> If I'm playing at the Asian Bistro then I wear my dragon shirt.
>
> If I'm playing at the world wine bar then it's my chinese emporer
> hat, african scarf, black shirt and black pants.
>
> If I'm playing at the local nudist colony then it's just a sock and
> shinny nipple tassels. (Maybe I should speak to Dennis about that)
>
>
>
>
>
> Chris Michalek
>
> www.michalekstrone.com
> CD Available
> http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/michalekstrone
>
>
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