Thursday, August 20, 2009

Play some Skynyrd, man

Musicians all over the world have to deal with requests. While most will at least make a game attempt to play through a song that they are at least passably familiar with, and still other will express regret, and then immediately start working to learn the song, there are always those who will simply ignore the requests, and play whatever they feel. This holds true whether the performers are appearing at an arena, inside a local bar, or simply busking on the street corner. Of course, most of those musicians, whether they accept the request or not, know more than two songs.

Not the case with a couple of buskers in the UK, who were recently given "anti-social behavior orders", largely due to their renditions of "Wonderwall" and "Faith". And nothing else.

Well, when you only know two songs, you have to deal with circumstances just like this. You can continue, playing bravely in the face of adversity, hoping that you don't find yourself on outs with local law enforcement for potentially harassing behavior, or simply creating a nuisance. You can hope that locals will find the humor in two guys only being able to play two songs, over and over and over and over again, like they were some sort of sadistic ride at a theme park.

Or you could take another route, and maybe try to learn a third song. You know, for a little variety. Unless, of course, your rendition of "Wonderwall" happens to include a thirty-minute guitar solo that sounds nothing like the original song.

If you are going to stick with option one, however, make sure to sell it. Be dedicated to that one song. For plenty of artists, that's really all they ever needed.

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