Musical liberation

I play in two different groups here in NWAR. Big'uns is a six-piece R&B/ classic rock band. Superb players, great guys. There's really nothing like the energy of a crowd with you in a party environment. Plus it's very marketable, and pays some bills. But with six people, playing this kind of music, you just don't stretch out too far, or you're going to get in each others' way and lose the groove.
That's where OTL comes in. There's not a performance where it doesn't get taken to the edge of what we're capable of doing. Most times over.
Time signatures, grooves, and keys on any given song can vary from show to show.
We don't get particularly upset when there's a train wreck because we've run outside the range of our technical abilities. Half the fun is getting the train back on track again. It's also one of the benefits of not having your career depend upon your performance. Guess we'll probably never play too many bluegrass festivals.
We're very grateful to our audiences for seeming to accept what can occasionally lack perfection and precision. We hope that, like us, they just accept that as a consequence of moving into territory where the magic can happen for us.
The venues are limited. The audiences have to be open-minded. But musically, it's incredibly liberating. And just a whole lot of fun.

OTL at Scarpino

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98114187@N00/29603949/
Originally uploaded by Ederdn.

A great time was had by all.
Teatro Scarpino is a good room: Friendly people, receptive audience, nice atmosphere.
We were able to play our widely eclectic mix, but Drew Pierce added some bluegrass authenticity when he joined us on banjo for three songs in the second set.
We'll be back here.

Outside the Lines at Teatro Scarpino

Welcome to the official Outside the Lines blog.
This one starts this evening, in which OTL will be performing at Teatro Scarpino in Fayetteville.
In case you have haven't heard the group, OTL is:
Emily Kaitz, bass and vocals--Emily has received Best Songwriter awards in both the North Arkansas Music Awards and the Ozark Music Awards. Her original material is extremely entertaining. And she's a damned good upright bass player.
Stan D'Aubin, mandolin--Stan is unequivocally the best mandolin player in the region. As renowned banjo player Tony Trischka said when we played with him last week at Little Rock's Acoustic Sounds Cafe, "Dang!"
And me. On a good day, I can make the subjects and verbs agree. I done it yesterday .

We'll play a couple of sets between 8 and 11:00.