Songs I Plan to Play for the IBC Narrowed Down

So as I continue to practice I'm making a few tweaks to the songs selected.  Here's my 30 minute set as of today:

1. Last Po' Man
2. Tumbleweed
3. Down Home Girl
4. How Blue Can You Get
5. Sugar Sweet
6. I Got a Woman
7. Wasted Time
8. Raided That Joint
9. I Feel That Feeling

So as arranged I have time for these songs with 1 minute for introductions, etc.  Kind of tight but I love these songs for different reasons so I hate to cut any of them, but may have to do that.  

34 Days to Practice Left!!

With just 34 days to practice left before I leave for the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, I've shifted into a new gear as I continue increasing my practice and preparation. I spent today practicing the 30-minute set, critiquing the video of the set, working out and practicing my harp skills. I can see improvement compared to a month ago but there are not many days left and so many ways I want to get better and just so few days to make it to  another level. There are going to be so many great musicians there in Memphis, many are probably much better than me. They may out-play me due to skill but I will not be out-worked.  I have vowed to be prepared and ready and as of today I'm right on schedule to make the most of this opportunity.

Practice, practice, practice

Man it's hard to find time to practice during the holiday season. The best I've done so far is 6 hours of harmonica practice on the way to my parents last weekend. Nobody in the car with me and I just wailed all the way there and back. It was really good for me actually. It's hard to learn new harp licks while playing guitar and drums. Promise to self...Santa comes on Saturday and then it's lock away in the studio until the benefit concert on the 21st of January.

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Working on selecting songs for IBC

Time to nail  down the set list for the IBC in February.  I know it's really early, but my goal is to do these songs in a live-show setting 4 times each day between now and the end of January.  Selecting which songs will make the cut is not an easy task.  I could just use the songs I played at the PBPS Challenge, but the time formats are different and it's not as easy as just adding another song.  It could be, I guess, but I really want the time to  flow, with planned up-tempo and slow-tempo times included.  So what to do???  It's also complicated by the fact that I have to prepare for being in the finals as well.  If I don't prepare, then I'll waste the chance should I make it.  Wise I guess, but seeing the competition that's going to be there it would be easy to just plan my 20-minute quarter-final set and not work on the finals set.  But that's not how I am... call me a boy scout but I like to be prepared.  Another problem is the Blues.org guys have not nailed down the length of the finals sets.  They'll either be 25 minutes or 30 minutes long.  That's a huge difference.  I'll start running through these every day and tweak as needed.  Lynn believes this will change significantly before I get to Memphis, but I'm pretty sure these are the ones that make the most sense to me.  You'll notice that all the songs in the 20-min set are included in the 25 and 30-min sets.  I made a big mistake, even though I won, in the PBPS Challenge by preparing totally different songs for the finals round than in the qualifying.  Turns out that's crazy... different judges every time so it's crazy to prepare different set lists. It triples the amount of preparation and greatly increases the chances of a mistake.  It will be the first time the judges hear you every time so no need to try to keep it fresh.

Anyway, here's the first cut at what I've selected so far:


20-Min Set
Last Po' Man
Tumbleweed
Raided That Joint
Sugar Sweet
Wasted Time


25-Min Set
Last Po' Man
Tumbleweed
Last Fair Deal
Raided That Joint
Sugar Sweet
Wasted Time


30-Min Set
Last Po' Man
Tumbleweed
Last Fair Deal
Raided That Joint
Sugar Sweet
Baby Called Me
Wasted Time
I Feel That Feeling