1.

The Stevie Ray Vaughn Clause. The blues calendar did not start with the birth of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Everyone appreciates
SRV for what he did to help get blues out to a larger
audience.
You,
however, are not SRV. Do not attempt to conjure him in any form,
be it clothing, guitar straps, your playing style or your bad lyrics.
The man is dead, let us all respect his memory and endeavor not
to urinate on his grave by our poor interpretations of him. Playing
his songs is one thing, trying to be him is, well...disturbing
and never successful.

Ego has it's place and it's not in the band. Ego - for lack of a better word - is good; It's what gives an artist his/her individuality.
And there
is nothing wrong with laying claim to your skills when you actually
have some. However, in a band setting when you have to work - together
- with other people for the explicit purpose of creating a musical
landscape, your ego does nothing but ruin the experience for everyone
else. If you drive 200 miles to a gig in a van (or your cars) and
load and unload
your own
gear, you should think twice about your greatness.

More volume does not translate into more awesomeness. "But I can't get the tone I want if it's not loud". Yes, and the audience can't find
the
door fast enough either. It's ok musicians are deaf, but they need
to remember they are not playing in an arena; it's usually a small
venue holding a couple hundred folks who value the fact they can
still hear. If you are unlucky enough to have to suffer dealing
with a soundman - who almost always suck and are, you guessed it...too
loud, all that can be said is; "tell them what you want, not what
they want"
and
hopefully,
you'll
get
10%
of what
you
asked
for.

The club is not your garage and they don't care about you. Yes, the club has hired you to entertain and makes the assumption you
will all be professional about it. This
means you show up on time, play music that the crowd may actually
enjoy
and
generally
try to
keep an atmosphere alive that is conducive to drinking and
picking up chicks. This makes the bar money and usually assures
you a return visit. It's not always
easy to do when you are stuck next to a pool table and the t.v.
above
your
head isn't even turned off for the show. Don't
get confused and think they actually care about you and don't
lose sight of the fact you are being paid to endure this, so suck
it up. And one other thing: You've spent years learning your instrument,
so why do you embarrass yourself with your ten minute, pre-show,
solo warmup? You are masturbating and everyone can see it.

Your clothing won't make you a better musician. Like it or not, clothing can be an important part of live performance but
some basic principles apply: Shorts are out. There is no situation,
no
matter
how hot
or steamy that
warrants wearing shorts to a gig,,unless you are the drummer. Never
confuse being 'cool' with looking 'cool'. Bright suits
with padded shoulders and wingtips more often than not means your
frontman is an idiot with more ego than talent. Learn your craft,
dress reasonably nice for shows and the music will do the rest.

Less is more. If you are confused by this statement, you need to get in the weeds and listen
to some of the guys you keep playing every night. Good music requrires
every member of a band to know his/her part and play it sparingly
within the context of the overall arrangement - at least until
it's 'lead' time and then all bets are off. If there is a general
rule that separates the men from the boys, this is the one.

Be original. Playing the rhythm section of any number of Willie Dixon or Muddy Waters tunes
and putting
your
own, lame lyrics over them is NOT original music. It's
not even a good effort. Way too many bands put out music that is
an exact duplication of some dead guys songs and call it original.
This annoying habit is further promulgated by the industry reviewers
that usually don't play insturments themselves and think plaigarism
is cool. The
blues is a suprisingly flexible style of
music and offers the artist a broad pallete to be 'unique'. Please
do so.

Dynamics, Pocket and Tension & Release are not scientific theories, they are essential parts of 'good' music. If you don't
know what these terms are, google them. If you still don't know
what they are
after you've read up on them, you have no business being a musician.
Music is a conversation we have with an audience we may or may
not know. Think about how you talk, argue, lament and discuss things
with real people: how your eyebrows move, your hands gesture
and how your voice goes up and down to emphasis a
point. If you feel you are incapable of utilizing these practices,
it may be time to consider a Jimmy Buffet tribute band.

The ability to play the guitar well does not mean you can also sing. Some musicians think they can't get famous without naming a band after
themselves
and judging by the way publications and even blues societies tend
to value the soloist over the group, there may be some truth to
that. However, the ability to play does not always translate to
the ability
to sing. Many great arrangements have been descimated by some
egotist that can't hold pitch or phrase a lyric to save their life
because they named the band after themselves and feel obligated
to now ruin your experience for the betterment of their career.
The voice is an instrument and is every bit as important as all
the
other
ones in the band. If you are curious why someone would allow their
music to suffer because they insist on singing, refer
to point #2 .

Even the best musician is likely to violate one of these musical rules on a given night, however if you violate more than three, you are being a troll.

The blues is the greatest music in the world. This has been an effort to make sure it stays that way.