October 8th is getting closer, and that means one thing around here.
King Biscuit time.
Once again, I’ve got the honor of hosting the Front Porch Blues Bash at the King Biscuit Blues Festival.
And when I say honor, I mean it.
The Front Porch Blues Bash is basically one big blues open mic. You never quite know who’s going to walk up there. Somebody might be carrying a guitar. Somebody might have a harmonica stuffed in their pocket. Somebody might just have a song they've been waiting all year to sing.
That's part of the beauty of it.
But this year, I got to thinking about how we could tighten things up just a little bit.
Not change the soul.
Just make the machinery run smoother.
Goodbye, Paper Sign-Up Sheet
For years, signing up meant pretty much what you'd expect.
There's a piece of paper.
There's a pen.
You write your name and what you want to play, and we go from there.
Nothing wrong with that. Hell, the blues has survived a hundred years without needing an app.
But I started wondering if we couldn't make things a little easier on everybody.
So this year, I'm trying something new.
We're going digital Sign up.
I've put together a little sign-up page that works right from your phone. Instead of everybody crowding around a paper list, you'll be able to pull up the page and put your information in digitally.
But the part I'm really interested in is what we're doing with the songs.
Let's Give the Band a Fighting Chance
If you've ever played in a blues jam, you know how this goes.
Somebody walks up and says, "We're gonna do Sweet Home Chicago."
All right.
Which damn Sweet Home Chicago?
What tempo?
What feel?
Where are you coming in?
Are we crawling through Chicago or trying to get there before supper?
That's why I wanted to add reference tracks to the sign-up process.
When somebody chooses a song, we can have a reference for the style and feel they're looking for before they ever step onto the porch.
It doesn't mean we're trying to copy something note for note.
This is still the blues. You better leave a little room for something to happen.
But at least everybody can start the trip pointed down the same road.
That's the idea anyway.
Five Minutes. Make 'Em Count.
I'm trying something else this year, too.
Five minutes per song.
Now, some blues musicians can spend five minutes tuning up and another ten telling you what key they're in.
I know.
But we're going to give this a shot.
Five minutes gives you enough time to get up there, tell your story, play some blues, and leave a little smoke behind.
Then we bring up the next person.
My hope is that it'll keep things moving and give more people a chance to get on that Front Porch and play.
That's what this whole thing is supposed to be about.
My VIPs Get First Crack at It
Now here's where y'all come in.
Before I throw this new digital sign-up system out into the world, I want the folks on my mailing list—my VIPs—to fool with it first.
You're my test crew.
Click around.
Try signing up.
Look at the reference tracks.
See if the instructions make sense.
And if something's confusing, tell me.
If something doesn't work, definitely tell me.
And if you can break the damn thing, please break it now instead of October 8th.
We've still got time to fix it.
That's why I'm letting my people behind the curtain first.
And We're Going to Record It
Here's another piece I'm excited about.
We're planning to record the Front Porch Blues Bash and make that recording available to the folks who participate.
I like that.
Because these little moments happen and then they're gone.
A musician walks onto a porch. Maybe they've never played with that band before. Somebody counts it off.
One, two...
And something happens.
Maybe it's rough around the edges.
Maybe somebody misses a change.
Maybe somebody plays something so damn good everybody else on the porch turns their head.
That's the blues.
And I'd like for folks to have a little piece of that moment to take home with them.
Bringing the Blues Forward
That's really what I'm trying to do with all this.
I'm not trying to turn the blues into some slick digital production.
Lord knows we got enough slick things in this world already.
I just believe you can respect where something came from without being afraid of where it's going.
We can keep the guitars.
Keep the amps.
Keep the old songs.
Keep the mistakes.
Keep that beautiful moment when four musicians who barely know each other suddenly lock into the same groove.
Keep all that.
But maybe we don't need the damn clipboard anymore.
Sometimes keeping a tradition alive means giving it a little room to move.
So that's what we're trying this year.
A digital sign-up.
Reference tracks.
Five-minute songs.
A recording to remember it by.
And hopefully more musicians getting their chance to step onto that porch and play some blues.
October 8th is coming.
The Front Porch will be waiting.
And if you're one of my VIPs, I want you to get in there early, fool with this new sign-up system, and tell me what you think.
Because before I turn this thing loose on the world, I'd rather let the blues family kick the tires first.
So what do you think—can we bring the blues a little further into the digital age without cleaning all the good shit off of it?