Help me find my folky & alternative side..
So…I have an audition in just under a month that requires a “short folk/alt. rock song”. Now, I have a fairly wide-ranging repertoire, but nothing that quite qualifies as folk or alt rock. So I’m asking you, the faithful Jethica.com blog readers for suggestions. I’d like something ideally that will be a bit unique and not performed 80 other times at the auditions, but not something so out there that the auditors are totally unfamiliar with it. Give me a suggestion that gets me booked and I promise I’ll give you a shout-out in my bio!
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Drive-By Truckers – “Outfit”
Conway Twitty – “Who Will Pray For Me (When Momma’s Gone)”
Tracy Chapman – “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution”
Martie Robbins – “Big Iron”
Social Distortion/Emmylou Harris – “Making Believe”
A number of songs by Old Crow Medicine Show, namely “Wagon Wheel” and “Tell It To Me” Only if you can play fast.
Sting – “Fields of Gold” If you do this one with a real folk/bluegrass bent to it it’s incredibly moving.
I don’t know if it’s what you’re looking for, but “Straight To Hell” by The Clash is always a good idea, IMO. Also “English Civil War” or the original “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”
That’s all I can think of at the moment. I hope that helps. PM me or find me on AIM if you have any questions. Also I believe you have my cell number. Break a leg!
Comment by Kyle — April 2, 2007 @ 12:07 am
Shit — how familiar are auditors with Mike Doughty’s solo work? Because I’d suggest something from one of his albums.
Comment by Jon — April 2, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Califone’s “Porno Starlet vs. Rodeo Clown”?
I’M AWESOME HELPFUL I AM
Comment by Jesse Henderson — April 2, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
Josh, what are you auditioning for? If I have more info, I can be more helpful.
Comment by Rachel — April 2, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
The new musical “Spring Awakening”, with music by Duncan Sheik. It’s not very folky, definitely more lite alt rock. You can listen to clips on iTunes to get a better idea.
Comment by Josh — April 2, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
A Life by Pearls Before Swine! Barb’ry Ellen! Twelve Gates to the City! Simple Gifts! Painting Box by Incredible String Band!
Is there any band more alternative than Smashing Pumpkins? Whip out Tonight, Tonight or Today and they’ll be throwing their panties at you.
Comment by lucy — April 3, 2007 @ 11:43 am
Hmmm, this is a tricky one, Josh. I second Jon’s idea of doing something by Mike Doughty. His last solo album is darn good. What about something by Brendan Benson? “Into the Dark” by Ben Lee is a pretty fun song. I don’t know. You probably want something Broadway-ish…How about something by Rufus Wainwright? I’m not being very helpful. I’ll think about this some more and get back to you.
Comment by Rachel — April 3, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
How about “Outdoor Type” by Smudge?
Comment by AndrewTBP — April 7, 2007 @ 8:57 pm
Hahahaha… I totally saw Spring Awakening with my parents last week. I am not a good judge of musicals, but the music wasn’t terrible and I liked the set desgin quite a bit. That brings me up to a totally of two broadway musicals since moving here.
I was going to suggest something from the glory days of mid-90s alt-rock, but Lucy went ahead and did all my work for me. Seriously. Tonight Tonight is both good alt-rock and vaguely theatrical sounding!
Comment by Nate — April 10, 2007 @ 1:17 pm
Oh, or Doughty. I could never dispute M. Doughty being a good choice.
Comment by Nate — April 10, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
Thanks everyone for the outpouring of suggestions, it’s so very helpful. I’ll let you know what I decide!
Comment by Josh — April 10, 2007 @ 6:50 pm