Have you ever stood in one position for two straight hours? Let me tell you, it’s a long time.

But it was also much needed, as last Sunday marked our transition from Quasi-jamming Band to Performing Band. While we still used the handicap of music stands for the occasional tune, we arranged ourselves in a stage-like formation and peeked at lyrics only when our brains went blank.

For starters, I was really struck by how long we extended as a group (and that was being a little smushed!). I never really noticed distances between and among band members before (at least from an audience perspective), so I’m not too sure why I was so surprised here. It may be in part because our band is bigger than a typical bluegrass band by one person, and in part because for two months we have been so close together in a circle that a line seems downright foreign. But perhaps it’s just me.

This was also the first time we drilled our set as we’ll be playing it on stage. Up until this point, we had always tackled the songs we thought needed the most work in rehearsals, and then typically ran out of time to address the lower-priority tunes. (And let me just say it’s funny how everything turns high-priority when we’re two sessions away from sound class.) Now we’re training ourselves to play in a specific order, with band introductions and some sense of banter. It really doesn’t seem like that much from the outside, but boy are there a lot of moving pieces to consider.

Tough decisions
Our second house call involved honing our musical efforts at Addie’s house.  It’s always a nice change of scenery to rehearse at someone’s home, and while we’re serious about our work, there is still always a sense of "relaxedness."

This session commenced with Trent’s suggestion to axe a song from our set, a popular bluegrass tune that we rationalized was too similar to another we were performing. While it is a beautiful classic, we felt that it somewhat dragged the pace of the overall show. Cutting ‘Angel Band’ was a prime example of nixing a wonderful stand-alone song that didn’t mesh with the rest of the set. A tough decision for sure, but one that we agreed was necessary.

We also found ourselves tightening our arrangements and throwing in some tweaks here and there. While Dave has traditionally led us in terms of suggesting where folks should play and which instruments should solo in certain areas, we started to become our own producers. Because Trent was performing lead vocals in ‘Angel Band,’ we decided he would take a solo in one of our other songs. We had never practiced it in that way previously, but because we knew the songs inside and out after two months, we started to feel comfortable with manipulating them. And lo and behold, the manipulations added depth and diversity and sounded great!

Mixing it up
While the decision to move Trent’s solo marked our first independent attempt at arranging, it was nothing compared to us trying to nail down our a cappella song. We haven’t sounded unpleasant until now by any means, but in a song with a bunch of changing lead vocals and response elements, we have to be 100 percent absolutely sure everyone is on the same page. This means confirming that our pitches are spot on, the responses are uniform, and entrances and exits are seamless.

After spending a good chunk of time rearranging some parts and practicing our harmonies, our song started to sound like our own. I never thought a song could be your own unless you wrote it, but that could not be farther from the truth. How you sing it, arrange it, and produce it makes it your song as well, so much so that the original author might not even recognize it. I’m rapidly realizing that the act of making quality arrangements to highlight everyone’s talents and abilities is a creative process entirely in itself.

Something tells me that this would be super fun to do for a living.

Stage translation
I’ve wondered this since day one, but especially now that our rehearsals are winding down, my mind is constantly fixated on it: how smoothly will our playing translate on stage?

We’ve never been unable to stop if we made a mistake. We’ve never had to go on with something that didn’t feel quite right. We’ve never played for keeps, so to speak.

I suppose we’ll get our first shot at this during sound class, but even then, I’m sure we’ll be able to temporarily halt if something goes horribly wrong.

But in performance? There ain’t no turnin’ back.

Does everything go as smoothly on stage as in rehearsal? Does a magical zone kick in? Do folks blank out or get revved up? The suspense is killing me.

But then again, I guess that’s what makes it all so interesting.

Take the Stage was founded in 2007 and is a project of Nell Robinson Music, in partnership with the California Bluegrass Association and the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse.  For more information, please visit www.nellrobinsonmusic.com/tts.