Phase One
At the beginning of 2015, I started my retooling effort to become a soloist. I quit all my steady bands as a saxophonist, including my own jazz band The Sean Hully Jazz Group. I needed to focus my energies to undergo training that would take a great investment of time and money. It was in 2015 that I bought my Boomerang 3 loop pedal to be the centre of my journey. My concept was to incorporate most of my instrumental skills into one musical entity.
I put the saxophone aside in favour of the guitar to memorize some favourite cover songs and to create interesting accompaniments. Where appropriate, I learned to insert saxophone, flute, or guitar leads using live looping. From that effort, I recognized how physically coordinated I needed to be, and how well I had to know the songs to perform without mental struggle.
I took voice lessons in the summer of 2017 to improve vocally. The lessons helped a lot, but I am still not quite where I'd like to be. However, I am more comfortable singing now.
My breakthrough happened last month, when I was suddenly booked for a weekend at Maplefest, followed by a local pub debut the next weekend. The pub gig went well, and was booked three more times, once in April, May, and June.
I now feel more confident playing solo in this style, as people seemed accepting of what I was doing. It is certainly a different concept, and I have been complemented on the variety of my repertoire. My repertoire will be adjusted over time I am sure.
Phase Two
Now that I can fill a three-hour cover gig, I can go out and get working! I can turn my attention to adapting my original music to the solo concept, as ultimately, I want to play original music live. I need to record another album too. I want to record in my own studio, but that is big learning curve to put out a great sounding album. I've been so focused on being a musician that I haven't had time to invest in learning about my gear. My album Interaction was recorded and engineered by professionals, but I'm not sure if I can risk that kind of money this time around.
I'm happy that I am finally moving forward with my performance career. I feel more in control now than I ever have. I hope I can bring more people onboard as opportunities arise.
At the beginning of 2015, I started my retooling effort to become a soloist. I quit all my steady bands as a saxophonist, including my own jazz band The Sean Hully Jazz Group. I needed to focus my energies to undergo training that would take a great investment of time and money. It was in 2015 that I bought my Boomerang 3 loop pedal to be the centre of my journey. My concept was to incorporate most of my instrumental skills into one musical entity.
I put the saxophone aside in favour of the guitar to memorize some favourite cover songs and to create interesting accompaniments. Where appropriate, I learned to insert saxophone, flute, or guitar leads using live looping. From that effort, I recognized how physically coordinated I needed to be, and how well I had to know the songs to perform without mental struggle.
I took voice lessons in the summer of 2017 to improve vocally. The lessons helped a lot, but I am still not quite where I'd like to be. However, I am more comfortable singing now.
My breakthrough happened last month, when I was suddenly booked for a weekend at Maplefest, followed by a local pub debut the next weekend. The pub gig went well, and was booked three more times, once in April, May, and June.
I now feel more confident playing solo in this style, as people seemed accepting of what I was doing. It is certainly a different concept, and I have been complemented on the variety of my repertoire. My repertoire will be adjusted over time I am sure.
Phase Two
Now that I can fill a three-hour cover gig, I can go out and get working! I can turn my attention to adapting my original music to the solo concept, as ultimately, I want to play original music live. I need to record another album too. I want to record in my own studio, but that is big learning curve to put out a great sounding album. I've been so focused on being a musician that I haven't had time to invest in learning about my gear. My album Interaction was recorded and engineered by professionals, but I'm not sure if I can risk that kind of money this time around.
I'm happy that I am finally moving forward with my performance career. I feel more in control now than I ever have. I hope I can bring more people onboard as opportunities arise.