Silhouette starts and ends with great music but quite a lot goes on in the “engine room”. So how does it work for us behind the scenes?
As a warm up at rehearsals we try out different songs together. Then we’ll choose one that we all want to perform. Angela then gets to work on arranging the number in her own unique and creative style.
A few days later music magically arrives in our inbox! Each member of the band has a part to learn, along with an audio track to practice with before the next rehearsal. Sometimes the parts are quite challenging but there’s enormous satisfaction in working it all out together.
Rehearsals are enjoyable but always focused and productive - Angela misses NOTHING!
“Bev...thats a demi-semi quaver in bar 64. Rod...is that an F sharp minor?? Murray ...can we have a cow bell sound there?“ This is what makes Silhouette different from other covers bands.
Silhouette now has a catalogue of well over 50 songs from the 60s/70s.
Once we started to perform in public, word about Silhouette spread quickly. From each gig we usually get at least one booking for a future gig and so the band diary starts filling up.
Events requiring live music sometimes invite bands to bid online and this is another challenge I relish in my role of “Band Administrator“. Of course we all keep our eyes and ears open for opportunities to play locally.
Sometimes if I drive past an interesting venue, I’ll stop and have a chat with the manager about the band or leave a business card. Then out of the blue I’ll get a call or email asking for more details.
Once we have a booking, a venue and an agreed date there’s quite a lot of work to do apart from rehearsals. We all spring into action and pool our skills. For example, Carol J and Rod and Ian B (“the technical team”) think about the logistics, equipment required and invoicing.
There are many things that have to be planned and discussed before a gig - set lists, parking, sound engineering, checking out the room size, where to get changed, what time we can set up etc.
It’s a big commitment being part of a working band and it’s tiring sometimes but nothing can describe the comradeship and the feeling we get from seeing an audience enjoy our version of wonderful, timeless classics from such a great musical era.
By Bev Peters.