Random Thought Thursday: The Duo
I am perhaps bias in my opinion here, the vast majority of performing I do has been in the duo format lately. Most of my favorite acts come in that form, or at least the ones that I have been pulling the most inspiration from to date. There is something about a duo that a solo act cannot fill the space of and a band cannot match the very particular feeling and emotion of. In a duo you cannot be a weak link, you have to fulfill your half of the deal or else it all falls apart. Both members shine in their strengths and either hinder the sound with their weak points or are hoisted up by their partner as a result of the duo format.
The format of this lends it self to a form of intimacy between both the performers and the audience that I don’t think can really be captured in a band setting. Am I arguing against bands, of course not…that would be ridiculous as some of the best acts out there today are full rock bands, or solo acoustic guys and arguably the greatest live experience I had ever seen is the Punch Brothers (a bluegrass quintet). There simply is something special across the board that two instruments and two voices, when done well, creates that cannot be touched in my opinion. In a band you can f*ck up a note in a solo, bend it, hide it behind distortion and the other guitar, bass, and drums (or other instruments). In a duo a wrong note hits hard and what you do with that mistake is even further exploited.
Solo folks with a guitar tend to be a dime a dozen. It’s probably the easiest way to make music from a logistical perspective and when you make a mistake its all on you, no one else. I also love solo acts, hell I am a solo act much of the time, but more often than not its the same thing. I have seen hundreds of dudes by themselves with a guitar and am hard pressed to come up with an extensive list of folks who truly blow me away beyond belief or are shockingly different. Here’s a sample…Ian Fitzgerald by himself because of his songwriting, Will Houlihan by himself because of the intense emotion his performances put forth, Christopher Paul Stelling for the amount of energy he instills into everything while on stage, Danielle Miraglia with her steady thumb and stomp box, and the one man show that is The Suitcase Junket come to mind as solo acts I can really get behind as different, exciting, engaging in some fashion that stands out to me. I’ll say it, 2 hours of me as a solo act, probably boring as hell. Which is why I stick to the 45 minute sets usually.
Duos require something from you. It forces you into a zone of discomfort and creativity that has the ability to foster something incredible. It requires you to connect with one other individual and put forth something that can be exciting, beautiful, harmonious, or humorous. It takes the best part of the artistic portion of a person and combines it with the same from another to create something new. After all, isn’t making music all about the human connection?
What do you all think? Who are some of your favorite duos?
