Kurt Henry Parlour Band: Softer is Sexier!

Times have changed; venues are smaller-so is electronic equipment. So why do bands get loud? Two reasons: first, instrumentalists turn up for solos and the rest of the band follows so that each instrumental passage leads to "volume creep," and second, bands play up to their drummers and/or their stage monitors. The Kurt Henry rhythm section turns down in order to provide a foil for my guitar solos-that's a soft revolution.

Our Kurt Henry Parlour Band is different. For starters, it's pared down; we can present all the varied genres we play in just as well with soft guitar, a small drum kit, a practice bass amp and a very good-looking acoustic percussionist. The dynamics go from soft to whisper soft, and you'll know it's breathtaking because you will hear the breaths taken.

We have a different approach to equipment. Sure we love it, but enough is enough, and it's usually too much in a small room or restaurant. And so we do not bring a separate monitor system, because that would start the band at a level that's already too loud in the stage area. We leave our monitor system home for the bigger gigs and simply direct one of the main speakers back at the band. You might ask "Is there a loss of stereo effect?" The answer is emphatically "no." Most bands do not mix their vocals in stereo. Furthermore when they mic the instruments it reduces the natural stereo effect caused by the spacing of the players. Less equipment, more space in the club.

Looking back at what I've written, it almost seems too facile. But there it is. Times have changed; venues are smaller. We're the band that will thrill you with our music not our wattage, and we don't mind a little competition from the cappuccino machine and the table full of English majors at the front (we really do love them). Besides, softer is sexier.