Shuffles...why won't they dance?

Bill Miller · From: Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

I don't dance. I'm just not into it and never have been but it isn't because I don't have a sense of rhythm. Where others respond to a pleasing rhythm by dancing I'd rather participate by playing along. But maybe some of you who DO dance can tell me why so few people seem to hit the dance floor when you play even an upbeat shuffle? I love playing the shuffle/walking bass type tunes and I just rediscovered ' Walkin',Talkin',Cryin',Barely Beatin' Broken Heart' which to me is just a really 'feel good' song and it seems like it would really get people up. But we've got several of those type of tunes on our list and hardly anyone here will dance to them? What is UP with that? Is it just here or what?
BTW, apparently Gary Morse did the steel on that cut and it is super!

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

You gotta have some two-steppers in the audience.

Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

Some people just enjoy sitting back and listening to the music. There could also be a problem of out of date music for specific crowds.

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(I am not right all of the time but I sure like to think I am!)

[This message was edited by Les Anderson on 12 August 2006 at 11:53 AM.]

Larry Robbins · From: Fort Edward, New York

I think a lot of the younger crowd dosen't seem to know how to dance to a shuffle anymore.

[This message was edited by Larry Robbins on 12 August 2006 at 01:09 PM.]

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Cuz Canada ain't Texas!

Colm Chomicky · From: Kansas, (Prairie Village)

Jimbeaux nailed it about Texas. Just go to the Broken Spoke in Austin. But, maybe over Calgary way things might be different?

When I used to live in Texas, I found the dancers to be more courteous of each other also.

Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

So you think Canadians can't do the shuffle, eh?

Just watch us at tax time!

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(I am not right all of the time but I sure like to think I am!)

[This message was edited by Les Anderson on 12 August 2006 at 03:33 PM.]

Bill Miller · From: Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

I don't even know what a two-step looks like but maybe we can find someone to come into the Legion where we play and give free lessons for a few gigs next winter. There's a local line dancing club so why shouldn't there be a two-step club or some such thing? Any volonteers from Texas?
I remember a young couple who showed up at one of our gigs who amazed everyone with their dancing. They dressed the part and looked like they'd had some training. I'm not sure but I don't think they were doing a two-step to the fast shuffles. They danced together with a lot of fancy footwork mixed in with flinging each other around, whatever the heck you call that

There were no body slams. If they were regulars they could soon teach the wallflowers how to swing.

[This message was edited by Bill Miller on 12 August 2006 at 06:14 PM.]

Ken Lang · From: Simi Valley, Ca

An old country two step isn't hard to learn. Bring your right foot forward and then step back with the same foot. Then two steps forward. First with your right foot and then with your left foot, and you're ready to do it again. The hard part for us guys is to turn 180 degrees and do it backwards. I'm a little weak on that, but it's still fun.

Some of the fancy dancers add twirls and the like. I just try to keep my balance as it is.

Chuck Cusimano · From: Weatherford, Texas, USA

Shuffles FILL the dance floors in Fort Worth Texas! Go to the FINISH LINE on any Tuesday night. Also there's the Stagecoach Ballroom, and Pearls, to name a few.

Got anything to add, Wade Branch?

Herb Steiner · From: Spicewood TX 78669

Well Chuck, I'm not Wade (though he did teach me "Purple Rain

), but I will make a comment.

When I was touring a lot during the mid-70's with Alvin Crow and the Pleasant Valley Boys, it was obvious that there was a line of demarcation between dancers and non-dancers: the Mississippi River. West of the MR, people danced for entertainment... Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, etc.

East of the MR, people sat and listened concert style. They enjoyed it just as much, and showed it by applause. West of the MR there was also applause, but less of it. They showed their appreciation more by filling the dance floor.

Being from Texas, I'm not sure where this "Quebec" place is, but I'll bet it's east of the Mississippi

.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

sonbone · From: Waxahachie, TX

Even in Texas, there aren't as many people that dance the "old style" 2-step. Many, if not most of the dancers (varies by region and club) do "progressive" steps such as Progressive Double Two, Fort Worth Shuffle (has nothing to do with the shuffle rhythm), 3-Step and others. For these dances, the preferred tempo is 100-120 bpm. The beat can be either a shuffle or a straight eight beat. An uptempo shuffle like "Green Snakes On The Ceiling" (at 141 bpm) will still fill the dance floor, but a more moderate shuffle like Mark Chesnutt's "The Lord Loves The Drinkin' Man" (116 bpm)will absolutely PACK the dance floor.

I'm playing tonight at a club here in Dallas called Post Time. Monday night is dance lesson night and we'll keep the tempos pretty much in the 115 region during the dance lessons.

Sonny

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http://geocities.com/sonbone1
sonbone@geocities.com

Mark Edwards · From: Weatherford,Texas, USA

Shuffles, Two Steps etc... are alive and well here in our great state, ditto what Chuck has elaborated on. I met my wife on the dance floor, and she said that's when she decided she wanted to marry me, and we have been dancin ever since. I think Chuck can attest to the fact that he and the band fill the dance floor whenever a good Ray Price, or Johnny Bush song is kicked off, and they remain throughout the night. People of all ages, from 21 to 91, they get out there and give it everything they have. Dancing keeps the heart young.

Perry Hansen · From: Bismarck, N.D.

In this country, the quickest way to get dead crowd alive and on the dance floor is to play a good country Shuffle.

Mark Ardito · From: Chicago, IL, USA

Because you can't line dance to a shuffle! You can only dance if the song is about riding a cowboy or something stupid like that

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

I think it's all in the area you live whether they dance or not! I moved to Wichita Falls, Texas in the middle 70's for a year & a half or so. At one point there I worked a large club called "Little Brothers" and after the 1st set I was complaining to the bass player that the people didn't applaud like they did in California. He said "Down here, if they dance, they like your music, if they don't dance, they don't like it". Another thing that amazed me was they all danced in the same direction which was cool as I was used to those SoCal audiences bumping into each other all the time..........JH in Va.

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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

It seems to me that there are non-dancers and dancers. The non-dancers sit and watch the band, applaud at the end of the song. The dancers are two groups: country dancers and regular dancers. The country dancers do all the standards: line, two-step, waltz, horseshoe, cha-cha, etc. The regular dancers eithers swing dance or just shake it up. I've played shows in little country towns where the kids are taught swing dancing at a very early age, and when they grow up, they swing dance to just about everything.

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Mike
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Blue Moon Highway
(Country Music...and then some.)
www.bluemoonhighway.com

ZB Custom S-10 (#0509)

Walter Killam · From: Nebraska, USA

I used to work day gigs at the Palms, Mike's Danceland, & the Debonaire in Dallas, & those places had a strong turnout until the crowd just started getting so old that they couldn't make it out anymore. What I saw there seemed to be an indication of what I have observed in the last few years -- Younger generations haven't been taught to dance at home like the older folk were, so the younger ones seem out of place & uneasy in a dance club. I always used to remark that in Dallas people didn't clap, but they would vote with their feet. Now it seems that the club goers expect a ShowBand with flashy lights & effects, & not a DanceBand.

Chuck Cusimano · From: Weatherford, Texas, USA

I have come up with a saying: "When the dancers start staying home, so will you" It seems to really apply here in TEXAS. Mark is not kidding about the younger folks showing up, and dancing to the 4/4 shuffles. And it does my old heart good to have a youngster come and request "Undo The Right"- "Pick Me Up On Your way Down"- If the kids now-a-days could be as exposed to Ray Price, Mel Tillis, Farron young, Johnny Bush, and the rest, They would get on board. Instead they are "FORCE FED", Big and Rich, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and a slew of the new (non-country) country.
My buddy, Wade Branch says a 4/4 shuffle, and just hearing the Bass thumping outside the Finish Line on a Tuesday Night, gets him excited.

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

Being uneasy, shy, and un-confident can be a stumbling block to getting on the dance floor.

This is where alcohol comes in.

It'll ease your way to the dance floor, but, you'll probably wind up stumbling anyway. At least you won't be embarrassed.